ipl-logo

Atomic Bomb Szilard Analysis

773 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The history of the atomic bomb essay

In 1945, when it became open knowledge that President Truman and his cabinet planned on using atomic weapons against Japan, a group of scientists who had worked on the project that led to the Atomic bomb, decided to protest. With Leo Szilard in the lead, an appeal was written to the President. This petition asked the President “to rule that the United States shall not, in the present phase of the war, resort to the use of atomic bombs” (Szilard). This letter contained the use of both ethos and pathos in hopes of convincing the President to change his point of view. While the use of pathos and egos was effective, the fact that Szilard was a nuclear physicist would have leant greater credibility to his letter than trying to appeal emotionally …show more content…

The vital information that only the scientists held should have been used as the main motivation to sway the President. By not bringing up the fact that it was them who invented the atomic bomb and they knew of its massive annihilation abilities, was a key argument that must have been brought forth. The petitioner’s repeated use of pathos and appeals of emotion and moral responsibility sidetracked the rational facts of their arguments. A factual representation of the scientist’s true information of the matter should have been the main thought process and might have possibly altered the course of history. Leo Szilard and his group of co-signers failed to prevent the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thus demonstrating that the point of view of the scientists failed to carry the strong talking points needed to stop the world’s first atomic weapons attack. The verbiage and main points should have been sterner and utilized the fact that the scientists held specific knowledge about these weapons. A more meaningful effort might have altered the way history played out. If the Szilard and the other scientists would have gone about petitioning the bombings in complete and 100 percent opposition rather than attempting to try and dictate national policy, they might have actually been

Show More
Related
489 Words | 2 Pages

During harry S. Truman's presidency he was faced with one of the most world altering decisions in the war against japan. The use of atomic weapons would set an example of the united states of america’s military strength,power and knowledge of a very destructive technology. It was necessary for president Truman to drop the atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for these reasons. American soilders were tired from the four years of fighting and a surrender from Japan was not in sight.. In (Doc L) it says the bomb saved more lives than killed people in the end, President Truman needed to retaliate for their attack on Pearl Harbor and the bomb would just end the war more quicker.

Read More
249 Words | 1 Pages

Highly, debatable topic President Truman’s decision on dropping atomic bomb on Japan during World war II. Many questions arise when this topic is raised like the world was introduced to the nuclear bombs, it was racist to drop bombs in japan, was Truman’s main target Asian or was it for the political reestablishment between Soviet Union, as German was America’s first attack why he did not drop atom bomb on them and so on. As it has already become more than seventy years it is still amongst the debated ones. It was best decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan by President Truman considering different factors like ending the war as soon as possible, responding to the pearl harbor, to impress the Soviet, lack of having incentives not to use bomb and justify the cost of Manhattan project.

Read More
832 Words | 4 Pages

Benjamin Barlow Professor Lombardi English 102 February 21, 2016 Leo Szilard’s “A Petition to the President of the United States” This appeal to stop the use of the atomic bomb was written by Louis Szilard and endorsed by 58 credible scientists that all worked in the nuclear energy field and were largely responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb. Once they were reaching the end of their research and had created a working atom bomb, the realization of the true power and destruction that it contained was enough to convince them that it should not be used. They came together to try to caution President Truman on the use of the bomb during war.

Read More
1035 Words | 5 Pages

(doc A) The Manhattan Project tested the atomic bomb and it was successful for what America needed. A Russian scientist wrote the United States knew Japan was already unstable and the bombing was not a necessity. (doc F) The raids, air strikes, land mines, and regular bombs from the Unites States had already depleted the resources of Japan.

Read More
1578 Words | 7 Pages

(Source C) The world was in a state of speechlessness and people knew that they had to re-evaluate the use of this new invention; the atomic bomb. People started to wonder whether this was a good thing or a bad thing for the future of the world and many were thinking that this nuclear power would be toxic for the world. (Source E) The public and the youth resisted the nuclear power greatly in their popular culture from art to even the humour at the time in order to stress the fears of which the people were experiencing.

Read More
676 Words | 3 Pages

Was America right to use atomic weapons against Japan? The dropping of the atomic bomb in Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was the end of WWII. However, there has been much conflict considering the use of the bomb. In this essay, I will discuss reasons from both sides of the argument and justify my opinion.

