Niels Bohr during WWII, when the Nazis invaded Denmark, he and his family escaped to Sweden on a fishing boat. Bohr then spent the rest of the war in England and the United States, helping the Allies create an atomic bomb. On 8 December 1943, Bohr arrived in Washington, D.C., where he met with the director of the Manhattan Project, Brigadier General Leslie R. Groves, Jr. He visited Einstein and Pauli at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and went to Los Alamos in New Mexico, where the nuclear weapons were being designed. For security reasons, he went under the name of "Nicholas Baker" in the United States, while Aage became "James Baker". Bohr did not remain at Los Alamos, but paid a series of extended visits over the course of the next two years. Robert Oppenheimer credited Bohr with acting "as a scientific father figure to the younger men", most notably Richard Feynman. Bohr is quoted as saying, "They didn't need my help in making the atom bomb."Oppenheimer gave Bohr credit for an important contribution to the work on modulated neutron initiators. "This device remained a stubborn puzzle," Oppenheimer noted, "but in early February 1945 Niels Bohr clarified what had to be done."Bohr recognized early that nuclear weapons would change international relations. In April 1944, he received a letter from Peter Kapitza, written some months before when Bohr was in Sweden, inviting him to come to the Soviet Union. The letter convinced Bohr that the Soviets were aware of the Anglo-American project, and would strive to catch up. He sent Kapitza a non-committal response, which he showed to the authorities in Britain before posting. Bohr met with Churchill on 16 May 1944, but found that "we did not speak the same language". Churchill disagreed with the idea of openness towards the Russians to the point that he wrote in a letter: "It seems to me Bohr ought to be confined or at any rate made to see that he is very near the edge of mortal crimes."Oppenheimer suggested that Bohr visit President Franklin D. Roosevelt to convince him that the Manhattan Project should be shared with the Soviets in the hope of speeding up its results. Bohr's friend, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, informed President Roosevelt about Bohr's opinions, and a meeting between them took place on 26 August 1944. Roosevelt suggested that Bohr return to the United Kingdom to try to win British approval. When Churchill and Roosevelt met at Hyde Park on 19 September 1944, they rejected the idea of informing the world about the project, and the aide-mémoire of their conversation contained a rider that "enquiries should be made regarding the activities of Professor Bohr and steps taken to ensure that he is responsible for no leakage of information, particularly to the Russians."[
J. Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the Manhattan Project, the U.S.'s attempt during World War II to create an atomic bomb. During the beginning of World War II, news arrived in the U.S. that the Nazis were progressing towards the creation of an atomic bomb. Though they were already behind, the U.S. believed they could not allow the Nazis to build such a
powerful weapon first. In June 1942, Oppenheimer was appointed the director of the Manhattan Project, the U.S.'s team of scientists who would work to create an atomic bomb.Oppenheimer threw himself into the project and proved himself not only a brilliant scientist, but also an exceptional administrator. He brought the best scientists in the country together at the research facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico. After three years of research, problem solving, and original ideas, the first small atomic device was exploded on July 16, 1945 in the lab at Los Alamos. Having proved their concept worked, a larger scale bomb was built. Less than a month later, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
powerful weapon first. In June 1942, Oppenheimer was appointed the director of the Manhattan Project, the U.S.'s team of scientists who would work to create an atomic bomb.Oppenheimer threw himself into the project and proved himself not only a brilliant scientist, but also an exceptional administrator. He brought the best scientists in the country together at the research facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico. After three years of research, problem solving, and original ideas, the first small atomic device was exploded on July 16, 1945 in the lab at Los Alamos. Having proved their concept worked, a larger scale bomb was built. Less than a month later, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
Enrico Fermi was a nuclear physicist during World War II. The timing was just right for the Nobel Prize. Anti-Semitism was strengthening within Italy at this time and though Fermi was not Jewish, his wife was. Fermi accepted the Nobel Prize in Stockholm and then immediately immigrated to the United States. He arrived in the U.S. in 1939 and began working at Columbia University in New York City as a professor of physics. Fermi continued his research at Columbia University. Though Fermi had unknowingly split a nucleus during his earlier experiments, credit for splitting an atom (fission) was given to Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann in 1939. However, Fermi quickly realized that if you split an atom's nucleus, that atom's neutrons
could be used as projectiles to split another atom's nucleus, causing a nuclear chain reaction. Each time a nucleus was split, an enormous amount of energy was released. Fermi's discovery of the nuclear chain reaction and then his discovery of a way to control this reaction led to both the construction of atomic bombs and of nuclear power. During World War II, Fermi worked diligently on the Manhattan Project to create an atomic bomb. After the war, however, he believed the human toll from these bombs was too large. In 1946, Fermi worked as a professor at the University of Chicago's Institute of Nuclear Studies. In 1949, Fermi argued against the development of a hydrogen bomb. It was built anyway. On November 29, 1954, Enrico Fermi succumbed to stomach cancer at the age of 53.
could be used as projectiles to split another atom's nucleus, causing a nuclear chain reaction. Each time a nucleus was split, an enormous amount of energy was released. Fermi's discovery of the nuclear chain reaction and then his discovery of a way to control this reaction led to both the construction of atomic bombs and of nuclear power. During World War II, Fermi worked diligently on the Manhattan Project to create an atomic bomb. After the war, however, he believed the human toll from these bombs was too large. In 1946, Fermi worked as a professor at the University of Chicago's Institute of Nuclear Studies. In 1949, Fermi argued against the development of a hydrogen bomb. It was built anyway. On November 29, 1954, Enrico Fermi succumbed to stomach cancer at the age of 53.