Cengage Learning

The Manhattan Project and the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb: The Essential Reference Guide, 1st Edition

  • Aaron Barlow
  • Published By:
  • ISBN-10: 1440859442
  • ISBN-13: 9781440859441
  • DDC: 355.8
  • 416 Pages | eBook
  • Original Copyright 2019 | Published/Released January 2020
  • This publication's content originally published in print form: 2019

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About

Overview

This book provides everything readers need to know about the Manhattan Project, the U.S. program that led to development of the atomic bomb during World War II. It begins with a detailed introductory essay on the project and a comprehensive chronology that reveals all the key moments related to the creation of the world's first nuclear weapon. These are followed by an alphabetical collection of relevant entries on such topics as Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb; Enrico Fermi, creator of the first nuclear reactor; Hiroshima, the target of the first atomic bomb; and Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan Project. Dozens of primary sources include eyewitness accounts, government memos, letters, press releases, and other important documents relevant to the establishment and success of the Manhattan Project. Four essays written by prominent scholars address whether the US was justified in dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. Includes an extensive bibliography.

Table of Contents

Front Cover.
Half Title Page.
Title Page.
Copyright Page.
Dedication.
Contents.
List of Entries.
List of Documents.
Introduction.
1: Advisory Committee on Uranium (S-1 Executive Committee).
2: Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range (July 16, 1945).
3: Alsos Mission.
4: B-29 Raids against Japan (June 1944–August 1945).
5: Bockscar.
6: Briggs, Lyman (1874–1963).
7: Bush, Vannevar (1890–1974).
8: Byrnes, James Francis (1879–1972).
9: Churchill, Sir Winston L. S. (1874–1965).
10: Clinton Engineer Works.
11: Cockcroft, John (1897–1967).
12: Compton, Arthur Holly (1892–1962).
13: Conant, James Bryant (1893–1978).
14: Critical Mass.
15: Development of Substitute Materials.
16: Einstein, Albert (1879–1955).
17: Einstein-Szilárd Letter.
18: Electromagnetic Uranium Enrichment.
19: Enola Gay.
20: Fat Man.
21: Fermi, Enrico (1901–1954).
22: Fissile Material.
23: 509th Composite Group.
24: Frisch, Otto (1904–1979).
25: Frisch-Peierls Memorandum.
26: Gaseous Uranium Enrichment.
27: Groves, Leslie Richard (1896–1970).
28: Gun-Type Fission Weapon.
29: Hahn, Otto (1879–1968).
30: Hanford, Washington.
31: Hiroshima, Bombing of (August 6, 1945).
32: Implosion-Type Nuclear Weapon.
33: Interim Committee.
34: Laurence, William Leonard (1888–1977).
35: Lawrence, Ernest Orlando (1901–1958).
36: Little Boy.
37: Los Alamos Laboratory (Project Y).
38: MAUD Committee.
39: Meitner, Lise (1878–1968).
40: Metallurgical Laboratory.
41: Nagasaki, Bombing of (August 9, 1945).
42: National Bureau of Standards.
43: National Defense Research Committee.
44: Neumann, John von (1903–1957).
45: Nuclear Chain Reaction.
46: Nuclear Reactor.
47: Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
48: Office of Scientific Research and Development.
49: Oliphant, Mark (1901–2000).
50: Oppenheimer, Julius Robert (1904–1967).
51: Pacific Theater: World War II.
52: Pegram, George Braxton (1876–1958).
53: Peierls, Rudolf (1907–1995).
54: Plutonium.
55: Potsdam Conference (July 17–August 2, 1945).
56: Project Alberta.
57: Quebec Conference, 1st (August 14–24, 1943).
58: Roosevelt, Franklin D. (1882–1945).
59: Serber, Robert (1909–1997).
60: Stimson, Henry Lewis (1867–1950).
61: Strassmann, Fritz (1902–1980).
62: Sweeney, Charles (1919–2004).
63: Szilárd, Leó (1898–1964).
64: Teller, Edward (1908–2003).
65: Thermal Diffusion Uranium Enrichment.
66: Thin Man.
67: Tibbets, Paul (1915–2007).
68: Tinian Joint Chiefs.
69: Tizard Mission.
70: Transmutation of Uranium into Plutonium.
71: Trinity Test.
72: Truman, Harry (1894–1972).
73: Tube Alloys.
74: University of Chicago.
75: Uranium Enrichment.
76: Uranium-235.
77: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
78: Wendover Army Air Field.
79: Wigner, Eugene Paul (1902–1995).
80: World War II.
81: Primary Documents.
82: 1. Leó Szilárd’s Letter to Hugo Hirst, March 17, 1934.
83: 2. Leó Szilárd Letter to Lewis Strauss on Discoveries Relating to Fission of Uranium, January 25, 1939.
84: 3. Albert Einstein Letter to President Franklin Roosevelt, August 2, 1939 (Received October 11, 1939).
85: 4. President Franklin Roosevelt’s Response to Albert Einstein, October 19, 1939.
86: 5. The Frisch-Peierls Memorandum.
87: 6. Arthur Compton Report of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Atomic Fission, May 17, 1941.
88: 7. MAUD Committee Report, July 1941.
89: 8. Vannevar Bush Letter to Franklin Roosevelt, March 9, 1942.
90: 9. J. Robert Oppenheimer Letter to James Conant on the Properties of Uranium, November 30, 1942.
91: 10. Leslie Groves and James Conant Letter to J. Robert Oppenheimer, February 25, 1943.
92: 11. Robert Serber’s “Los Alamos Primer” from Lectures Delivered in April 1943.
