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Einstein has some credit in the development of the nuclear bomb, but never thought of it himself... I believe it was Hitler who first thought of the atomic bomb. The Germans were working on a way to harness the energy from a split atom. Einstein sent the US president a letter, telling him of the power such a weapon could have, and the Germans were working on splitting atoms. That brought about the Manhattan Project.

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The Einstein letter to FDR was actually entirely written by Leo Szilard, all Einstein did was sign it.

The writer H.G. Wells had imagined them and wrote about them in his 1914 novel "The World Set Free", but this was just SciFi.

Leo Szilard was the first to actually invent the process that makes the atomic bomb work (neutron chain reaction) in 1933 while in London and patented this on June 28, 1934.

A team of German scientists working in Germany and Sweden discovered fission in uranium-235 in 1939 and after the publication of their paper, Germany blocked further publication of the results of all research in nuclear physics.

By the time the Manhattan Project became fully active, Germany had already decided to scale back their nuclear project to just basic reactor research with the single goal of building power reactors after Germany won the war. They considered a bomb impractical in the time estimated to win the war by conventional means, even if it was possible (and Heisenberg's calculations suggested such a bomb would be too large for any available aircraft to deliver).

To Hitler the idea of an Atomic Bomb sounded like Jewish Physics, and thus nonsense. Hitler knew nothing of physics, nuclear or otherwise, and the teaching of Einstein's theories of relativity were already banned in Nazi Germany simply because Einstein was a Jew (implicitly making it Jewish Physics) regardless of any experimental evidence confirming the theories.

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How did Einstein help create the nuclear bomb?

Albert Einstein's only connection to nuclear weapons was to sign a letter written by Leo Szilard in 1939 that was addressed to president Franklin Roosevelt warning that Nazi Germany might be working on an atomic bomb and that the US should begin research into the subject. Einstein was a pacifist and refused to do any war or weapons related work, he spent all of World War 2 working on the equations of his Grand Unified Theory (which he never worked out by the time he died). Albert Einstein had no idea if any action had been taken on the letter he had signed until he saw the August 6, 1945 newspaper headlines reporting the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.


What major contributions did Aristotle make to the atomic theory?

Aristotle did not believe in the Atomic Theory. He believed that everything was made up of only 4 elements fire, water, air, and earth. This theory was proven incorrect as is evidenced by the periodic table of elements. In short the answer to this question is, none.


Who is the inventor of Atomic Furnace?

The concept of an atomic furnace does not have a single inventor. It refers to a theoretical device that would use nuclear reactions to generate heat for various applications. The idea of harnessing atomic energy for heating purposes has been around since the development of nuclear technology.


How did Albert Einstein come up with the idea of the atom bomb?

Although the underlying theory of the atomic bomb workings draws loosely from Einstein's ideas on mass to energy conversion (the famous equation E=Mc2), he did not himself invent the atomic bomb neither did he himself discover fission. Leo Szilard invented the neutron chain reaction that makes both bombs and reactors possible, but Einstein knew nothing of this as the British kept the patent classified from 1936 until 1949. Einstein was an absolute pacifist and refused to participate in any type of war related work.Before WWII Szilard wrote a letter and had Einstein sign it (as if he had written it) to warn President Roosevelt that Germany was likely working toward the development of an atomic bomb. Shortly after this the US started a project to beat the Germans to the development of this weapon.The atomic bomb was the product of cooperation of many scientists and engineers participating in the Manhattan project. Chief among the people who unleashed the power of the atom was Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the project from conception to completion.Enrichment of the U-235 from U-238 was conducted at Oakridge Tennessee. Harold Urey and his team at Columbia University devised an extraction system using the principle of gaseous diffusion.Production reactors to make Pu-239 were built and operated at Hanford Washington.Bomb casing development was done at Wendover Utah and in southern California.Production of different parts was contracted out to several dozen companies. Often as the companies were not given information on the things their part attached to (for secrecy) things did not fit right and had to be reworked in the field. For example wartime MK-III Fat Man bombs were virtually custom built with no interchangeable parts. Even the Plutonium core of one bomb would not fit in the pit of others.


What technology did Dalton use for his atomic theory?

Dalton's atomic theory was based on the use of experimentation and observations from chemical reactions. He did not use any specific technology, but relied on the principles of matter conservation and chemical combination to propose the idea of atoms as the building blocks of matter.

Related Questions

Which country developed the atomic bomb?

We developed the first working atomic bomb but, GER. made up the idea.


Why did the atomic bomb go obsolete?

What gave you that idea? It isn't obsolete in any way. In fact every Hydrogen bomb contains an Atomic bomb as its primary stage.


Who was a help in the atomic bomb project?

well, the atomic bomb research was done by Robert oppenheimer. the original creation or idea was from albert Einstein


Why are cockroaches so resilient?

No Idea! But I heard they can survive an atomic bomb.


What did Albert Einstein do to help World War 2?

he had the idea of the atomic bomb and thought the German army had more Info than USA about bombs. Roosevelt wanted to bomb Japan, then Einstein begged him in a letter not to because Germany didnt have as much info as he thought. Roosevelt died and Truman decided to finally drop the two atomic bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki.


Was the choice to drop the atomic bomb on Japan hard for Harry S. Truman?

No he thought it was the best solution and would save millions of american lives, along with the lives of allied troops. He fully supported the idea of dropping the bomb fully.


When the first atomic bomb did not drop what did the us do?

Both atomic bombs dropped on Japan were successful. What gave you the idea they weren't?


Who thought of the idea to bomb japan hiroshima?

The president was Harry S. Truman


Did Einstein like the idea of the atomic bomb?

None of the men involved with making "the bomb" were happy about it. They, more than any other living human being knew what doors they had opened (the atomic age).


Why didn't people want the US to drop the atomic bomb on japan?

Because even in the U.S. and Japan everyone hated the idea because an atomic bomb could kill everyone including children.


Who is the first who invented the atomic bomb?

Leo Szilard. Einstein came up with the idea though, I think.


Who were the scientists who first knew of atomic power aka atomic bomb?

Physicists world wide knew about the possibility for atomic power and atomic blast. They knew about it long before the Manhattan Project developed atomic power and atomic bombs. It was Physicist Einstien who wrote a letter to FDR to let him know there was evidence of the Germans looking into the idea of building an atomic bomb.