"The Making of the Atomic Bomb The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a contemporary history book written by the American journalist and historian Richard Rhodes, first published by Simon & Schuster in 1987. It won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and a National Book Critics Circle Award. The narrative covers people and events from early 20th century discoveries leading to the science of nuclear fission, through the Manhattan Project and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Praised both by historians and former Los Alamos weapon scientists, the book is considered a"
"it on scientific issues. In its presentation to the Interim Committee the scientific panel offered its opinion not just on the likely physical effects of an atomic bomb, but on its likely military and political impact. This included opinions on such sensitive issues as whether or not the Soviet Union should be advised of the weapon in advance of its use against Japan. The joint work of the scientists at Los Alamos resulted in the first artificial nuclear explosion near Alamogordo on July 16, 1945, on a site that Oppenheimer codenamed ""Trinity"" in mid-1944. He later said this name was"
"know what the purpose of the laboratory was and thought it might be producing a ""death ray"". The only member of the UC administration who knew its true purpose—indeed, the only one who knew its exact physical location—was the Secretary-Treasurer Robert Underhill, who was in charge of wartime contracts and liabilities. The work of the laboratory culminated in the creation of several atomic devices, one of which was used in the first nuclear test near Alamogordo, New Mexico, codenamed ""Trinity"", on July 16, 1945. The other two were weapons, ""Little Boy"" and ""Fat Man"", which were used in the attacks"
"was a collaborative effort by the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The value of this project as an influence on organized collaboration is attributed to Vannevar Bush. In early 1940, Bush lobbied for the creation of the National Defense Research Committee. Frustrated by previous bureaucratic failures in implementing technology in World War I, Bush sought to organize the scientific power of the United States for greater success. The project succeeded in developing and detonating three nuclear weapons in 1945: a test detonation of a plutonium implosion bomb on July 16 (the Trinity test) near Alamogordo, New Mexico; an"
"Mexico, which was the scientific hub for research on bomb development and design. Other sites, notably the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory and the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago, played important contributing roles. Overall scientific direction of the project was managed by the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. In July 1945, the first atomic explosive device, dubbed ""Trinity"", was detonated in the New Mexico desert. It was fueled by plutonium created at Hanford. In August 1945, two more atomic devices – ""Little Boy"", a uranium-235 bomb, and ""Fat Man"", a plutonium bomb – were used against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima"
"detonations using conventional explosives (such as the Minor Scale U.S. test in 1985). The explosives might be spiked with radioactive materials to simulate fallout dispersal. The first atomic weapons test was conducted near Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, during the Manhattan Project, and given the codename ""Trinity"". The test was originally to confirm that the implosion-type nuclear weapon design was feasible, and to give an idea of what the actual size and effects of a nuclear explosion would be before they were used in combat against Japan. While the test gave a good approximation of many of the"
"test of the weapon. On July 16, 1945, in the desert north of Alamogordo, New Mexico, the first nuclear test took place, code-named ""Trinity"", using a device nicknamed ""the gadget."" The test, a plutonium implosion type device, released energy equivalent to 19 kilotons of TNT, far more powerful than any weapon ever used before. The news of the test's success was rushed to Truman at the Potsdam Conference, where Churchill was briefed and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin was informed of the new weapon. On July 26, the Potsdam Declaration was issued containing an ultimatum for Japan: either surrender or suffer"
"components. A base camp was constructed, and there were 425 people present on the weekend of the test. The code name ""Trinity"" was assigned by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, inspired by the poetry of John Donne. The test was of an implosion-design plutonium device, informally nicknamed ""The Gadget"", of the same design as the Fat Man bomb later detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945. The complexity of the design required a major effort from the Los Alamos Laboratory, and concerns about whether it would work led to a decision to conduct the"
