posted on Mar, 29 2004 @ 11:18 PM
Here is something that you might useful:
Albert Einstein did not directly participate in the invention of the atomic bomb. But as we shall see, he was instrumental in facilitating its
development.
In 1905, as part of his Special Theory of Relativity, he made the intriguing point that a large amount of energy could be released from a small amount
of matter. This was expressed by the equation E=mc2 (energy = mass times the speed of light squared). The atomic bomb would clearly illustrate this
principle.
But bombs were not what Einstein had in mind when he published this equation. Indeed, he considered himself to be a pacifist. In 1929, he publicly
declared that if a war broke out he would "unconditionally refuse to do war service, direct or indirect... regardless of how the cause of the war
should be judged." (Ronald Clark, "Einstein: The Life and Times", pg. 428). His position would change in 1933, as the result of Adolf Hitler's
ascent to power in Germany. While still promoting peace, Einstein no longer fit his previous self-description of being an "absolute pacifist".
Einstein's greatest role in the invention of the atomic bomb was signing a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt urging that the bomb be built. The
splitting of the uranium atom in Germany in December 1938 plus continued German aggression led some physicists to fear that Germany might be working
on an atomic bomb. Among those concerned were physicists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner. But Szilard and Wigner had no influence with those in power.
So in July 1939 they explained the problem to someone who did: Albert Einstein. According to Szilard, Einstein said the possibility of a chain
reaction "never occurred to me", altho Einstein was quick to understand the concept (Clark, pg. 669+; Spencer Weart & Gertrud Weiss Szilard, eds.,
"Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts", pg. 83). After consulting with Einstein, in August 1939 Szilard wrote a letter to President Roosevelt with
Einstein's signature on it. The letter was delivered to Roosevelt in October 1939 by Alexander Sachs, a friend of the President. Germany had invaded
Poland the previous month; the time was ripe for action. That October the Briggs Committee was appointed to study uranium chain reactions.
But the Briggs Committee moved very slowly, prompting Einstein, Szilard, and Sachs to write to FDR in March 1940, pointing again to German progress in
uranium research (Weart & Szilard, pg. 119+). In April 1940 an Einstein letter, ghost-written by Szilard, pressed Briggs Committee chairman Lyman
Briggs on the need for "greater speed" (Weart & Szilard, pg. 125+; Clark, pg. 680).
Research still proceeded slowly, because the invention of the atomic bomb seemed distant and unlikely, rather than a weapon that might be used in the
current war. It was not until after the British MAUD Report was presented to FDR in October 1941 that a more accelerated pace was taken. This British
document stated that an atomic bomb could be built and that it might be ready for use by late 1943, in time for use during the war (Richard Rhodes,
"The Making of the Atomic Bomb", pg. 377+).
Einstein biographer Ronald Clark has observed that the atomic bomb would have been invented without Einstein's letters, but that without the early
U.S. work that resulted from the letters, the a-bombs might not have been ready in time to use during the war on Japan (Clark, pg. 682-683).
The atomic bomb related work that Einstein did was very limited and he completed it in two days during December 1941. Vannevar Bush, who was
coordinating the scientific work on the a-bomb at that time, asked Einstein's advice on a theoretical problem involved in separating fissionable
material by gaseous diffusion. But Bush and other leaders in the atomic bomb project excluded Einstein from any other a-bomb related work. Bush
didn't trust Einstein to keep the project a secret: "I am not at all sure... [Einstein] would not discuss it in a way that it should not be
discussed." (Clark, pg. 684-685; G. Pascal Zachary, "Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century", pg. 204).
As the realization of nuclear weapons grew near, Einstein looked beyond the current war to future problems that such weapons could bring. He wrote to
physicist Niels Bohr in December 1944, "when the war is over, then there will be in all countries a pursuit of secret war preparations with
technological means which will lead inevitably to preventative wars and to destruction even more terrible than the present destruction of life."
(Clark, pg. 698).
The atomic bombings of Japan occurred three months after the surrender of Germany, whose potential for creating a Nazi a-bomb had led Einstein to push
for the development of an a-bomb for the Allies. Einstein withheld public comment on the atomic bombing of Japan until a year afterward. A short
article on the front page of the New York Times contained his view: "Prof. Albert Einstein... said that he was sure that President Roosevelt would
have forbidden the atomic bombing of Hiroshima had he been alive and that it was probably carried out to end the Pacific war before Russia could
participate." ("Einstein Deplores Use of Atom Bomb", New York Times, 8/19/46, pg. 1). Einstein later wrote, "I have always condemned the use of
the atomic bomb against Japan." (Otto Nathan & Heinz Norden, editors, "Einstein on Peace", pg. 589).
In November 1954, five months before his death, Einstein summarized his feelings about his role in the creation of the atomic bomb: "I made one great
mistake in my life... when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification - the
danger that the Germans would make them." (Clark, pg. 752).