A PARADIGM SHIFT 265
nuclear reactor technology. On
December 2, 1942, the very first
controlled chain reaction involving
nuclear fission was carried out on a
squash court at the University of
Chicago. Enrico Fermi’s Chicago
Pile-1 was the prototype for the
reactors that would enrich uranium
and create the newly discovered
plutonium—an unstable element
that is even heavier than uranium,
can also cause a rapid chain
reaction, and can be used to
create an even deadlier bomb.
The Magic Mountain
Selected to head up the Manhattan
Project’s research into secret
weapons, Oppenheimer approved
a disused boarding school at Los
Alamos Ranch in New Mexico
as the site for research facilities
for the project’s final stages—the
construction of an atomic bomb.
“Site Y” would see the highest
concentration of Nobel laureates
ever gathered in one place.
Since much of the important
science had already been done,
many of the Los Alamos scientists
dismissed their work in the New
Mexico desert as merely a “problem
of engineering.” However, it was
Oppenheimer’s coordination of
3,000 scientists that made the
construction of the bomb possible.
Change of heart
The successful Trinity test on
July 16, 1945 and subsequent
detonation of a bomb called “Little
Boy” above Hiroshima in Japan on
August 6, 1945 left Oppenheimer
jubilant. However, the event was
to cast a long shadow over the Los
Alamos director. Germany had
already surrendered by the time
the bomb was dropped, and many
Los Alamos scientists felt a public
demonstration of the bomb was all
that was necessary—after seeing
its awesome power, Japan would
be sure to surrender. However,
while Hiroshima was believed by
some to be a necessary evil, the
detonation of a plutonium device—
called “Fat Man”—over Nagasaki
on August 9 was hard to justify.
A year later, Oppenheimer publicly
stated his opinion that the atom
bombs had been dropped on a
defeated enemy.In October 1945, Oppenheimer met
President Harry S. Truman and told
him, “I feel I have blood on my
hands.” Truman was furious.
Congressional hearings stripped
the scientist of his security
clearance in 1954, ending his
ability to influence public policy.
By then, Oppenheimer had
overseen the advent of the
military–industrial complex and
ushered in a new era of Big
Science. In presiding over the
creation of a new scientific terror,
he became a symbol for the moral
consequences of their actions that
scientists must now consider. ■On August 9, 1945, the plutonium
bomb “Fat Man” was dropped over
Nagasaki in southern Japan. About
40,000 people were killed instantly, and
many more died in the following weeks.