Thread: We got scared
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Old 01-27-12, 06:38 PM   #10
Sammi79
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Takeda,

Einstein was misled into believing that scientists who worked for the Nazis were using his formula to build a bomb. At that time they were already on the first rung of the ladder, having recorded fissions in uranium. Einstein never contributed anything more to the project than his formula, which was inevitable anyway. The project went on under Max Groves and Robert Oppenheimer and they eventually found a way to achieve the supercritical chain reaction required.

When the tide turned against the Nazis and it became apparent they no longer had the means nor will to complete their bomb (and weren't even working on it anyway) Max Groves realised that the $2 Billion spent on the project would all be for nothing. He would be ruined. Days later Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Max Groves saw in that moment a way to save his career and reputation with the US military, and convinced Oppenheimer to rally the scientists who were by now thinking, we don't need it anymore. A petition was created, signed by roughly half the scientists involved in the project, begging the US government to invite Japanese observers to the initial test. Groves and Oppenheimer convinced the president not to.

It is a sad history, and I make no speculation. But I will say, A.Einstein was absolutely opposed to the detonation of the weapon using a peopled city as its target. He cannot be assigned blame for that attrocity, and neither can science. Military authority and Government are the only things deserving of that blame.

Regards,
Sam.

edit: Loved the video by the way, thanks for sharing.
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