Manhattan Project
Wartime bomb program
The Manhattan Project was the secret American research program during World War II that developed the first nuclear weapons.
The project produced the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
In casual use, calling something a Manhattan Project suggests a massive, urgent, well-funded effort to solve a seemingly impossible problem: We need a Manhattan Project for climate change.
Second global military conflict
- Los AlamosNuclear research town
- Trinity testInitial nuclear weapon explosion
- HiroshimaFirst nuclear-struck city
- NagasakiSecond city bombed atomically
Oak Ridge · Hanford · Little Boy · Fat Man · Enola Gay · V-J Day · Allied Powers · Pacific Theater
Element ninety-two
- plutoniumActinide, atomic number 94
- fissionNuclear breakup releasing energy
- chain reactionSelf-sustaining causal sequence
- critical massThreshold for self-sustaining reaction
enrichment · isotope · neutron · reactor · cyclotron · particle accelerator · radioactivity · half-life
- FermiItalian physicist's surname
- GrovesClusters of cultivated trees
- TellerSurname of note
- BohrDanish nuclear science surname
Lawrence · Compton · Feynman · Chadwick · Alvarez · refugees · physicists · Nobel laureates
Restricted from disclosure
- compartmentalizationDivision into distinct sections
- code nameSecret identifying label
- security clearanceAuthorization for classified access
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
counterintelligence · espionage · cover story · need-to-know · surveillance · Rosenbergs · confidential · deception
Outcomes of exposure
- civilian casualtiesNoncombatants killed in conflict
- nuclear proliferationWeapons capability spreading internationally
- justificationReason proving rightness
- deterrencePrevention via threatened consequences
humanitarian concerns · survivor testimony · legacy · controversy · responsibility
World War II
Second global military conflict
- Los AlamosNuclear research town
- Trinity testInitial nuclear weapon explosion
- HiroshimaFirst nuclear-struck city
Nagasaki · Oak Ridge · Hanford · Little Boy · Fat Man · Enola Gay · V-J Day · Allied Powers · Pacific Theater · atomic bombing
uranium
Element ninety-two
- plutoniumActinide, atomic number 94
- fissionNuclear breakup releasing energy
- chain reactionSelf-sustaining causal sequence
critical mass · enrichment · isotope · neutron · reactor · cyclotron · particle accelerator · radioactivity · half-life · transuranic
Oppenheimer
Bohr · Lawrence · Compton · Feynman · Chadwick · Alvarez · refugees · physicists · Nobel laureates · military leadership
classified
Restricted from disclosure
- compartmentalizationDivision into distinct sections
- code nameSecret identifying label
- security clearanceAuthorization for classified access
censorship · counterintelligence · espionage · cover story · need-to-know · surveillance · Rosenbergs · confidential · deception
radiation effects
Outcomes of exposure
- civilian casualtiesNoncombatants killed in conflict
- nuclear proliferationWeapons capability spreading internationally
- justificationReason proving rightness
deterrence · humanitarian concerns · survivor testimony · legacy · controversy · responsibility
- 1940sWWII, D-Day, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, VE Day
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany
- WWIID-Day, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Hiroshima, Holocaust
- American InnovationEdison, Thomas Edison, Bell Labs, Silicon Valley, Wright brothers
- MegaprojectsPanama Canal, Hoover Dam, Three Gorges Dam, Channel Tunnel, International Space Station
- Nuclearnuclear reactor, atomic bomb, nuclear energy, atomic bombs, uranium
Manhattan ProjectMarshall Plan
Postwar American economic assistance
Green Revolution · Human Genome Project · Doctors Without Borders · International Red Cross · peacekeeping missions
Manhattan ProjectHuman Genome Project
Complete genetic blueprint endeavor
CERN · International Space Station · open-source movement · Apollo program · Wikipedia
project, projecting, projection, projected, projects, Manhattan