Decision To Fund The Atomic Bomb :: essays research papers

"No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before. The lighting effects beggareddescription. The whole country was lighted by a searing lightwith the intensity many times greater than that of the middaysun. It was golden, purple, violet, gray, and blue..."( Groueff355). The haggle of Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrelldescribe the onset of the atomic age, which began on July16, 1945 in Alamogordo, New Mexico. This was the site ofthe first large-scale atomic test, which utilize the tool ofdestruction that would soon decimate the populations ofHiroshima and Nagasaki less than a month afterwards. Thistest consummated the years spent developing the bomb, andwas the end go away of the efforts of nuclear scientists whoconstructed it, and those of President Franklin DelanoRoosevelt, who made the ending to fund the so-calledManhattan Project.In a letter dated August 2nd, 1939, Albert conceiver first sure President Roosevelt of the research that had been done by Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard with wonkyUranium which could generate large amounts of power andenergy ( wit1 PSF Safe Files). Einstein also includedanother possible use for the uranium- the construction ofhighly powerful bombs, which were capable ofdestroying a seaport and the surrounding territory. Thisinformation may have come precisely at the right time, for inOctober of 1938 Roosevelt asked relation back for a $300million military appropriation, and in November instructedthe Army piece of cake Corps to plan for an annual production oftwenty thousand planes. Later, in 1939, Roosevelt called foractions against "aggressor nations," and in the same yearsubmitted to Congress a $1.3 zillion defense budget (Boyer861). In an accompanying memorandum that was sent withthe Einstein letter, scientist Leo Szilard explained thetechnical science of nuclear fission and stressing theimportance of twine reactions (Walls 1 PFS Safe Files).Both documents, the Einstein letter an d the Szilardmemorandum, were to be delivered by Alexander Sachs, anadviser to Roosevelts New Deal since 1933 who wouldknow how to progress Roosevelt and the g everyplacenment(Lanouette 200). It was not until mid-October 1939 thatSachs wangled an invitation to get in to see the Presidentover breakfast (Burns 250). Though Roosevelt found thedocuments interesting, he seemed hesitant about committingpolitical science funds to such speculative research. But afterSachs reminded him of Napoleons skepticism of RobertFultons idea of a steamship, Roosevelt agreed to proceed.Regarding the steamship issue, Sachs went on to comment,"This is an example of how England was saved by theshortsightedness of an adversary," this insight madeRoosevelt greatly consider the creation of the bomb.President Roosevelt authorized a study, but the decision to