Science and Technology

1940s

The Manhattan Project

When the nucleus of an atom is split or broken apart, energy is released. The
process begins when a slow-moving neutron is launched to split a uranium atom.
Each split uranium atom gives off three more neutrons plus two hydrogen atoms.
These new neutrons go on to split other uranium atoms. This happens over and
over in what is called a chain reaction.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s scientists around the world had been finding out
more and more about atoms and their behavior. Germans Lise Meitner and Otto
Hahn had successfully split the nucleus of a uranium atom. Enrico Fermi expanded
on their work in 1942 when he and his team were able to achieve a controlled
chain reaction.
By 1939 both German and American physicists were working on practical
applications for nuclear fission, specifically a bomb. After scientist Albert Einsten
warned President Roosevelt that the Germans were in the process of building an
atomic bomb, Roosevelt gave approval for the top secret Manhattan Project.
Hundreds of male and female scienctists and technicians were gathered together
under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist.
Although much of the early work was conducted in New York City, the actual
testing site was in New Mexico. On July 16, 1945, three years after the project
started, the first test explosion of an atomic bomb took place in New Mexicos
Alamogordo Bombing Range. Its awesome force shook the desert floor, and its
blinding light illuminated trees and mountains. A mushroom cloud of dust raised
high into the sky. The five kilograms of plutonium in the bomb yielded an
explosion equivalent to 18,500 tons of dynamite, more than enough to destroy an
entire city.
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. Army dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima,
Japan. Over 200,000 people were killed in the blast. After a second bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki three days later, Japan surrendered. Although the true effects
of the bomb would not be fully realized for many years, a new Atomic Age had
begun.

The scientists who participated in the Manhattan Project knew that what they were
working on could kill thousands of people in a single blast, yet they hoped that it
would lead to worldwide peace.

Suggested Activities

Code Names Fat Man and Little Boy were the code names given to the
bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Draw a diagram of each
bomb and explain the differences between the two types.
Heavy Water Early nuclear experiments used heavy water (deuterium
oxide), an isotope of water. In the forties, heavy water was manufactured in
quantity only in Norway. Assign groups of students to research each of the
following topics: the nature of heavy water, its role in nuclear reactions, the
Allied response to the German occupation of Norway.
What If? German physicists came close to developing an atomic weapon,
but Hitler cut back their research, choosing to concentrate efforts on
developing rockets, the V-1 and V-2, instead. Discuss the possible
outcome of the war if the Germans had developed and used atomic
weapons.

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