They were around 8.15 in Japan when the outbreak that stopped time was heard and changed the course of global history: The atomic bomb He had been released on Hiroshima. This happened August 6, 1945during the Second World Waraccording to data from the United Nations Organization (UN).
However, this was not the end of the tragedy. On August 9 of that same year a second bomb on Nagasaki, Japan was launched. According to information from the BBCit is estimated that Between 150 thousand and 250 thousand people died because of the detonations.
Behind this fateful invention is the figure of a brilliant mind, a complex man and a charismatic scientist: Julius Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1966), American theoretical physicist considered by many the father of the atomic bomb. His relatives used to call him “Oppie.”
In the biography of Oppenheimer Published by National Geographic, it is highlighted that the physicist was a lover of literature and also had studies in philosophy and languages. At Harvard University, he demonstrated interest in experimental physics when he studied thermodynamics.
How does the idea of an atomic bomb start, before Oppenheimer?
Prior to the creation of the atomic bomb, a discovery shook the scientific community in 1939: Nuclear fissionthanks to the work of Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann, Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch.
According to international sources, This finding opened the possibility of a chain reaction through uranium fissionand with that, the opportunity to cause an explosion and unprecedented energy release. A few months later, scientist Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard, a Hungarian physicist, sent a letter to the then US president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The letter warned about the military potential of the finding and the possibility of Germany developing an atomic bomb. In that European country, the physicist Nobel Werner Heisenberg He had obtained funds from the German army to initiate an investigation, according to international media data.
However, this project was not a priority for Germany for various reasons. In contrast, Einstein and Szilard’s warnings accelerated the United States’s decision to create an atomic bomb.
Manhattan project: the creation of the atomic bomb in the United States
United States prioritized the elaboration of an atomic bomb in 1941. President Roosevelt requested the acceleration of the program, which was controlled by the US War Department, under the name of Manhattan project.
Despite the previous investigations of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for alleged links with the United States Communist Party, Oppenheimer was appointed leader of the project, which was completely delivered, as described in his biography.
The scientist began the search for a process to divide the 235 uranium of the natural uranium to establish the critical mass necessary and thus be able to manufacture the atomic bomb, according to data from BBC. In addition, he was in charge of the administration of the laboratory where this work was carried out.
In 1943, the Alamos plateau was selected, in New Mexico, to carry out the project, executed by a whole team. Although many ignored what the real purpose of their work was, Oppenheimer not only knew that purpose, but also It also got involved in important decisions about the design of the pump and its use.
However, the scientist expressed her regret for the destruction caused by the atomic bomb and the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: “I have become death, the destroyer of worlds”He exclaimed on occasion.
Two months after the explosions, he left the position and later advocated international control of nuclear power to avoid future tragedies. Despite this, it is still remembered as the father of the atomic bomb.