سه شنبه ۲۰ شهریور ۰۳ | ۲۱:۲۶ ۷ بازديد
Scientists at the beginning of the twentieth century discovered that
atoms contained an enormous amount of energy. The discov-
ery gave rise to the idea that releasing this energy by splitting the
atom might create a devastating weapon.
The idea was not taken seriously until World War II. Then, the fear that
the Germans might make an atomic bomb convinced the U.S. government
to try to develop one first. In 1942, the United States set in motion the Man-
hattan Project.
The Manhattan Project was a code name for the enormous industrial
and technical enterprise that produced the first atomic bomb. It cost 2 billion
dollars and employed the efforts of 600,000 people. U.S. Army Brigadier
General Leslie Groves had overall supervision. The physicist J. Robert
Oppenheimer was director of the Los Alamos, New Mexico, center where
the bomb was actually built.
A successful test explosion on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mex-
ico, meant that the bomb was ready. The war in Europe had ended, but the
bomb could be used against the Japanese. A committee had already chosen
the city of Hiroshima as the first target.
The bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, by a U.S. B-29 bomber nick-
named Enola Gay. The destruction was incredible. An area of about 5
square miles (13 sq km) was turned to ashes. Of the 76,000 buildings in
Hiroshima, 70,000 were flattened. Of the city’s 350,000 inhabitants, 140,000
had died by the end of 1945. By the end of 1950, another 50,000 had died
from the effects of radiation. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on
August 9. The world had entered the Nuclear Age
atoms contained an enormous amount of energy. The discov-
ery gave rise to the idea that releasing this energy by splitting the
atom might create a devastating weapon.
The idea was not taken seriously until World War II. Then, the fear that
the Germans might make an atomic bomb convinced the U.S. government
to try to develop one first. In 1942, the United States set in motion the Man-
hattan Project.
The Manhattan Project was a code name for the enormous industrial
and technical enterprise that produced the first atomic bomb. It cost 2 billion
dollars and employed the efforts of 600,000 people. U.S. Army Brigadier
General Leslie Groves had overall supervision. The physicist J. Robert
Oppenheimer was director of the Los Alamos, New Mexico, center where
the bomb was actually built.
A successful test explosion on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mex-
ico, meant that the bomb was ready. The war in Europe had ended, but the
bomb could be used against the Japanese. A committee had already chosen
the city of Hiroshima as the first target.
The bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, by a U.S. B-29 bomber nick-
named Enola Gay. The destruction was incredible. An area of about 5
square miles (13 sq km) was turned to ashes. Of the 76,000 buildings in
Hiroshima, 70,000 were flattened. Of the city’s 350,000 inhabitants, 140,000
had died by the end of 1945. By the end of 1950, another 50,000 had died
from the effects of radiation. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on
August 9. The world had entered the Nuclear Age
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