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What Einstein did do for the Atomic Bomb was to co-sign Leo Szilard's letter which got the attention of President Eisenhower and kick-started the Manhattan Proj
by cstross 3y ago
What Einstein did do for the Atomic Bomb was to co-sign Leo Szilard's letter which got the attention of President Eisenhower and kick-started the Manhattan Project.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Szilard_letter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%E2%80%93Szilard_lette...
- chasil 3y agoYou mean Roosevelt, not Eisenhower.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- bee_rider 3y agoEinstein was, of course, a devout pacifist. It must have turned some heads that he argued for a bomb to be made.
- defrost 3y agoIt raised a flicker of polite interest that died, from your own link: The Advisory Committee on Uranium was the beginning of the US government's effort to develop an atomic bomb, but it did not vigorously pursue the development of a weapon. What did move the needle, again from your link: The Frisch–Peierls memorandum and the British Maud Reports eventually prompted Roosevelt to authorize a full-scale development effort in January 1942. In essence, the letter from Einstein did not start the Manhatten Project, it was instead the direct efforts and in person meetings of Oliphant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Oliphant#Manhattan_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Oliphant#Manhattan_Projec...
- AniseAbyss 3y ago[dead]