AI ToolsNew
Tools to make learning and teaching easier
The Manhattan Project was a 1939-1946 research program designed to investigate and construct the first atomic weapons in history; as such, it represents the most sinister and evil side of science. The Manhattan Project shows how seemingly innocent, neutral, and important research—such as the mission of understanding the structure of the atom, and particularly the nucleus—can be twisted to yield horrific results. As Kean emphasizes throughout the book, science has sadly always played an important role in warfare, and this has become more and more prominent as scientific knowledge and technology have advanced. Indeed, the Manhattan Project (which took place during World War II) shows how times of war can be a perverse kind of catalyst for scientific advancement. This is because governments devote huge amounts of money and other resources in order to gather the best minds together in order to work tirelessly and single-mindedly on a particular project.
The Manhattan Project is perhaps the preeminent example of such (sinister) acceleration of progress. Scientists working on the project developed a new research method, the Monte Carlo Method, which involved running a large number of calculations in order to test which were (on average) most successful. This was transformative, as it combined elements of theoretical and experimental scientific research while also constituting a new method entirely. The Monte Carlo Method ended up stimulating the advance of computing, which—as is very clear from a contemporary perspective—completely revolutionized not just science, but the world. Unfortunately, the same is of course true for the Manhattan Project’s main purpose, as the project culminated in the successful construction and deployment of two nuclear bombs. These caused unimaginable devastation and launched the cold war, which was defined by intense fears over the use of atomic weapons. Overall, then, the Manhattan Project shows how scientific progress is often tied to the very worst and most evil sides of humanity. Even seemingly innocent or neutral research can be used to terrible ends, and the technologies that are important to humans today often have chilling origins.
The Manhattan Project Quotes in The Disappearing Spoon
The The Disappearing Spoon quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Manhattan Project. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12: Political Elements
Quotes
The committee could have rectified this in 1946 or later, of course, after the historical record made Meitner’s contributions clear. Even architects of the Manhattan Project admitted how much they owed her. But the Nobel committee, famous for that Time magazine once called its “old-maid peevishness,” is not prone to admit mistakes.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Unlock explanations and citation info for this and every other The Disappearing Spoon quote.
Plus so much more...
Get LitCharts A+
Get the entire The Disappearing Spoon LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Manhattan Project Symbol Timeline in The Disappearing Spoon
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Manhattan Project appears in The Disappearing Spoon. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Geography is Destiny
As for Lewis, he was upset not to be recruited to work on the Manhattan Project during World War II and he died from a heart attack alone in his lab...
(full context)
Chapter 4: Where Atoms Come From: “We Are All Star Stuff”
...in the 1950s by a graduate student named Clair Patterson, who had previously worked on the Manhattan Project . He knew that there were three different isotopes (types) of lead on Earth, each...
(full context)
Chapter 6: Completing the Table…with a Bang
...bomb was actually possible. It was so unlike anything that had been done before that the Manhattan Project , which was tasked with working on it, devised a totally new research strategy called...
(full context)
Once the Manhattan Project was over, a Polish scientist named Stanislaw Ulam remained fascinated by the research method of...
(full context)
Chapter 7: Extending the Table, Expanding the Cold War
...Glenn Seaborg was a Nobel Prize-winning Berkeley professor who had been a team leader on the Manhattan Project and advised a long list of presidents. However, his first major breakthrough was simply thanks...
(full context)
...This discovery propelled Seaborg to fame and shortly after he was called to work on the Manhattan Project . He brought a technician with him named Al Ghiorso; after the project was over...
(full context)
Chapter 8: From Physics to Biology
...industry. Meanwhile, sticking to the same principles that led him to refuse to participate in the Manhattan Project , he became an activist against nuclear weapons. Pauling won a second Nobel in 1962—this...
(full context)
Chapter 17: Spheres of Splendor: The Science of Bubbles
...the University of Michigan in 1952. At the time, particle physicists were using information from the Manhattan Project to produce zany new particles and some were hoping that these particles “would overthrow the...
(full context)
