Thread by @Starboy2079

Why US dropped Atomic Bomb on Japan (Thread Trilogy)

Part - 2 : Manhattan Project

कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो
लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्त: ।

"Oh Arjun, Now I am death, I am destroyer of worlds"
- Hindu Scripture Bhagavad Gita 11.32

World changed on 16th July 1945

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7th Dec 1941 : Japan trapped in game of FRD and brutally attacked on Pearl Harbor and with this US officially joins Second World War from Alliance side (UK, France, Russia)

Civilian living at Hiroshima n Nagasaki r unaware that in next 5 years they all r going to die brutally

1933, Germany

Leo Szilard, A Jew German Hungarian scientist hypothesized concept of Nuclear chain reaction and patented the idea of a nuclear fission reactor in 1934

In 1936, Szilárd attempted to create a chain reaction using beryllium and indium, but was unsuccessful

Considering influence of Nazi in Germany, He left Germany n move to USA

1938, Germany
Two German scientist Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann discovered Nuclear fission

That made Leo Szilard more worried

Is Hitler making Atomic Bomb ?

Coz he knows this technology can be used in bomb

Leo meets to his friend Albert Einstein who is very influential person in US and tell him about it and

ask him to talk to US president FD Roosevelt to start working on nuclear (Atom) bomb project coz if Hitler makes it before he will capture entire world

2nd August 1939 : Leo and Einstein writes a letter to US President FDR to start nuclear bomb project

3rd Sep 1939 : Second world war starts

3rd Oct 1938 : FDR receives Leo Einstein letter and considering gravity of situation form a committee on it

Uranium 235

It contains 92 protons and 143 neutrons and its highly unstable.

If its strike by a free neutron then it will break into 2 atoms and 3 free neutrons and then those 3 will further attack on those 2 unstable atoms and this chain reaction keep going

Breaking of atom release huge amount of energy.
This is basic concept of nuclear bomb

1940 and 1941 went into research on nuclear material and fission chain reaction and feasibility of atom bomb

The real work started after Pearl Harbor attack

18th Dec 1941 : US seriously

started working on nuclear bomb

19th Jan 1942: Roosevelt formally authorizes the atomic bomb project

August 13: Manhattan Engineering District is established by Chief of the United States Army Corps of Engineers

But real work starts in Sep when Col Leslie Groves joins

Sep 1942 : Army man Col Leslie Groves is make head of Manhattan Project and ask him to finish project at war footing coz Hitler is also making bomb, whoever makes first will win war

2 months before
July 1942 : Groves listened speech of Theorist Physicist n he was very impressed

That man was J Robert Oppenheimer (JRO)

A genius, a mad man and one of most underrated Scientist of history

Grooves was impressed by his breadth of his knowledge, his leadership and his madness (Drive)

Sep 1942 : Grooves appoints him head of project's secret lab

And from here, it starts world's one of most secretive, costliest, coordinated, deadly project

Selection of JRO by Grooves made surprised many people coz JRO was not as famous that time, he never received Nobel but Grooves played big gamble on JRO

An entire new city was built

in New Mexico state of US and it was called Los Alamos

Oppenheimer (JRO) handpicked his team os scientist. People were asked to shift in that newly built city with their wife n kids.

High level of secrecy was maintained and no one knows what is actual project

All were given code name and no one was allowed to use real name.

Thousands of people were living there. There was a common address PO 1663 for letter communications and all letters were read by army.

two more labs were established at Tenasses and Chicago for development of

Uranium 235 and Man made Plutonium 239

By Sep 1944, material (Ur and Pl) received at Los Alamos Lab

After 2 years of hard work they did it and they were able to make first nuclear bomb of world
well ahead of Germany and Russia

In Oct 1944 they started to build test site

22 April 1945 : US spy under Alsos Mission captures German experimental nuclear reactor at Haigerloch

8th May 1945 : Germany surrendered. Hitler already committed suicide 1 week before but war with Japan was still going on

Initial date was 11th Jul but later 16 Jul finalised

JRO named the test site Trinity

16th July 1945 : US conducted test of first nuclear bomb of world called Gadget

Test was successful

US became first country of world to have atomic bomb

Team of Oppenheimer and Grooves did it n put US way ahead in league of other nations

after 20 days on 6th Aug and 9th Aug US dropped these bombs on Japan

Leo Szilard opposed to use these bomb on human since successful trial had already conducted and Germany already surrendered

After surrender of Germany they found Hitler was not making nuclear bomb

2 lac people were killed in Japan and this incident changed life of JRO

He cud never be happy after that
After war when he met to US President Truman He said "Our hands r socked with blood"

Truman became so angry and said remove this son of bitch in front of my eyes

In 1949 USSR also made Nuclear Bomb

JRO's wife and GF was communist. After 1945 he was only man wo knew how to make nuclear bomb n US doubted that he helped USSR

But truth was Politics was never imp for him

He was stripped of from security in 1953 by Levis Strauss committee

He lived a life of tragedy alway after Hiroshima and Nagasaki

In 1961 US President JF Kennedy who knew JRO is honest, offered him highest scientist award of USA but he denied

In 1967 He died from cancer

Oppenheimer was the most under rated genius of history

He was so genius that he knew 8 language n can learn new language in 2 months

In 30s he came in contact of Hinduism n that influenced him a lot. He learnt Sanskrit and then read Veda, Upanishad and Bhagavad Gita

Its said his knowledge of Veda n Upanishad helped him to make

first atomic bomb of world

he used to feel there was much more of mysterious and novel than Science

Tragedy was he never received Nobel prize in his life

Today scientist believes that Oppenheimer work on gravitational collapse, neutron stars and black holes.

was his most important contribution, though it was not taken up by other scientists in his lifetime

16th July 1945, Trinity Test SIte, USA

5:29 in the morning when Oppenheimer conducted world's first atomic bomb test. He quoted a text from Hindu scripture Bhagavat Gita

We knew world would not be same. I remember line from the Hindu scripture, Bhagavad Gita;

Vishnu is trying to persuade Arjun that he should do his duty
He takes on his multi-armed form and says,

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

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Part 1 of series