what did einstein think about the atom bomb?
Answers
Answer:
On August 2, 1939, one month before the outbreak of World War II, Albert Einstein, the famous German-born physicist, signed a two-page letter to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt that would help bring the US into the nuclear arms race and change the course of history.
Einstein was already in the US, having fled Germany when the Nazis came to power, and learned that German scientists had discovered nuclear fission, the process of splitting an atom's nucleus to release energy.
The letter warned Roosevelt that "extremely powerful bombs of a new type" could be created in light of this discovery - and that these bombs would be capable of destroying entire ports and their surrounding areas.
Explanation:
Einstein's warnings were read to Roosevelt by a man named Alexander Sachs, who also read out other warnings about such a bomb to the president, The New York Times reported at the time.
Roosevelt said, "Alex, what you are after is to see that the Nazis don't blow us up."
Sachs responded with a single word: "Precisely."
Roosevelt then called in his secretary and told him that "this requires action."
Trinity Test
Einstein, who was Jewish, had been encouraged to write to Roosevelt by Leo Szilard, the Hungarian-born physicist who was convinced that Germany could use this newly discovered technology to create weapons.
Szilard and two other Hungarian physicists, Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner, who were both refugees, told Einstein of their grave concerns. Szilard wrote the letter, but Einstein signed it, as they believed he had the most authority with the president.