The ENIAC: The First Nuclear Weapon Program

The ENIAC was the first electronic general purpose computer capable of solving complicated large programs. It boasted the ability to be reprogrammed at will and be used to solve any program inputted. Its applications extended well over solving simple calculations to much more sensitive data such as military uses. However, its first actual purpose was its role in the Manhattan project or better well known as the first nuclear weapon program. It even sparked a technological revolution that paved the way for the foundation of the computer industry through later computer inventions such as the EDVAC and several others. As a result, the ENIAC’s roles in military conquests and further applications provides it with a rich historical significance for …show more content…
It took sixty straight days to fully complete all required calculations. And several months later, the first full scale bomb was tested on the Elugelab Island. The calculations were proven to be quite accurate due to the vaporization of the entire island. With such an outcome it set the stage for how World War Two would end. Initially the Manhattan project was made out of fear that the Germans would beat the United States to nuclear warfare , it became quite the reverse. Now that the United States had reached nuclear warfare capabilities, it would dictate how the war would be won. Which it successfully accomplished with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. It truly demonstrated its superiority over rivaling countries in the war. The unparalleled effects this had on the course of human history is still being witnessed in present day society. Instead of countries rallying together to build even bigger bombs in response to such a military demonstration, the complete opposite effect can be observed. After several countries had reached the United States’ capability of nuclear warfare, a negotiation was struck between all countries that no more nuclear warheads would be developed or made. This was made in response to finally realizing the everlasting effects the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had on its …show more content…
Not a single component within this machine was left to random chance, all of its electronics were all placed to output the maximum efficiency possible. It used a very special idea of vacuum tube technology that essentially amplified electronic signals which in turn made the ENIAC a very powerful machine; demonstrating that high speed digital computing was possible. Prior to this, such speed, power and variability was too far out of reach and not achievable by consumer companies. It took the funding of the military to kick-start the research and development of such technology. All motivated by political interest through the ongoing world war. If it were not for the fear of losing, such technology would not exist and such developments would not have taken place. It is hard to imagine a society where the digital age never blossomed and it is even harder to imagine a world where that age never influenced human history. As it is difficult to separate the lines where technology and society lie as they are so deeply intertwined that both have influenced and developed each other to such a point where every outcome, triumph and tragedy in history was a result of one if not