Manhattan Project

Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory that designed the actual bombs. The project was named after the Manhattan, New York borough, where much of the early research was done.

Origins

The discovery of nuclear fission by German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann in 1938, and its theoretical explanation by Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch, made the development of an atomic bomb a theoretical possibility. Fears that Nazi Germany would build and use a bomb led Leo Szilard and Einstein to write the Einstein–Szilard letter, urging President Franklin D. Roosevelt to begin the Manhattan Project to develop a bomb of their own.

Research and production

The Manhattan Project began modestly in 1939, but grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion (about $23 billion in 2019 dollars). Over 90% of the cost was for building factories and to produce fissile material, with less than 10% for development and production of the weapons. Research and production took place at more than 30 sites across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

Legacy

The Manhattan Project's legacy continues to influence American scientific and military policy. Many of the project's leaders became advocates for nuclear arms control and nonproliferation after witnessing the effects of nuclear warfare. The project also led to advances in technology, medicine, and the understanding of the human genome.

Manhattan Project Resources
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