"delivered on 2 July 1945. Three more hemispheres followed on 23 July and were delivered three days later. Because of the complexity of an implosion-style weapon, it was decided that, despite the waste of fissile material, an initial test would be required. Groves approved the test, subject to the active material being recovered. Consideration was therefore given to a controlled fizzle, but Oppenheimer opted instead for a full-scale nuclear test, codenamed ""Trinity"". In March 1944, planning for the test was assigned to Kenneth Bainbridge, a professor of physics at Harvard, working under Kistiakowsky. Bainbridge selected the bombing range near Alamogordo"
"early nuclear reactors and in the electromagnetic and gaseous diffusion enrichment processes for the production of uranium-235, the United States was able to develop three usable weapons by mid-1945. The Trinity test was a plutonium implosion-design weapon tested on 16 July 1945, with around a 20 kiloton yield. Oppenheimer later recalled that, while witnessing the explosion, he thought of a verse from the Hindu holy book, the ""Bhagavad Gita"" (XI,12): Years later he would explain that another verse had also entered his head at that time: Faced with a planned invasion of the Japanese home islands scheduled to begin on"
"advise the new president, Harry S. Truman, on nuclear weapons. It advised that the atomic bomb should be used against an industrial target in Japan as soon as possible and without warning. Bush was present at the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range on July 16, 1945, for the Trinity nuclear test, the first detonation of an atomic bomb. Afterwards, he took his hat off to Oppenheimer in tribute. Before the end of the Second World War, Bush and Conant had foreseen and sought to avoid a possible nuclear arms race. Bush proposed international scientific openness and information sharing as a"
"personally responsible for the safety aspects of the Trinity nuclear test on 16 July 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico. There was considerable concern about radioactive fallout and a network of geiger counters was established to track the fallout cloud. Groves found Warren at the base camp shortly after the explosion and was displeased to discover that Warren had been awake for the previous 48 hours. Groves had US Navy Captain George Lyons take over so Warren could get some rest. Fortunately, no problems arose with the test. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were carried out on 6 and"
"first atomic bomb. Teams of scientists and engineers were recruited to work on this project. The first test at Trinity Site in the desert of the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, now known as White Sands Missile Range, 28 miles southeast of San Antonio, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945 ushered in the atomic age. New Mexico had become a center of world-class science. High-altitude balloon experiments from Holloman Air Force Base caused debris found near Roswell, New Mexico (The Roswell Incident) in 1947. This reputedly led to the persistent (but unproven) claims by a few individuals that the government"
"was not particularly dangerous. Thus it was marketed as suitable for use in jewelry in 1945. Recent onsite gamma measurements at the Trinity Test Site and a comparison to Trinitite samples 2011.PDF Trinitite Trinitite, also known as atomsite or Alamogordo glass, is the glassy residue left on the desert floor after the plutonium-based Trinity nuclear bomb test on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The glass is primarily composed of arkosic sand composed of quartz grains and feldspar (both microcline and smaller amount of plagioclase with small amount of calcite, hornblende and augite in a matrix of sandy clay)"
"July 16, 1945, at the Trinity nuclear test. For his work on the project, he received the Medal for Merit from the president Harry S. Truman in 1946. On May 2, 1945, Groves and Thomas agreed that Monsanto would take over the running of the Clinton laboratories at Oak Ridge, Tennessee from July 1, 1945. Thomas brought in some 60 new staff from Dayton to help run the Clinton Laboratories, and he persuaded Eugene Wigner to come from Chicago to work on new reactor designs. Under Wigner, the Laboratories made a pioneering study of Wigner's disease, the swelling and distortion"
"the element plutonium possesses an isotope that is sufficiently unstable for this process to be usable. Terrestrial plutonium does not currently occur naturally in sufficient quantities for such use, so it must be manufactured in a nuclear reactor. Ultimately, the Manhattan Project manufactured nuclear weapons based on each of these elements. They detonated the first nuclear weapon in a test code-named ""Trinity"", near Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945. The test was conducted to ensure that the implosion method of detonation would work, which it did. A uranium bomb, Little Boy, was dropped on the Japanese city Hiroshima on"
