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The Birth of the Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project began with a few key discoveries by scientists all over the
world. In 1905 Albert Einstein wrote the equation E=mcÓ meaning that matter could
be turned into energy. Scietists calculated that one pound of uranium could be as
destructive as 8,ooo pounds of TNT if used in a bomb, if not more, all by splitting
of the atom. This was known as the discovery of uranium fission. Fearing the Nazis would discover the atomic bomb first
Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
urging the president to fund research on the atomic bomb. This is a piece from the
beginning of the letter:
"Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard which has been
communicated to me in manuscript, lead me to expect that the element uranium may be
turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future... This new
phenomenon would lead to the construction of bomb, and it is conceivable - though much
less certain - that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may thus be constructed.
A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in port, might very well
destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory."
In the end the president approved it, but only gave $6,000 to buy the
uranium for the experiments Leo Szilard proposed.
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