Fear of Nuclear Weapons in Modern Society :: Nuclear Weapons Essays

"The time will come when mankind will curse the name of Los Alamos and Hiroshima (Hawkins 1983 260-261)." When nuclear weapons were first discovered back in the 1940's, no one knew the force they were going to have on the world. Many lives were taken when the United States of America dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These lives could have been saved if the communication between the United States and Japan were better. Those bombs should never have been dropped. Even the scientists, who were part of the Manhattan Project thought this. Ever since the start of nuclear exploration people have feared the out comes that came from nuclear development. Albert Einstein, a German born theoretical physicist, who was living in Germany at the time Hitler came into power. Albert Einstein, Edward Teller, Leo Szilard and the rest of his team members wrote a letter in August 1939 to the United States to warn them that Germany was researching and developing nuclear weapons. The scientists were afraid that once Germany finished building the bomb, they would use it on the United States. The United States during the 1930?s was interest in making a weapon that was so powerful that it would be feared by the world. The United States government establishes a top secret plan called the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. The Manhattan project was the first quest for nuclear weapons. The Manhattan Project took place in they United States, during World War II and its purpose was to create a bomb by splitting atoms apart. This project was a success and created one of the most destructive bombs ever used by mankind, the atomic bomb. The presid ent at the time, Harry S. Truman, had to face the factors that were involved in making the decision to drop the bomb. By July 16, 1945 the United States government had tested the bomb in New Mexico. The United States Wanting to bring the war to an end with Japan decided to do what was to be one of the most deadly bombing in human history. Then on August 6, 1945 under the authorization of President Harry S, Truman the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese. The bomb hit the city of Hiroshima were it caused great destruction to the city and surrounding area. It has been reported that many civilians were killed and injured during the bomb attack.