The Manhattan Project During World War II - 1563 Words

The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project started during World War II in 1940. The war was between the two opposite military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Many new weapons were manufactured during this war era. Two of these weapons happen to be â€Å"Little Boy† and â€Å"Fat Man.† These two weapons are nuclear atomic bombs, and they also ended World War II. The Manhattan Project was responsible in manufacturing these weapons. Therefore, the United States (U.S.) benefited from the Manhattan Project by using its weapons against Japan and dropping two nuclear bombs on Japan’s country which caused great destruction and gave them no choice but to surrender. In 1939, after uranium fission was discovered, many people were discussing atomic†¦show more content†¦The letter stated that German Nazi’s were trying to purify Uranium 235, if they were to purify it they would be able to create an atomic bomb. He also told the president that the U.S. sho uld start building in order to beat the other countries in making the nuclear weapons. On October 11th, 1939 Alexander Sachs (a scientist) went to President Franklin Roosevelt and discussed Albert Einstein’s letter. The president thought it was a good idea, so he started funding the project. This project was known as the Manhattan Project. Once it was approved many scientists got involved, some scientists that got involved were: Ken Bainbridge (test director of the project), David Bohm (theoretical physics, philosophy, and neuropsychology), Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigher, Otto Frisch, Rudolf Peieris, Felix Bloch, Niels Bohr, Emilio Segre, James Franck, Enrico Fermi, Klaus Fuchs, and Eward Teiler. All these scientists got involved thus starting the Manhattan Project. In 1939, American scientists (many of them were refugees in Europe) recommended the development of ways to use nuclear fission for military purposes. Most of the existing research had been performed at Columbia Univer sity in New York City. The project was based in Manhattan, New York. There was more than 30 laboratories and sites, also there was more than 130,000 people that were involved in different parts of nuclear research and development with three main locations were: Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Richland, Washington; and Los