the atomic bomb

             In the months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor the Manhattan Project--the
             name given to the atomic bomb program because its original offices were in
             Manhattan--grew very quickly. And although the Army had been involved since June of
             1942, it was just beginning to realize that someone was going to have to be put in overall
             charge. The man chosen was Leslie Richard Groves, a 46-year-old colonel in the Army
             While he was a competent engineer, Groves was no scientist. He did not
             understand the science behind building the atomic bomb, nor did he pretend to. He
             needed someone who would be able to supervise the scientific side of the project. After
             dismissing a number of candidates, Groves decided on who seemed like the most
             improbable of candidate of all--38-year-old J. Robert Oppenheimer.
             After he was officially given the job of laboratory director, Oppenheimer planned a
             campaign of "absolutely unscrupulous recruiting of anyone we can lay our hands on."1
             He used his charismatic personality to recruit some of the greatest scientific talent in the
             world to join the project. He then helped Groves find a location for his bomb-making
             laboratory, tentatively called "Site Y."
             A number of southwestern sites were explored. On November 16, Oppenheimer,
             Groves, and representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers were looking at a site at
             Jemez Springs, New Mexico, a deep canyon about 40 mi. (64 km) northwest of Santa Fe.
             Oppenheimer did not care too much for the site, nor did Groves. His main objection was
             that there was no room for expansion. Oppenheimer then innocently remarked about
             going back to Albuquerque via the Los Alamos Ranch School.
             Groves liked Los Alamos at once, and began moving quickly. He called
             Washington that very evening and began to buy the land. The Ranch School was having
             financial trouble as a result of the war, and so it was more than ha...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
the atomic bomb. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:48, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/55479.html