the atomic bomb
In the months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor the Manhattan Project--thename given to the atomic bomb program because its original offices were inManhattan--grew very quickly. And although the Army had been involved since June of1942, it was just beginning to realize that someone was going to have to be put in overallcharge. 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 notunderstand the science behind building the atomic bomb, nor did he pretend to. Heneeded someone who would be able to supervise the scientific side of the project. Afterdismissing a number of candidates, Groves decided on who seemed like the mostimprobable of candidate of all--38-year-old J. Robert Oppenheimer. After he was officially given the job of laboratory director, Oppenheimer planned acampaign 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 theworld to join the project. He then helped Groves find a location for his bomb-makinglaboratory, tentatively called "Site Y."
To do this, it converts some of its mass into energy. At some point as the rods were withdrawn, fission wouldproduce neutrons faster than the cadmium could absorb them. Oppenheimer did not care too much for the site, nor did Groves. And the worst effects ofthe radiation--the leukemia, the cancer, the genetic damage--did not really show up forseveral years. Mid-July was not an ideal time for a test-bombing, as temperatures were often wellover 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and severe thunderstorms were common. All bombs, and especially those being developed at Los Alamos, release energy inthe form of light and heat. The site had to be isolated from anycenters of population, yet close enough to Los Alamos to allow for the easy movement ofmen and equipment. Other types, upon absorbing neutrons, break apart. On November 16, Oppenheimer,Groves, and representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers were looking at a site atJemez Springs, New Mexico, a deep canyon about 40 mi. Where the fireball touched the ground there was acrater a half-mile across, and it had fused the sand into a greenish-gray glass. There are two processes by which particles can be made to lose weight. " Encyclopedia Brittanica: Science and Tecnology Illustrated. on July 16, 1945, but that time wasscratched because of approaching thunderstorms. The test that changed the world was a complete success, and said by Oppenheimerto be "technically sweet.
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Acceptance Essays
