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It's not so much the Americans defeating the Germans that makes me proud, but rather the immense technical achievement that was done in such little time out of

It's not so much the Americans defeating the Germans that makes me proud, but rather the immense technical achievement that was done in such little time out of necessity. It is a perfect example of the American ingenuitive ideal. It's shouldn't be taken as a slight to other nations but rather as admiration for the accomplishments of those who came before me

sandworm101 10y ago
But don't forget that Manhattan was a three-country effort. Don't forget where the uranium came from, or the number of scientists brought in from all over the allied nations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project
- blackflame7000 10y ago
  Almost all of the enrichment process was done at oak ridge in Tennessee. It even says so in the Wikipedia page you posted.
  - hga 10y ago
    On the other hand, we were handed on a silver platter a huge supply of hand sorted pitchblende from the Belgium Congo, with an average uranium content of 60-65% (!!!), without that we wouldn't have finished in time to finish the war. All due to one foresighted Belgium who had learned would be a very bad idea to let the Nazis get their hands on it, and arranged shipment of a lot of it to America. Where it sat in a warehouse until Grove's men showed up and were actually serious about buying the stuff, after e.g. the State Department and everyone else he'd contacted had blown him off, this is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Sengier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Sengier but the greater story can be found in Rhodes' and Groves' books.
    - blackflame7000 10y ago
      Its not the Uranium content that matters, it's the ability to extract U235 from U238.
      - hga 10y ago
        It counted because we had enough raw uranium to, indeed, separate one bomb's worth of U-235 in time, but more importantly to fuel the natural uranium reactors in which we bred plutonium, which got into high gear faster than the former. By comparison, in the link I included is the statement that "To illustrate the uniqueness of Sengier’s stockpile, after the war the MED and the AEC considered ore containing three-tenths of 1 percent as a good find.", which comports with my memory.
Noseshine 10y ago
Don't forget that the same technological effort laid the basis for Silicon Valley. Billions of electronics R&D during WWII with "you have to succeed, no matter the cost". Based on a huge increase of government debt too, by the way. The bombs were not the only expensive item, for example the Norden bombsight cost almost as much as the Manhattan project, and that's just one of thousands of WWII research projects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo

sandworm101 10y ago

But don't forget that Manhattan was a three-country effort. Don't forget where the uranium came from, or the number of scientists brought in from all over the allied nations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project

blackflame7000 10y ago
Almost all of the enrichment process was done at oak ridge in Tennessee. It even says so in the Wikipedia page you posted.
- hga 10y ago
  On the other hand, we were handed on a silver platter a huge supply of hand sorted pitchblende from the Belgium Congo, with an average uranium content of 60-65% (!!!), without that we wouldn't have finished in time to finish the war. All due to one foresighted Belgium who had learned would be a very bad idea to let the Nazis get their hands on it, and arranged shipment of a lot of it to America. Where it sat in a warehouse until Grove's men showed up and were actually serious about buying the stuff, after e.g. the State Department and everyone else he'd contacted had blown him off, this is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Sengier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Sengier but the greater story can be found in Rhodes' and Groves' books.
  - blackflame7000 10y ago
    Its not the Uranium content that matters, it's the ability to extract U235 from U238.
    - hga 10y ago
      It counted because we had enough raw uranium to, indeed, separate one bomb's worth of U-235 in time, but more importantly to fuel the natural uranium reactors in which we bred plutonium, which got into high gear faster than the former. By comparison, in the link I included is the statement that "To illustrate the uniqueness of Sengier’s stockpile, after the war the MED and the AEC considered ore containing three-tenths of 1 percent as a good find.", which comports with my memory.

Noseshine 10y ago

Don't forget that the same technological effort laid the basis for Silicon Valley. Billions of electronics R&D during WWII with "you have to succeed, no matter the cost". Based on a huge increase of government debt too, by the way. The bombs were not the only expensive item, for example the Norden bombsight cost almost as much as the Manhattan project, and that's just one of thousands of WWII research projects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo