Work on the Manhattan Project, Subsequent Events, and Little Known Facts Related to its Use

TL;DR

This personal account details the author's experiences working on the Manhattan Project in Chicago, highlighting scientific achievements, curious post-war events, and ethical considerations surrounding the bomb's use.

Contribution

It provides a firsthand perspective on Chicago's role in the Manhattan Project and sheds light on lesser-known facts and post-war events.

Findings

Fermi built the first uranium pile at Stagg Field.

Post-war events included curious incidents related to the bomb.

The paper presents facts that may influence views on the bomb's ethical implications.

Abstract

A personal account of work on the Manhattan Project in Chicago by one of the few remaining survivors of the war-time project is given, illustrating, among other things, how absurd things can happen at a time of great stress and concern.. As is well known, Los Alamos was the site specializing in the physics of the bomb while Chicago emphasized metallurgical and chemical research. Nevertheless, physics played a significant role in Chicago, as well. That is where Fermi constructed the worlds first uranium pile under the stands of Stagg field, a site at which this author got seriously irradiated. Some curious events occurring after the bomb was dropped are also related. In addition, at this time of public protest by sincere people who question the ethics of America for dropping the bomb on innocent civilians, certain facts, obviously unknown to the protesters, are presented which place the bombing in a rather different light.