-Mysara Juairia Chowdhury
Since the dawn of mankind, humans have discovered the boundless aspects of nature around them and implemented these discoveries to make their lives easier. If we think about it, humans play the role of detective in nature. We are detectives who investigate to find the hidden secrets in the physical world around us. The knowledge we gathered from these investigations or discoveries could be used in an ethical way or in an unethical way. Everything in this world has a good purpose and a bad purpose, so does Science. The ethical and unethical usage of Science has been subjected to debate throughout history. Chinese alchemists of the Tang Dynasty accidentally discovered a substance called Saltpeter. Saltpeter is the main ingredient of Gunpowder. Initially, this extremely flammable substance was mixed with Charcoal and Sulfur to make fireworks. But later in 904 AD it was used to fight wars. This example proves that sometime discoveries which were meant for good cause could be used for an evil purpose too. One of the most destructive weapons made by humans share a similar past like the Gunpowder discovery. A great discovery that revolutionized Modern Physics and was meant for the advancement of the human race. The same discovery if weaponized could be used to end humanity in seconds. But to understand what circumstances were raised to create such a weapon, we must go back in history when the world was divided by war.
The World Politics of 1930s and 1940s
The year was 1933, Germany went from democracy to dictatorship under the power of Adolf Hitler. After the Great War (WW1), Germany was denied the permission to have it’s own Armed Forces by the world leaders in 1919. But Hitler defied this treaty and invested capital to build up a robust Military, Air and Navy forces. And on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland which caused the Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany. This war between the Allied forces (Great Britain, France, USA and Soviet Union) and Axis forces (Nazi Germany, Italy and Japanese Empire) lasted for 6 years (1939-1945) and is known as World War 2. Hitler and his Nazi party‘s anti – Semitic views caused a huge migration of Jews to neighboring Allied and neutral countries.
The Discovery of Atomic Energy
Among the migrating Jews was Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard. Both of them collaborated earlier to make the Einstein-Szilard Refrigerator. The theory that influenced the discovery of nuclear energy was Einstein’s 1905 scientific paper on Special theory of Relativity. Though the theory is very elaborate, it basically summarizes to ’E=MC2‘.E=MC2 (Energy =Mass× Speed Of light squared) is by far the most renowned equation in the whole world. The equation suggests that mass is a form energy if it is at really high velocity. Mass is like a super-concentrated stored form of energy which could be released at really high velocity. Nuclear Energy was discovered on basis of this core principle. It was 12 September, 1933 when Szilard had his own ‘Eureka’ moment. Around that time, James Chadwick just discovered Neutron and two Physicists from Cambridge University cracked a lithium atom by firing it with protons at high velocity; proving E=MC2 correct. Szilard’s groundbreaking hypothesis was if a atom was fired with high velocity neutrons, it would split and in that process and emit two more neutrons which would then release a humongous amount of energy in a continuous chain reaction.
But his idea was not very highly taken by scientists at that time until two German Physicists proved him right by successfully splitting a lithium atom by firing it with high velocity proton and releasing humongous amount of energy. They explained this process and named it ‘fission’ where a nucleus splits into half and releases huge energy. Szilard and Enrico Fermi collaborated together and found out that 1 kilogram of Uranium could generate energy similar to 20,000 TNT. Niels Bohr on the other hand discovered that only a rare isotope called Uranium- 235 could only generate secondary neutrons and continue the chain reaction. They feared that the Germans would also discover this fission reaction. So by the help of Einstein they sent a letter to President Roosevelt of USA and pleaded to start a government research program on nuclear weapon. This research secret Nuclear project was called the Manhattan Project leaded by Robert Oppenheimer and included the best scientists of the generation.
The Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was led by America and supported by Britain and Canada to create atomic weapon before Germany. The facilities were set up in remote locations like New Mexico, Tennessee, Washington and some other sites in Canada. Robert Oppenheimer was appointed as the director of Los Alamos Laboratory in northern New Mexico in 1943. On July 16,1945, in a remote desert near Alamogordo in New Mexico under the supervision of Oppenheimer, the first atom bomb was successfully denoted. This was called the Trinity Test and it created an enormous mushroom cloud of 40,000 ft. high. This was the beginning of the Atomic Age. Scientists then created two more bombs : a uranium based one called “Little Boy” and a plutonium based one called “Fat Man”.
The Hiroshima – Nagasaki Tragedy:
After facing huge loss in Europe, Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. While both Germany and Italy surrendered, Japan refused to do so and continued fighting the Pacific War.
So on 6 August 1945, USA decided to drop the “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. When the bomb was dropped, a neutron was shot at a Uranium-235 atom which started a chain reaction and released vast energy. The force from the blast annihilated everything in 70 Miles radius and created a 60,000 ft mushroom cloud. The total death toll fell to 140,000 people. Even some people who survived the initial blast, died later due to radiation sickness. Again on 9 August 1945, USA dropped a second bomb called “Fat Man” which was powered by Plutonium. The blast incinerated most of the city and killed 80,000. After this tragic incident that left the everyone in the world shocked, the Japanese Empire finally decided to officially surrender on 2 September 1945, ending WW2.
The Legacy and Conclusion :
The incidents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki left the world in shock and fear. After WW2, many scientists from Manhattan projected tried to ban atomic weapon but was unsuccessful as USA was in Cold War with the Soviet Union. This war kept the people on the edge of their seats as both USA and USSR continuously manufactured weapon of mass destruction. This atomic war finally came to an end after 50 years. But Nuclear energy is a very useful technology too, as it made things like MRI and nuclear powerplants possible. The lesson here is to utilize science for development rather than destruction.
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