The Manhattan Project was a 1939-1946 research program designed to investigate and construct the first atomic weapons in history; as such, it represents the most sinister and evil side of science. The Manhattan Project shows how seemingly innocent, neutral, and important research—such as the mission of understanding the structure of the atom, and particularly the nucleus—can be twisted to yield horrific results. As Kean emphasizes throughout the book, science has sadly always played an important role in warfare, and this has become more and more prominent as scientific knowledge and technology have advanced. Indeed, the Manhattan Project (which took place during World War II) shows how times of war can be a perverse kind of catalyst for scientific advancement. This is because governments devote huge amounts of money and other resources in order to gather the best minds together in order to work tirelessly and single-mindedly on a particular project.
The Manhattan Project is perhaps the preeminent example of such (sinister) acceleration of progress. Scientists working on the project developed a new research method, the Monte Carlo Method, which involved running a large number of calculations in order to test which were (on average) most successful. This was transformative, as it combined elements of theoretical and experimental scientific research while also constituting a new method entirely. The Monte Carlo Method ended up stimulating the advance of computing, which—as is very clear from a contemporary perspective—completely revolutionized not just science, but the world. Unfortunately, the same is of course true for the Manhattan Project’s main purpose, as the project culminated in the successful construction and deployment of two nuclear bombs. These caused unimaginable devastation and launched the cold war, which was defined by intense fears over the use of atomic weapons. Overall, then, the Manhattan Project shows how scientific progress is often tied to the very worst and most evil sides of humanity. Even seemingly innocent or neutral research can be used to terrible ends, and the technologies that are important to humans today often have chilling origins.
The Manhattan Project Quotes in The Disappearing Spoon
The committee could have rectified this in 1946 or later, of course, after the historical record made Meitner’s contributions clear. Even architects of the Manhattan Project admitted how much they owed her. But the Nobel committee, famous for that Time magazine once called its “old-maid peevishness,” is not prone to admit mistakes.
The Manhattan Project Symbol Timeline in The Disappearing Spoon