Read More
804 Words | 4 Pages

Michael Smith Professor Amy Decker English 102 19 May 2015 Critical Evaluation of “Petition to the President” Szilard makes a valid argument in his “Petition to the President” essay by using a good balance of logos, pathos, and ethos as well as by being sure to restate his point to assure that the reader makes the necessary connections. He used ethos very well when stating his reason for what makes him a reliable source to be talking on behalf of the topic. Logos were used well when Szilard was explaining how the use of atomic bombs would simply open a door to more destruction and turn them into an “easy fix” for any future problems with other countries that the U.S. may face. Although he did use logos and ethos as well as pathos, it appeared

Read More
1838 Words | 8 Pages

Imagine that there is a decision to be made to launch the atomic bomb or not. The bomb was launched but was it justified? Years ago during WWll, a scientist Albert Einstein sent a letter to the president. It said that Germany was creating a bomb that would cause major destruction and the United States had to make one as well. Scientists started making the bomb and it became the Project Manhattan.

Read More
626 Words | 3 Pages

In 1939, the scientific community, specifically German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom (The Manhattan Project” 2015). America realized that Adolf Hitler’s Germany obtained a massive amount of scientific talent. With their access had necessary raw materials and knowledge of the splitting of the uranium atom, they had the industrial capacity to produce an atomic bomb(“Manhattan Project”2014). The atomic bomb would eventually become the turning point of weaponry during World War II. On October 11, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein about the splitting of the uranium atom which could be beneficial in developing weapons for America during World War II.

Read More
677 Words | 3 Pages

A Petition to the President of the United States by Leo Szilard and Cosigners was an appeal to the President (Commander-in-Chief) from the scientists who developed the atomic bomb, to consider other options instead of using it, in a surprise attack on Japan in 1945. The scientists lead by Szilard appealed to the President to first use the option of disclosing the power of the atomic bomb and requesting Japanese surrender, or if not heeded the atomic bomb would be used. A Petition to the chairman of the United States, the author of the petition discusses why the utilization of atomic bombs is not a good idea. Szilard’s drug ab aims his expertise and knowledge to abide valid points behind his petition. He is a working scientist in the eye socket

Read More
960 Words | 4 Pages

He exonerates the scientists efforts as they were dedicated to the project. There were many resources used in development and the high cost of 2 million for the laboratories. He even states that the workers that invested in the project were not fully aware of what was being produced as the explosions were exceedingly small. All these details prove that this was not only the most dangerous but also riskiest scientific invention.

Read More
1016 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout Cat’s Cradle Vonnegut implies the scientists that created the atomic bomb and murdered thousands of Japanese during World War II didn’t see it as a weapon, but as a game to prove their intelligence, “In a modern perspective, it would be assumed that science –the pursuit of knowledge through collection of observation and empirical data- benefits people. However, Vonnegut uses his postmodern irony to show

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

President Harry Truman gave an executive order in 1945 to drop to atomic bombs in popular downtown cities in Japan. With the guidance of many scientists and political leaders President Truman made the extremely tough decision to drop the bombs. After listening to arguments from both sides President Truman came to the conclusion that dropping bombs would be the best thing to do for this war. It would also show that the United States had an extreme military power. Many American politicians were for the idea of dropping the bomb, because they believed that it was the only way to end the war and get Japan to surrender.

Read More
744 Words | 3 Pages

The Egyptians are thought to have had a large influence on the Greeks. The first recorded use of (essential) oils was as gifts or trade from the Egyptians, where they were instantly recognized for their many different uses. (Ancient Egypt Online, n.d.) The Greeks, however, were able to make huge advancements in the way plants and essential oils were utilized in medicine when physician Hippocrates began to study them. Long before aromatherapy essential oils were in common usage, many people used the actual plant to heal.

Read More
2251 Words | 10 Pages

Internal Assessment Topic: Research Question: How did the UK establishments react to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Ryusei Noda Candidate Number: 006816-0010 History Internal Assessment (SL) 2015 Word Count: 1849 words Table of Contents Section A Plan of Investigation Section B Summary of Evidence Section C Evaluation of Sources Section D Analysis Section E Conclusion Bibliography Section

Read More

More about Atomic Bomb Szilard Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document