Transcript Manhattan Project

Manhattan Project
Developing the Atomic
Bomb
Please get out your notebook and a
pen or pencil.
Manhattan Project
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The Manhattan
project not only
helped bring an end
to World War II, but
it also advanced the
knowledge of
atomic energy and determined
how future wars
might be fought.
The Manhattan
Project involved
roughly 125,000
people and cost
more than $2
billion, yet it
remained top secret
throughout World
War II.
Project research and
development sites
were located all
across the United
States.
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This was a project
to develop the first
atomic bomb
during World War
II.
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“Manhattan
Project” was a code
name to keep the
project concealed.
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Albert Einstein
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In 1939, physicist
Albert Einstein
wrote a letter to
President Franklin
Roosevelt warning
that Germany was
secretly trying to
develop an atomic
bomb and urged
that the United
States do likewise.
Einstein’s Letter to FDR
President Franklin Roosevelt
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Roosevelt wrote back
to Einstein, informing
him that the president
had immediately set
up a committee to
begin atomic research.
FDR believed the
United States could
not take the risk of
waiting and allowing
Hitler to have the
power of developing
the first atomic bomb.
Locations
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Research and
production sites of
the Manhattan
Project were located
all across the
United States.
Laboratories and
manufacturing
facilities were
secretly constructed
just for the project.
Main project research locations of the United States
Manhattan Project Leaders
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Many people were
involved in the project
including administrators,
researchers, scientists,
and more.
Top picture: Albert
Einstein and Leo Szilard
Bottom Picture: J.
Robert Oppenheimer,
Enrico Fermi, and
Ernest Lawrence
J. Robert Oppenheimer
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Oppenheimer eagerly
joined the project at
Lawrence's Radiation
Laboratory at Berkeley.
In June 1942 he was
appointed the scientific
director of the Project.
He managed over 3,000
people and is often
referred as the “father”
of the atomic bomb.
Enrico Fermi
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Born in Italy, Fermi
created a nuclear
fission chain
reaction, which was
critical to creating
the atomic bomb.
In 1944, he joined the
Manhattan Project
and was the overseer
of the scientists.
Ernest Lawrence
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During WWII,
Lawrence was in
charge of the
electromagnetic
separation work at Oak
Ridge which provided
uranium 235 for the
atomic bomb .
He was known as the
“Atomic Smasher” and
the man who “held the
key” to atomic energy.
The Trinity Test
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On July 16, 1945, the first
atomic bomb was exploded
at the Alamogordo Air Base
near Albuquerque, NM.
A ball of fire rose rapidly,
followed by a mushroom
cloud extending to 40,000
feet.
The bomb generated an
explosive power equivalent
to 20,000 tons of TNT.
Success
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Truman in Potsdam, Germany after
receiving word that the Trinity Test was
a success.
The Trinity Test was
successful.
This was the world’s
first ever atomic
explosion.
After President
Harry Truman
received the word,
he knew the atomic
bomb would create a
great advantage in
World War II.
Use of Atomic Bombs in WWII
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Because President Truman
decided to use the atomic
bomb to hasten the end of
the war, two more atomic
bombs were created by the
Manhattan Project.
The uranium “Little Boy”
bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima on August 6,
1945.
The plutonium “Fat Man”
bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.
The Aftermath
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President Harry Truman’s
decision to drop the atomic
bomb is one of the most
controversial in American
History.
The use of two atomic bombs
in early August 1945 helped
bring an end to World War II
less than one month later,
when the Japanese
surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945.
But the damage and loss of
life caused by these two
bombs was staggering.
70th Anniversary
Aug. 1945 – Aug. 2015
The Cold War began…