During the 1880's, at Cambridge University, J.J. Thompson, the director of the Cavendish Library and a respected physicist, became the first to discover that atoms had sub atomic particles. In 1896, Antione Becquerel, with the assistance of Marie Curie, discovered the first radioactive particle by accident when he left some uranium salts and some photographic plates in the same drawer. Marie Curie demonstrated that energy producing qualities of radioactive materials was because of the internal structure of the atom. She also discovered other radioactive elements, radium and polonium. Albert Einstein, in 1905, followed all of these discoveries with one of the most infamous and powerful equation known to humankind, E=mc2. With this theory, Einstein established the vital relationship between mass and energy; this being that energy is nothing more than liberated mass. This simple yet monumental principle along with the previously mentioned discoveries created a snowball effect with regard to scientific study and effectively created the realm of sub atomic theory.
[...] To Bomb or Not to Bomb There weren't many schools of thought surrounding the use of the atomic bomb. Ironically, the majority of scientists who worked on the project despised the thought of its use. This included J. Robert Oppenheimer and Leo Szilard, who both sought to control nuclear arms for the remainder of their lives. As far as politicians go, Admiral Leahy, Joseph Grew, John McCloy, and Henry Stimson all were against the use of the atomic bomb. Admiral Leahy thought that the dropping of an atomic weapon was horrible and he believed in a higher moral standard. [...]
[...] It does not matter whether anyone likes or dislikes Truman's decisions to use the atomic bomb; what matters is in the understanding of the impact of such decisions. No one can really say what they would or would not do; if they try, they are kidding themselves. Was Truman's decision to use the bomb justified? Of course it was; and absolutely not; and everything in between. I am happy he used the bomb to end the war, but that does not make the action [...]
[...] He often over stepped his bounds in order to get things his way and instead of speaking with Truman, he was often cited as speaking at him. Even in spite of this, Truman delegated the responsibility of Secretary of State to Byrnes and also made him head of the Interim Committee. These men would prove to be vital in Truman's fateful decision to use the atomic bomb. In May 1945, German surrendered, thus eliminating the underlying threat of Hitler and his army securing atomic weapons. [...]
[...] In short, Szilard fathered the idea of the atomic bomb. Around this same time, Adolf Hitler was beginning to show signs of loose inhibitions. In October Hitler occupied Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia and as all knowledgeable physicists knew at the time, there were substantial amounts of uranium in Czechoslovakia and Hitler's intentions were far from good. This coming right on the heels of Otto Hahn and Fritz Straussmas's splitting of the first atom on Dec 1938; there was few who doubted the reason for Hitler's occupation of Czechoslovakia but then again few acted. [...]
[...] This demonstration of deliberate force against civilians led to the use of the atomic bomb on vast cities with large populations of civilians. Fateful Days On August the world was a changed forever when the Enola Gay dropped the Little Boy bomb, the first ever atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Over 80,000 people perished at the hands of the bomb immediately and another 60,000 from radiation sickness. The second bomb dropped on Nagasaki a few days later with the same effect. [...]
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