The Manhattan Project Summary

Zoellner wrote the book Uranium to give people who do not have much knowledge as to what happened during the Manhattan Project, a deeper understanding of the “uranium era” and to show the hidden business transactions that were made by the United States to become the “powerhouse” country that it is today. Zoellner later goes into detail about the aftermath of the dropping of the Atom Bomb. As well as explains how the whole process of the Manhattan Project affected other countries needs for uranium for instance, “But every speck of it had to be counted and hoarded; it was, at the time, the most valuable matter on the planet” (64). He then goes into detail describing which countries wanted bombs and what they were willing to do to get them. When

Science. Zoellner refers to prophecies of doom and the Bible when he includes text and quotes like, “experience the last burning… legacy of man could be wiped away from the surface of the planet as a breeze wipes away pollution, leaving behind only a dead cinder… For the religious and secular alike, uranium had become the mineral of apocalypse” (73). These statements are included after the bomb was dropped, people associated it with the apocalypse; “And for those who witnessed the emergence of uranium bombs in 1945, the vocabulary of apocalypse came quite naturally” (72). Zoellner uses the quote: “Faith in God had begun to desert Laurence when his little white kitten died, but his faith in the rational powers of science was unshakable” (87), as an example of how man was testing faith in God over faith in

Israel spared no expense when being faced with having the opportunity to create an powerful identity for themselves and be known as a country that should not be messed with; “...Israel had to possess the ultimate tool of defense--if not immediately, then at some point in the future” (105). Israel was also very secretive about the construction of the atomic bomb and the facilities for it; “Most of what was built was built underground, in an attempt to ide its true nature from airplanes and spy satellites…” (106). Zoellner also introduces a story about A. Q. Khan, a scientist who went rogue and stole blueprints and also smuggled parts to build atom bombs into multiple countries. When the Pakistani bomb was finished, the nation was filled with pride and in return, they treated Khan like no other; “ Khan was hailed as a genius and was venerated in a cultish way that perhaps only a Manhattan Project scientist might have recognized: celebrated for birthing a tool of death” (118). A. Q. Khan was a corrupt, greed filled businessman and scientist. Since the world had already seen what the atom bomb could do, other countries were not impressed when he would stop at nothing to build multiple