The Atom Bomb

by Roleff, Tamara L.

• ISBN13: 9780737702149
• ISBN10: 0737702141
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Greenhaven Pr

Summary

Essays discuss the development of the atomic bomb, the decision to use it against Japan in World War II, and the political, social, military, and scientific aftermath of its use.

Table of Contents

Foreword	10	(12)
A Brief History of the Atom Bomb	12	(24)
The Development of the Atom Bomb
The Discovery of Fission	36	(10)
C.P. Snow
The First Nuclear Chain Reaction	46	(10)
Laura Fermi
The Race to Make the Atom Bomb	56	(11)
Robert C. Batchelder
The Manhattan Project	67	(9)
Ferenc Morton Szasz
The Trinity Test	76	(11)
Leslie R. Groves
The Decision to Drop the Atom Bomb
It Was Always Assumed the Bomb Would Be Used	87	(4)
Alan Cranston
The Government Was Justified in Using the Atom Bomb	91	(12)
Henry L. Stimson
Using the Atom Bomb Was Unnecessary and Immoral	103	(12)
Hanson W. Baldwin
The Atom Bomb Was Used to Intimidate the Soviets	115	(13)
Gar Alperovitz
Aftermath
A Hiroshima Survivor's Tale	128	(7)
Atsuko Tsujioka
Visiting the Devastation of Nagasaki	135	(6)
Charles W. Sweeney
James A. Antonucci
Marion K. Antonucci
A Society Laid Waste	141	(8)
America in the Cold War
U.S. Soldiers Are Exposed to Radiation in Postwar Tests	149	(12)
Michael Ubl
Tod Ensign
The Continuing Cycle of Fear and Apathy	161	(13)
Paul Boyer
The Atom Bomb in Pop Culture	174	(6)
Bryan C. Taylor
In Retrospect: Scientists Evaluate the Atom Bomb
A Scientist Leaves the Manhattan Project	180	(10)
Joseph Rotblat
Scientists Look Back on the Manhattan Project	190	(12)
William L. Laurence
Scientists Must Be Morally Responsible for Their Work	202	(5)
John A. Simpson
The United States Was Right to Build the Hydrogen Bomb	207	(7)
Edward Teller
Epilogue
The Enola Gay Controversy	214	(11)
Michael J. Hogan
Appendix: Excerpts from Original Documents Pertaining to the Atom Bomb	225	(24)
Glossary	249	(2)
Discussion Questions	251	(4)
Chronology	255	(5)
For Further Research	260	(5)
Index	265