| Chapter 1: | Two Stories |
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The Manhattan Project
Leo Szilard was one of the most important pioneers in the development of nuclear technology. He contributed many important inventions, including the linear accelerator, the electronic microscope, and the nuclear reactor. Szilard was also known as a scientist of conscience. He insisted that scientists accept moral responsibility for the consequences of their work.
Szilard studied engineering at Budapest Technical University. In 1920 he went to study physics at the University of Berlin, where he took classes from Albert Einstein. Szilard received a doctorate in physics from the University of Berlin in 1923. He taught a seminar on nuclear physics and chemistry with Lise Meitner in 1930. Lise Meitner's and Otto Hahn's research team discovered nuclear fission, and Meitner was the one who first used the phrase “nuclear fission.” In 1933 Szilard fled from Germany to Britain to escape Nazi persecution. In 1936 Szilard had started to realize that atomic energy was feasible, and potentially so dangerous that its research should be controlled. He moved to the United States in 1938 in anticipation of the outbreak of the Second World War. He began experiments on nuclear chain reactions at Columbia University.
After the discovery of uranium fission, Szilard believed that atomic bombs were possible, and that Nazi Germany might be developing them. He was worried about the consequences of a Nazi atomic bomb. In the summer of 1939, Szilard turned to Albert Einstein and obtained his assistance in persuading the U.S. government to construct an atom bomb as a preventive measure.
In response to the warning, President Roosevelt encouraged further research on nuclear fission. Many of the country's most brilliant scientists participated in this endeavor. Nobel Laureate Arthur Compton was one of the most notable figures. Compton was in charge of the S-1 Committee under the wartime Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) in 1941. The S-1 Committee was charged with investigating the properties of uranium, as well as its manufacture. In 1942 Compton