The use of the first atomic bomb
Once, when we were in Palo Alto I went to a bookshop at the Stanford University. There I detected a book that interested me a lot. It was called “The Manhattan Project: A documentary introduction to the atomic age”. The work was published in 1991 and contained copies of documents about the development of the atomic bomb during the Second World War.
The development and the test
In Los Alamos thousands of people had worked on the construction of the atomic bomb because of fear that the Germans were working on such a weapon as well. Just before the end of WW II the first test of an atomic bomb was done in the American dessert. The force of the first atomic bomb is clearly demonstrated by the video that has been made of this event.
The development and the test
In Los Alamos thousands of people had worked on the construction of the atomic bomb because of fear that the Germans were working on such a weapon as well. Just before the end of WW II the first test of an atomic bomb was done in the American dessert. The force of the first atomic bomb is clearly demonstrated by the video that has been made of this event.
Some scientists were shocked by what they had seen and were afraid that the atomic weapon they had developed, would lead to an arms race against which no defense was possible and consequently they expected the total destruction of the world. Therefore they thought that the only possibility to prevent this, was by international agreements to outlaw these weapons. These scientists expected that the use of the weapon would destroy this possibility.
Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein discussing the letter to the president to develop a nuclear bomb
The opinions of physicists about the use of the bomb
When the bomb was ready for use, Germany had already surrendered and therefore the bomb was not needed anymore for this purpose. On the other hand in Asia the war went on, the US were still in war with Japan. Many American soldiers died on the battlefields because Japan did not surrender. In this context the plan was developed by the US government to use the atomic bomb in Japan in order to force Japan to capitulate and save a lot of lives of American soldiers.
Although Leo Szilard was one of the initiators to write a letter to the US president to develop a nuclear bomb, he was so shocked by what he had seen in the test that he made a petition, signed by several top physicists, again sent to the president of the US, proposing an alternative strategy for the direct use of the bomb in Japan (S1). The suggested strategy (S2) was to provide an ultimatum to Japan to surrender and eventually use the nuclear bomb if they didn´t yield. S1 would bring the war to an end but would start an arms race with all its consequences. S2 might lead to surrender without the use of the bomb, but, if Japan did not capitulate S2 allowed the use of the bomb to force surrender but then the arms race with all its consequences would follow. Because in the second approach the probability of an arms race was smaller they preferred this alternative.
Oppenheimer suggested that some scientists believed that it was more important to outlaw the nuclear weapons than to obtain short term results of saving lives and therefore they chose strategy 2. On the other hand there also were scientists who thought that saving lives was more important and therefore they chose the first strategy. Both groups used a proper argument and it was hard at that time to decide who was right.
When the bomb was ready for use, Germany had already surrendered and therefore the bomb was not needed anymore for this purpose. On the other hand in Asia the war went on, the US were still in war with Japan. Many American soldiers died on the battlefields because Japan did not surrender. In this context the plan was developed by the US government to use the atomic bomb in Japan in order to force Japan to capitulate and save a lot of lives of American soldiers.
Although Leo Szilard was one of the initiators to write a letter to the US president to develop a nuclear bomb, he was so shocked by what he had seen in the test that he made a petition, signed by several top physicists, again sent to the president of the US, proposing an alternative strategy for the direct use of the bomb in Japan (S1). The suggested strategy (S2) was to provide an ultimatum to Japan to surrender and eventually use the nuclear bomb if they didn´t yield. S1 would bring the war to an end but would start an arms race with all its consequences. S2 might lead to surrender without the use of the bomb, but, if Japan did not capitulate S2 allowed the use of the bomb to force surrender but then the arms race with all its consequences would follow. Because in the second approach the probability of an arms race was smaller they preferred this alternative.
Oppenheimer suggested that some scientists believed that it was more important to outlaw the nuclear weapons than to obtain short term results of saving lives and therefore they chose strategy 2. On the other hand there also were scientists who thought that saving lives was more important and therefore they chose the first strategy. Both groups used a proper argument and it was hard at that time to decide who was right.
Who was right?
Now 75 years after the use of the nuclear bomb against Japan we know that Szilard and his colleagues were right that an arms race followed after the use of the bomb, but fortunately so far the destruction of mankind did not happen yet, but we narrowly escaped this event a couple of times.
Whether the use of two nuclear bombs was necessary for the surrender of Japan is still under debate.
The consequences of a nuclear war have been shown extremely realistically in the movie “The day after”. The complete movie can be downloaded from YouTube. Below is a small part presented.
After watching this movie even President Reagan understood that a Nuclear Weapons Treaty would be an attractive political goal to achieve.
Now 75 years after the use of the nuclear bomb against Japan we know that Szilard and his colleagues were right that an arms race followed after the use of the bomb, but fortunately so far the destruction of mankind did not happen yet, but we narrowly escaped this event a couple of times.
Whether the use of two nuclear bombs was necessary for the surrender of Japan is still under debate.
The consequences of a nuclear war have been shown extremely realistically in the movie “The day after”. The complete movie can be downloaded from YouTube. Below is a small part presented.
After watching this movie even President Reagan understood that a Nuclear Weapons Treaty would be an attractive political goal to achieve.
