After two years of highly secret research work, the world's first atomic bomb was tested in the New Mexico desert 40 years ago today. The scientists, who were members of the Manhattan Project led by Robert Oppenheimer , had proved that their theories could become reality.... and the scene was set for the devastation of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. At the time, the men involved in building the bomb worked under the pressure of 'having a war to win', but how do they feel today?
Norman Moss has visited Los Alamos, centre of the project, and tracked down some of the scientists, including Sir Rudolf Peierls ; Edwin MacMillan , who later won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Hans Bethe , head of the Theoretical Division at
Los Alamos; Victor Weisskopf , who became the first head of the European Nuclear Research Centre; Joseph Rotblat , who became Secretary-General of the Pugwash Conferences, an organisation of scientists working for peace; and Edward Teller , who initiated President Reagan's 'Star Wars' project.
Producer JOCK GALLAGHER BBC Birmingham
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