The creation of the atomic bomb changed the world forever; never before had humanity been able to destroy itself, never before could one angered nation level a city with a single order. Robert Oppenheimer along with many other scientists created this great weapon to protect the United States from its enemies. They all worked with great secrecy and diligence in Los Alamos to produce the weapon without if falling into enemy hands. But along with great capacity for destruction the atomic bomb ushered in the atomic era, and age of power, of space travel, and of even greater potential that we haven't reached yet. Along with the atomic bomb the splitting of the atom brought nuclear power a source of energy nearly limitless in its possibilities. Nuclear fission, as of 2012, provides for almost 11% of the world's power generation. Nuclear power fuels our aircraft carriers, our submarines, and a lot of our other warships. It also provides power to some of our scientific vessels and many of our homes. So the creation of the atomic bomb still affects us greatly today, providing power for our homes along with powerful weapons and warships for our military.
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I have recently read the book Bomb. The storyline directly follows the allied efforts to construct the first atomic bomb. The book is factual and therefore relates directly to WWII and the race to build the bomb. The story follows many different people who were involved in the Manhattan Project, specifically Robert Oppenheimer. It also details the efforts of special forces on the warfront which worked to hinder German progress on their own atomic bomb project. It also details Soviet efforts to steal the information on how to build their own atomic bomb. Each of these events and actions actually happened as they are described in the book for it is non-fiction.
Most of the book takes place in America at Oak Ridge Tennessee during WWII where production of the bomb occurred. As stated in History of the Atomic-The Manhattan Project "A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was constructed at Oak Ridge, Tennessee." The rest of the country was wrapped up in combating the Nazis in Europe and the Japanese in the Pacific. Most of America was entirely unaware that an atomic bomb was even possible, much less that it was being built in their own country. The book connects to the war by giving accounts of special forces that ventured into occupied territory to destroy german progress in building their own bomb. It also details the deep hatred that Robert Oppenheimer felt towards Adolf Hitler and the Nazis as shown in the book with the line "Burning with what he described as 'a continuing, smoldering fury' toward Adolf Hitler." The story written in Bomb is very firmly based in historic events and consists of very detailed accounts of events transpiring in WWII surrounding the atomic bomb. |
AuthorCooper, middle school student in Raleigh, NC. Archives
May 2017
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