93: 12. J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorandum to Leslie Groves on Los Alamos, April 30, 1943.
94: 13. Harry Truman Telephone Conversation with Henry Stimson, June 17, 1943.
95: 14. Leslie Groves Letter to J. Robert Oppenheimer on Personal Safety, July 29, 1943.
96: 15. Quebec Agreement, August 19, 1943.
97: 16. J. Robert Oppenheimer Letter to Leslie Groves on Aliases, November 2, 1943.
98: 17. J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorandum on the Test of an Implosion Gadget, February 16, 1944.
99: 18. Niels Bohr’s Memorandum to President Roosevelt, July 1944.
100: 19. Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, “Aide Memoire,” September 18, 1944.
101: 20. Vannevar Bush and James Conant Memoranda to Henry Stimson, September 30, 1944.
102: 21. J. Robert Oppenheimer Letter to Leslie Groves, October 6, 1944.
103: 22. Albert Einstein’s Fourth Letter to President Franklin Roosevelt, March 25, 1945.
104: 23. Henry Stimson Letter to Harry Truman on the Manhattan Project, April 24, 1945.
105: 24. Memorandum to Leslie Groves on the Second Meeting of the Target Committee, May 12, 1945.
106: 25. Henry Stimson Memorandum to Harry Truman on the Campaign Against Japan, May 16, 1945.
107: 26. John McCloy’s Memorandum on Meeting with George Marshall and Henry Stimson Regarding Objectives toward Japan, May 29, 1945.
108: 27. James Franck, Report of the Committee on Political and Social Problems: Manhattan Project “Metallurgical Laboratory,” University of Chicago, June 11, 1945.
109: 28. Arthur Compton, Enrico Fermi, Ernest Lawrence, and J. Robert Oppenheimer, Report on the Use of the Atomic Bomb in Wartime, June 16, 1945.
110: 29. Undersecretary of the Navy Ralph Bard’s Memorandum to Secretary of War Henry Stimson, June 27, 1945.
111: 30. Office Diary of Leslie Groves on the Setting of the Test Date, July 2, 1945.
112: 31. Leó Szilárd’s Petition to Harry Truman.
113: 32. Norman Ramsey to J. Robert Oppenheimer, Memorandum on Dangers from Accidental Detonations, July 9, 1945.
114: 33. War Department Press Release on Trinity, “First Test Conducted in New Mexico,” July 16, 1945.
115: 34. Leslie Groves Memorandum to Henry Stimson on the July 16 Trinity Test, July 18, 1945.
116: 35. Stafford Warren Report to Leslie Groves on the July 16 Trinity Test, July 21, 1945.
117: 36. Harry Truman Diary Entry for July 25, 1945.
118: 37. Thomas Handy to Carl Spaatz Memorandum, July 25, 1945.
119: 38. Potsdam Declaration: Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender Issued, at Potsdam, July 26, 1945.
120: 39. Leslie Groves Memorandum to the U.S. Army Chief of Staff from the Conclusions of the Trinity Test, July 30, 1945.
121: 40. Charge-Loading Checklist for Little Boy on the Enola Gay, August 1945.
122: 41. Memorandum from General Leslie Groves to U.S. Army Chief of Staff George Marshall, August 6, 1945.
123: 42. U.S. Government Press Releases on the Occasion of the Hiroshima Bombing and Public Recognition of the Manhattan Project, August 6, 1945.
124: 43. Leaflet Dropped on Japanese Cities, Possibly Starting Slightly Prior to the Nagasaki Bombing, August 9, 1945.
125: 44. Excerpt of Assistant Chief of Staff Summary of Activities, August 9, 1945.
126: 45. Harry Truman Radio Report, August 9, 1945.
127: 46. Henry Stimson Press Release, August 9, 1945.
128: 47. Memorandum by General Leslie Groves to Chief of Staff George Marshall, with Marshall’s Note to Halt Bombings, August 10, 1945.
129: 48. Press Release on Security Measures Protecting the Secret of the Atomic Bomb, August 10, 1945.
130: 49. Japanese Request for Surrender, Transmitted August 10, 1945.
131: 50. J. Robert Oppenheimer Letter to Henry Stimson, August 17, 1945.
132: 51. Norman Ramsey Undated Letter to J. Robert Oppenheimer, Probably About August 22, 1945.
133: 52. Transcript of Telephone Conversation between General Leslie Groves and Lieutenant Colonel Charles E. Rea, August 25, 1945.
134: 53. Message from General Thomas Farrell to General Leslie Groves on Nagasaki Damage, September 14, 1945.
135: 54. Press Release of President Harry Truman’s Request for Press Assistance in Assuring Secrecy on the Manhattan Project, September 14, 1945.
136: 55. J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Speech to the Association of Los Alamos Scientists, November 2, 1945.
137: 56. The Effects of the Atomic Bombs: Excerpt from U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (Pacific War), Washington, D.C., July 1, 1946.
138: 57. Eben Ayers Diary on Memories by Harry Truman of the Atomic Bomb, August 6, 1951.
139: 58. President Harry Truman’s Later Thoughts in Letters, August 5, 1963 and August 4, 1964.
140: 59. Eyewitness Accounts.
141: 60. War Department Press Release, Calendar of Important Events, October 30, 1946.
142: Perspective Essays.
143: Background Essay.
144: Perspective Essay #1: The Decision to Employ the Bomb.
145: Perspective Essay #2: Dropping the Bomb Saved Lives.
146: Perspective Essay #3: A Necessary Action to End the War.
147: Perspective Essay #4: Dropping the Bombs Was Not Justified.
Chronology.
Bibliography.
About the Editor and Contributors.
Index.
About the Editor.