The Atomic Bomb

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the scope of the effect the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had on modern warfare and science technology is visible only when taking into account the intense scientific processes to create these weapons of mass destruction. The author points out that, at the dawn of World War II, Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Franklin. D. Roosevelt about Nazi Germany's efforts to purify uranium-235, which he warned could result in the building of an atomic bomb. The paper relates that, soon after this letter, the U.S. government started the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb before the Germans. The author states that the bomb was tested successfully on July 1945 and, a month later, the first bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The paper concludes that the atomic bomb was considered a "quick" and economical way to win the war; however, it was a cruel form of punishment for the Japanese citizens resulting in slow and painful deaths for many innocent Japanese. The paper includes graphs.

From the Paper:

"The most difficult part of the Manhattan Project was how to produce enough enriched Uranium to uphold a chain reaction. Uranium-235 was hard to extract. Only about 1/500th of Uranium ore mined ends up as Uranium metal. Of this metal, the fissionable isotope of Uranium is rare. Fissionable Uranium occurs at a ration of 1 to 139. Separating one part of Uranium-235 from 139 parts of Uranium-238 is challenging. Only mechanical methods could effectively separate the two. Scientists at Columbia University first figured out how. A facility to separate Uranium-235 was set up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Groueff, Stephane. Manhattan Project: The Untold Story of the Making of the Atomic Bomb. Boston: Little Brown & Company, 1967.
• Szasz, Ferenc Morton. The Day the Sun Rose Twice: The Story of the Trinity Site Nuclear Explosion, July 16, 1945. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1956.
• Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. Grolier Online: Academic American Encyclopedia. http:// go.grolier.com. Visited 05/01/04.
• Radiation Effects Research Foundation. http://www.rerf.or.jp/.
• The Avalon Project : The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/mp10.htm

More papers on The Atomic Bomb:

• Analytical Essay # 130959 : "The Atomic Bomb and Morality"
• Research Paper # 4888 : "The Manhattan Project: The Building of the Atomic Bomb"
• Essay # 83621 : "The Atomic Bomb"
• Term Paper # 140124 : "The Atomic Bomb: A Bibliographic Essay"

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