"group, which developed X-ray instrumentation for examining explosions. In March 1944, he became head of a new group, E-9, which was charged with conducting the first nuclear test. In Oppenheimer's sweeping reorganization of the Los Alamos laboratory in August 1944, the E-9 Group became X-2. On July 16, 1945, Bainbridge and his colleagues conducted the Trinity nuclear test. ""My personal nightmare,"" he later wrote, ""was knowing that if the bomb didn't go off or hangfired, I, as head of the test, would have to go to the tower first and seek to find out what had gone wrong."" To his"
"of the bombs. Farrell was briefed on the physics of the atomic bomb by Robert Oppenheimer, and he made several extended tours of the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, which had been chosen as the site for the Trinity test. On signing a receipt for the plutonium from Oak Ridge, Farrell commented: Farrell observed the Trinity (nuclear test) with Oppenheimer from the control dugout located from the test tower. In his report on the test to President Truman on 21 July 1945, Farrell stated: . Farrell assumed special responsibility for combat operations. He served on the target committee, acting as"
"debris. The first man made nuclear explosion occurred on July 16, 1945 at 5:50 am on the Trinity Test Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico in the United States, an area now known as the White Sands Missile Range. The event involved the full-scale testing of an implosion-type fission atomic bomb. In a memorandum to the U.S. Secretary of War, General Leslie Groves describes the yield as equivalent to 15,000 to 20,000 tons of TNT. Following this test, a uranium-gun type nuclear bomb (Little Boy) was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, with a blast yield"
"Trinitite Trinitite, also known as atomsite or Alamogordo glass, is the glassy residue left on the desert floor after the plutonium-based Trinity nuclear bomb test on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The glass is primarily composed of arkosic sand composed of quartz grains and feldspar (both microcline and smaller amount of plagioclase with small amount of calcite, hornblende and augite in a matrix of sandy clay) that was melted by the atomic blast. It is usually a light green, although color can vary. It is mildly radioactive but safe to handle. In the late 1940s and early 1950s,"
"the timing group at the Trinity nuclear test that fired the first nuclear weapon at Alamogordo, New Mexico. His electronic timers tracked the progress of the detonation. In February 1946, he became the head of the P-1 (Electronics) Group. He participated in the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll, and performed the countdown for both tests. While most Americans saw Los Alamos as a remote and isolated place, it looked quite different to those accustomed to the shortages and danger of wartime Britain. Peggy, who worked at Los Alamos as a laboratory technician, pleasantly surprised and impressed Brigadier General"
"Raemer Schreiber Raemer Edgar Schreiber (November 11, 1910 – December 24, 1998) was an American physicist from McMinnville, Oregon who served Los Alamos National Laboratory during World War II, participating in the development of the atomic bomb. He saw the first one detonated in the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945, and prepared the Fat Man bomb that was used in the bombing of Nagasaki. After the war, he served at Los Alamos as a group leader, and was involved in the design of the hydrogen bomb. In 1955, he became the head of its Nuclear Rocket Propulsion (N) Division,"
"were scheduled, in April and October. McDonald Ranch House The McDonald Ranch House, also known as Trinity Site, in the Oscura Mountains of Socorro County, New Mexico, was the location of assembly of the world's first nuclear weapon. The active components of the Trinity test ""gadget"", a plutonium Fat Man-type bomb similar to that later dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, were assembled there on July 13, 1945. The completed bomb was winched up the test tower the following day and detonated on July 16, 1945 as the Trinity nuclear test. The McDonald Ranch House was built in 1913 by Franz Schmidt,"
"arrival he was added to the core group of scientists making key decisions in the direction of the program. Other members of that team included J. Robert Oppenheimer, John von Neumann, Norman F. Ramsey and Captain William Parsons of the United States Navy (USN). One of Penney's assignments at Los Alamos was to predict the damage effects from the blast wave of an atomic bomb. On 16 July 1945, Penney was an observer at the Trinity test detonation. He was there to observe the effect of radiant heating in igniting structural materials, and had also designed apparatus to monitor the"
"and conquer Manchuria (Manchukuo), Inner Mongolia (Mengjiang), Korea, South Sakhalin, the Kuriles, and possibly, Hokkaidō (starting with a landing at Rumoi). In 1939, Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him that the Germans might be researching the development of atomic weaponry and that it was necessary that the United States fund research and development of its own such project. Roosevelt agreed, and the result was the Manhattan Project—a top-secret research program administered by Major General Leslie R. Groves, Jr. The first bomb was tested successfully in the Trinity nuclear test on July"
