Manhattan Project Research Papers

The Manhattan Project is one of history's most impactful scientific endeavors, and its effects are very relevant today. Launched in 1939, the project was a top-secret research program initiated by the United States government during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb, with fears of Nazi Germany developing an atomic weapon. The outcome was three atomic weapons, two of which, "Fat Man" and "Little Boy," were unleashed on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing catastrophic damage. This event only impacted the war's outcome but showed the world the true power of the atomic weapon. The Manhattan Project arguably is the most significant scientific endeavor ever accomplished since it paved the way for discoveries in nuclear

This discovery opened scientists to the idea of generating power atomically and the possibility of creating atomic weapons. According to the Office of History and Heritage Resources publication: F. G. Gosling, The Manhattan Project: Making the Atomic Bomb, "They found that while the nuclei of most elements changed somewhat during neutron bombardment, uranium nuclei changed greatly and broke into two roughly equal pieces." Nuclear fission demonstrated that a nuclear chain reaction was possible. Without this information, the Manhattan Project would not have been possible. However, since Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann were both German scientists, this discovery provided a significant advantage for the Germans over the Americans since they knew how to build atomic weapons. President Franklin D. Roosevelt received a message from German scientists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard about the discovery of nuclear fission, and Germany’s ambitions to construct atomic weapons. In response, Roosevelt formed the Uranium Committee in 1939, a top-ranking military and scientific expert demanding how reliable a nuclear chain reaction was. Following the Uranium Committee, the MAUD and S-1 Committees were established. Roosevelt saw Germany’s nuclear ambitions as a threat to western civilization. According

So when the bombs were completed, the secrecy of the project gave the world a surprise when “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The project secrecy played a key role in making the project successful by making the United States appear intimidating to its