Olivia Bell English 1102 Mr. Borrero 23 September 2012 Memo 1.

If I had an extra 24 hours I would have simply started my project sooner, and worked on it more during that time period. I know it could use some polishing, and more detailed footnotes, however I also know what I did do in footnotes will help me because I know exactly what Im talking about. 2. My project had an incredible amount of information to work with, so to get it all down on one paper is very overwhelming, I believe I did the best I could with the amount of information I had to include to cover all parts of the event. 3. While reading my paper you should consider the parts separately, I didnt do the best in pushing them all together but as separate parts they encompass the feeling of that subject very well, in my opinion.

Historical Inquiry Essay The Manhattan Project was the atomic bomb program that was started when rumors of the Nazi Germans were creating a weapon that was capable of mass destruction. Many men, and even women, worked on this project for countless hours in several different locations. The differences in gender were not the only differences; there were several different races, and nationalities that were responsible for research, development, and construction of the most destructive bomb known to man at the time. The men in charge of leading the creation of the bomb are some of the most important men during this project. Men like, J. Robert Oppenheimer, General Leslie Groves, and Vannevar Bushi will go down in history as the leading men in science and development (Hales). Oppenheimer became the head of R&D, and his basic job was to translate scientific mumbo jumbo into a language that the community could comprehend and understand (Hales)ii. He was also placed as head of the bomb design committee by General Leslie Groves before the method for separating uranium was developed by the scientist, thats just how confident Groves was in the Manhattan Project being a success ( Groves). West Point graduate Leslie Groves was appointed to head the Manhattan Project for the Army Corps of Engineers. After building one of the Nations greatest fortresses, he was the obvious choice to those on the Army Corps of Engineers committee ("Atomic Heritage Foundation"). Groves was one of the most strenuous, difficult person many of the workers on the Manhattan Project had ever worked with. Colonel Kenneth D. Nichols was quoted in saying that Groves was; The biggest son of a bitch I have ever worked for. He is most demanding. He is most critical. He is always a driver, never a praiser. He is abrasive and sarcastic. He disregards all normal organizational channels. He is extremely intelligent. He has the guts to make timely, difficult decisions. He is the most egotistical man I know. He knows he is right and so sticks by his decision. He abounds with energy and expects everyone to work as hard, or even harder, than

he does... if I had to do my part of the atomic bomb project over again and had the privilege of picking my boss, I would pick General Groves." ("Atomic Heritage Foundation ").iii The Manhattan Project committee and Army of Engineering Corps were not the only ones that approved of Groves as the perfect choice for the job, the people he was in charge of were in awe of this work ethic and decision making skills. Vannevar Bush was another top contributor of the Manhattan Project. A trained engineer and political strategist, many historians credit him with the atomic policy of the United States (Parides). The Manhattan Project was located in several different spots; one of the most famous would be Los Alamos, New Mexico, or Site Y (Hales)iv. Located on top of a high plateau, in between the Los Alamos Canyon, for which it gets its name, and the Pueblo Canyon. The site was surrounded by chain link fence topped with barbed wire. In the middle of the complex was the Tech area, which made a distinction between the domains of scientist and civilians, and the military. In addition, there was also a second round of fencing to isolate the residential area (Schofield)v. Los Alamos was primarily responsible for creation of the bomb and testing it. Sites in Hansford, Washingtons main role within the Manhattan Project was figuring out how to produce plutonium, while the separation of uranium-235 was located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. However, out of these three, Los Alamos remained the most important, as it pulled all the elements together (Schofield).vi As mentioned before several thousands of different kinds of people were involved in the Manhattan Project. Every kind of scientist from theoretical to experimental, to engineers and the basic construction workers was a part of the construction of the atomic bomb.vii It went farther than that, people in places of power, like politicians and military officers, first had to come up with the decision to create the bomb before they could begin the construction of oneviii. Once the project was given the green light, General Groves appointed William Laurence as the governments press spokesman