"of water.” There was no way Hull could contain himself after that. (Hull was relieved that Groves did not recognize him at the Trinity test several months later.)” Hull was still at work on Fat Man At 5:30 A.M. on July 16, 1945, the test bomb produced by the project was detonated on the Alamogordo Bombing Range south of Los Alamos. “I was invited to go to a viewing site 20 miles away to watch,” Hull later said. “It was pitch dark, and then suddenly, this brilliant light flashed, but since we were 20 miles away, we heard no sound,”"
"Thomas F. Farrell, the Deputy Director of the Manhattan Project, signed for them, and handed them over to Louis Slotin, the head of the Pit Assembly Team. The active components of the bomb were assembled in the assembly room on July 13, 1945, The bomb was winched up the test tower the following day. The Trinity test occurred on July 16, 1945. A plutonium Fat Man-type bomb was detonated, similar to the bomb later dropped on Nagasaki. The explosion only away blew most of the home's windows out but did not significantly damage the structure; years of rain water intrusion"
"Y at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Arriving in September, Fermi was appointed an associate director of the laboratory, with broad responsibility for nuclear and theoretical physics, and was placed in charge of F Division, which was named after him. F Division had four branches: F-1 Super and General Theory under Teller, which investigated the ""Super"" (thermonuclear) bomb; F-2 Water Boiler under L. D. P. King, which looked after the ""water boiler"" aqueous homogeneous research reactor; F-3 Super Experimentation under Egon Bretscher; and F-4 Fission Studies under Anderson. Fermi observed the Trinity test on 16 July 1945, and conducted an experiment"
"in the Manhattan Project. He worked on the firing unit that was used for the implosion of the plutonium device. He helped prepare the first atomic bomb, Trinity, and witnessed its explosion, the first detonation of a nuclear device. He was sent up to the top of the tower twice the previous day to reassure a nervous Robert Oppenheimer that all was well. In 1946 he joined the staff of Brown University as an assistant professor, and became a full professor in 1951. From 1951 to 1952 he was Associate Dean of the Graduate School, then acting dean the following"
"testing of the world’s first atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project. Visitors are introduced to the daily lives of the scientists who lived at Los Alamos and journey with them to the Trinity site where the first explosion occurred in 1945. These exhibits include a series of displays striving for objective examination of the history leading up to, and the policy decisions regarding, deployment of the first nuclear weapons code-named Little Boy and Fat Man. The exhibit includes text of comments by Manhattan Project staff (including a contentious Edward Teller statement advocating a high-altitude night-time demonstration detonation over Tokyo to"
"named its conference room the Raemer E. Schreiber Room in his honor. Raemer Schreiber Raemer Edgar Schreiber (November 11, 1910 – December 24, 1998) was an American physicist from McMinnville, Oregon who served Los Alamos National Laboratory during World War II, participating in the development of the atomic bomb. He saw the first one detonated in the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945, and prepared the Fat Man bomb that was used in the bombing of Nagasaki. After the war, he served at Los Alamos as a group leader, and was involved in the design of the hydrogen bomb. In"
"as a major Army Air Forces training installation. In the many months leading up to successful detonation of the first atomic bomb, the Trinity test, and delivery of the first airborne atomic weapon, Project Alberta, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Director of Los Alamos Laboratory, and his technical advisor, Hartly Rowe, began looking for a new site convenient to Los Alamos for the continuation of weapons development especially its non-nuclear aspects. They felt a separate division would be best to perform these functions. Kirtland had fulfilled Los Alamos' transportation needs for both the Trinity and Alberta projects, thus, Oxnard Field was transferred"
"Chicago winding down in mid-1944, Morrison moved to the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico as a group leader. His first task was to help determine how much plutonium a bomb would require. He calculated that would be sufficient. He then worked with George Kistiakowsky on the explosive lenses required to detonate the implosion-type nuclear weapon. Morrison transported the core of the Trinity test gadget to the test site in the back seat of a Dodge sedan. He was an eyewitness to the test on July 16, 1945, and wrote a report on it. A month later, as"