tists were hard at work developing weapons to further the war effort. They had made attempts to experiment with nuclear power, but they had not had any success (Williams 25). It was still not known if it was a real possibility to harness the power of the atom, but on October 12, 1939, President Roosevelt, at the urging of escaped German scientist Albert Einstein, agreed to explore the potentialities of atomic energy (Jones 15).
             The army took over much of the control in assisting the development of the atomic bomb and named the endeavor the "Manhattan Project". It was named after the Manhattan Engineer District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, based in New York City, where much of the early research was done (Jones 23). However, the project was carried out in university research laboratories across the United States. The research was done at an accelerated pace and the scientists found themselves under pressure to produce a working product as soon as possible. The goal was to be able to have a working bomb to be able to use in the war. Much of the Manhattans projects work went into finding material that was usable in making an atomic bomb and a lot of the early work that went on across the country concentrated on producing the best fissionable material. However, the research on the actual building of the bomb was done in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
             The purpose of the Los Alamos facility is clearly summed up by the
             ...