(Schofield). The United States was not solely responsible for the creation of the bomb; they had help from findings of scientist in allied countries like England and France that contributed to the creation of the Atomic Bomb (Parides). The atomic bomb was one on the most top secret projects the United States government took part in, it was so secretive, most workers were not aware of the full scope of what they were creating, they were only aware of their one section they were assigned tooix (Webb). One of the most surprising was the amount of female workers that were involved in the Manhattan Project. About nine percent of the workers at Hanford were women in 1944, when their site was the largest at fifty-one thousandx (Howes). Not only can that, but the base of the atomic bomb be traced back to a woman by the name of Lise Meitner, who coined the term nuclear fission, after providing the world with the first theoretical explanation of nuclear fission (Howes). In Los Alamos, the number of women working in the Tech Area jumped from sixty, in 1943, to 200 in 1944 (Howes). The women scientist were not the only women located on the sites, the wives of the Los Alamos work force spent nearly all their time on the base, however they were grudgingly accepted. The people in charge of hiring the work force always tried to persuade their new recruits to leave behind their wives, or they targeted young, unmarried men. The wives that moved on base with their husbands had no knowledge of women scientist working alongside their husbands, whether they choose to ignore this fact, or they were simply not informed is unknown (Schofield)xi. The detonation of the bomb fell onto the shoulders of President Truman, however, due to the Quebec Agreement, he consulted the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchillxii. Contrary to popular belief, the decision to set off the bomb was not solely based off the fact that it would end the war; instead, it also had to do with money and pride. Creating the bomb was incredibly costly, but there was also an ego card of the United States wished the world to know they had the bomb before Hitler. While the military and the political leaders were still for detonating the bomb on the Japanese, some scientist were starting to doubt their involvement in the project (Groves). At the death of an American physicist,

Harry Daghlian, most of the scientist began understanding the impact of their work. Daghlian was the first case of radiation sickness; He was the first case of radiation sickness any of the doctors had ever seen or handled. He very gradually just disintegrated. All the cells in his body had been damaged way down inside. There was nothing the doctors could do. They packed him in ice. Finally his hair began to fall out and his mind began to be affected It took Harry a month to die. It was a very sobering experience for everyone on the site. And it added fire to the immediate reaction of the Los Alamos scientist against using the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When 150,000 Japanese disappeared into a hug lethal mushroom of radiation, Harrys death helped bring the lesson home. (Howes)xiii. The public reaction to the dropping of the bomb on the two Japanese cities can be described as amazement, fear, and celebration. The Japanese surrendered soon after the dropping of the second bomb on Nagasaki, and high government officials still maintain that the atomic bomb is responsible for the saving of countless American lives. However, not all citizens believed the Atomic bomb was a God send, of a good kind. The atomic warfare sounded too much of the end of time that was told in the Bible prophecies (Boyer)xiv. Through discussion, people slowly began understanding the full consequences of the bomb, including, the destruction level (Webb). The Manhattan Project has many misconceptions, from the people that worked on it, to what they were working on, the stories are countless. The destruction however is very real, and evident. The Manhattan project was a gateway to the nuclear threat of war we face today. If yesteryears society could see the destruction of testing and the fear of our country dealing with nuclear weapons, I am confident they would have scrapped the whole project together in an effort to better our society.

i ii

Possible characters Main event

iii iv

Quote for work Scenery v Scenery shot vi Something a character can say Were the most important vii Show screenshots of different levels viii Key point in work ix Scene where workers begin wondering what they are doing x Show amount of female workers xi Show home life of women on the base xii Show xiii Show death of Harry xiv Show public reactio

Works Cited Page

"The Unlikely Pair: General Leslie Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer The Unlikely Pair: General Leslie Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer ." Atomic Heritage Foundation. N.p., 27 Sep 2011. Web. 22 Feb 2012. <http://www.atomicheritage.org/mediawiki/index.php/The_Unlikely_Pair:_General_Leslie_Groves_and _J._Robert_Oppenheimer>. Boyer, Paul. "Sixty Year and Counting"Ed. Rosemary Mariner. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2006. 3-15. Print.

Groves, Leslie, and First . Now It Can Be Told. New York: Da Capo Press, 1975. Print. Hales , Peter. Living of the Manhattan Project. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1997. Print. Howes , Ruth. Their Day in the Sun. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999. Print. Parides , Peter. "To Run With The Swift."Ed. Rosemary Mariner. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2006. 21-41. Print. Schofield, Mary Anne. "Lost and Almost Caught Between the Fences."Ed. Rosemary Mariner. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2006. 65-82. Print. Webb, George. "The Manhattan Project Revealed."Ed. Rosemary Mariner. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2006. 43-61. Print.