The Atomic Bomb What started it? • In 1938, German scientists discover fission • Many German scientists (especially Jewish) fled Nazi Germany to America – These scientists, led by Albert Einstein wanted America to develop an atomic bomb first The Manhattan Project • In 1942 the military began the top secret project to create a nuclear bomb – The head scientist was Robert Oppenheimer • Chicago, Oak Ridge, and Los Alamos were the main sites of the project – Produced plutonium and Uranium • Lewiston got to store the really toxic stuff Operation Trinity Is A Success • In July 1944, 230 miles south of Los Alamos, the first atomic bomb was tested • It had the explosive power of 24 million pounds of TNT • After the successful test, Oppenheimer quoted the Bhagavad Gita – I am become death, the destroyer of worlds Truman Make the Decision • After the success of operation Trinity, Truman had to decide whether to use it on Japan (Germany had already surrendered) – The scientists did not want him to use it • They said it would open up a Pandora’s Box leading to a nuclear holocaust – The military wanted to bomb Japan • They said it was the only way to quickly end the war • After warning Japan of a terrible destruction that would befall them if they did not surrender, he decided to use it (twice) Hiroshima and Nagasaki • On August 6th, the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima • On August 9th, the city of Nagasaki was destroyed • Japan surrendered weeks later • Fat Man and Little Boy (code names for the bombs) killed 140,000 instantly and another 200,000 to 400,000 people shortly after Albert Einstein discussing the increasingly sophisticated weapons being developed during the new atomic age “I'm not sure what weapons will be used in World War III,but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” .