WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.667 --> 00:00:09.868 ♪♪ 00:00:09.868 --> 00:00:19.767 ♪♪ 00:00:19.767 --> 00:00:28.534 ♪♪ 00:00:28.534 --> 00:00:36.667 ♪♪ 00:00:38.234 --> 00:00:40.534 -Hey, good afternoon, everybody. 00:00:40.534 --> 00:00:44.968 It is 12:00 on the dot here in New Orleans, Louisiana. 00:00:44.968 --> 00:00:47.067 We are central time, so. [ Chuckles ] 00:00:47.067 --> 00:00:51.067 But anyway, so glad to welcome everybody today for our webinar 00:00:51.067 --> 00:00:55.100 about what you've been seeing, you know, going on your screen. 00:00:55.100 --> 00:00:57.767 "Trinity," the first test of the atomic bomb, 00:00:57.767 --> 00:01:01.300 and then also using the atomic bombs in World War II. 00:01:01.300 --> 00:01:03.901 That's really our focus today. 00:01:03.901 --> 00:01:07.133 And we will be joined by an awesome graphic novelist, 00:01:07.133 --> 00:01:09.200 his name is Jonathon Fedderborm, 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:12.367 during the second half of this presentation today, 00:01:12.367 --> 00:01:14.067 and he's going to be sharing with you a bit 00:01:14.067 --> 00:01:16.234 from his graphic novel, "Trinity." 00:01:16.234 --> 00:01:19.567 He'll actually be reading a portion of it for you as well, 00:01:19.567 --> 00:01:22.868 and answering any questions you guys have. 00:01:22.868 --> 00:01:25.701 Before we get started, 00:01:25.701 --> 00:01:28.033 I just want to give you a few reminders 00:01:28.033 --> 00:01:31.067 about how this program actually works. 00:01:31.067 --> 00:01:33.534 So first off to say that Adobe Connect, 00:01:33.534 --> 00:01:36.100 which is the software that we're using right now, 00:01:36.100 --> 00:01:37.801 eats up a lot of bandwidth. 00:01:37.801 --> 00:01:40.534 So if you could, it will make your experience 00:01:40.534 --> 00:01:41.968 a little bit better and hopefully everything 00:01:41.968 --> 00:01:43.534 will stream a little faster, 00:01:43.534 --> 00:01:47.200 close out any programs that are using the Internet right now. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:49.667 That will kind of help that situation. 00:01:49.667 --> 00:01:53.067 If you have any stalling or lagging or anything like that, 00:01:53.067 --> 00:01:55.634 something funny, you know, I always say, 00:01:55.634 --> 00:01:58.100 you know, X out of here and refresh your window. 00:01:58.100 --> 00:02:01.300 Sometimes, I don't know why that does the trick, but it does. 00:02:01.300 --> 00:02:03.534 So, and then lastly, 00:02:03.534 --> 00:02:06.267 hopefully we're coming through clear enough here, 00:02:06.267 --> 00:02:08.567 but sometimes the volume levels differ 00:02:08.567 --> 00:02:10.100 between the videos we play 00:02:10.100 --> 00:02:12.968 and, you know, the live microphone, 00:02:12.968 --> 00:02:18.000 so what I would love for you all to do if you could is, 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.234 you know, you can adjust your speaker volume 00:02:20.234 --> 00:02:23.267 throughout the program, either manually on your computer 00:02:23.267 --> 00:02:26.701 or you see there's a top menu bar 00:02:26.701 --> 00:02:29.701 at the top of this window here, 00:02:29.701 --> 00:02:33.501 and you'll see a speaker icon next to the, on that menu bar. 00:02:33.501 --> 00:02:35.000 You click that little arrow next to it, 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:36.634 it will allow you to adjust your speaker 00:02:36.634 --> 00:02:38.033 or your microphone volume, 00:02:38.033 --> 00:02:42.133 excuse me, or speaker volume, excuse me, in here. 00:02:42.133 --> 00:02:44.067 So that will allow you to adjust 00:02:44.067 --> 00:02:45.868 if there's any kind of changes in volume 00:02:45.868 --> 00:02:49.033 which sometimes happen with this platform. 00:02:49.033 --> 00:02:53.334 Also to note, too, we're going to move from this area in here 00:02:53.334 --> 00:02:54.701 and then we're going to transition into 00:02:54.701 --> 00:02:57.501 another webinar room in just one second. 00:02:57.501 --> 00:03:01.434 So actually, let's do that right now. 00:03:01.434 --> 00:03:05.501 So you're going to see your screen change, 00:03:05.501 --> 00:03:09.167 and also you're going to see me hopefully in one second, 00:03:09.167 --> 00:03:13.901 and let's adjust this here before we put the camera on. 00:03:13.901 --> 00:03:15.467 There we go. 00:03:15.467 --> 00:03:17.601 Oh, let me adjust it some more. You can't even see us. 00:03:17.601 --> 00:03:19.367 That helps. Okay. Awesome. 00:03:19.367 --> 00:03:20.534 So I'm going to start sharing 00:03:20.534 --> 00:03:23.434 and you all can see me, Chrissy. Hey, everyone. 00:03:23.434 --> 00:03:26.834 I'm the virtual classroom coordinator here at the museum. 00:03:26.834 --> 00:03:28.234 This is Rob Wallace. -Hi. 00:03:28.234 --> 00:03:30.901 -He is our STEM education coordinator, 00:03:30.901 --> 00:03:33.467 and today we'll be talking about this very subject 00:03:33.467 --> 00:03:35.367 you see on screen. 00:03:35.367 --> 00:03:37.534 What we'll have you do for the rest of the program, 00:03:37.534 --> 00:03:40.467 you've seen that chat pod went away. 00:03:40.467 --> 00:03:44.200 Below us now is something called a "Q and A Pod," 00:03:44.200 --> 00:03:45.901 and if you have questions for us 00:03:45.901 --> 00:03:48.868 and then eventually questions for Jonathan, 00:03:48.868 --> 00:03:50.400 the graphic novelist, 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:52.701 please type them in that Q and A pod there. 00:03:52.701 --> 00:03:55.067 We'll be looking at them throughout the program, 00:03:55.067 --> 00:03:58.000 seeing if there's any good questions popping up. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.634 Also, teachers in the room, I just wanted to let you know 00:04:00.634 --> 00:04:03.434 before we kind of get started here and forget, 00:04:03.434 --> 00:04:06.033 this session is being recorded right now 00:04:06.033 --> 00:04:07.968 especially for that distance learning academy 00:04:07.968 --> 00:04:10.801 where lots of students are watching from Michigan, 00:04:10.801 --> 00:04:12.934 so you'll be able to access this anytime 00:04:12.934 --> 00:04:14.434 after the program is over 00:04:14.434 --> 00:04:16.467 and I will be sending everyone an e-mail 00:04:16.467 --> 00:04:19.234 after on how to actually access this. 00:04:19.234 --> 00:04:22.100 So today we're going to, you know, really dive in 00:04:22.100 --> 00:04:23.434 to how this invention, 00:04:23.434 --> 00:04:26.067 you know, atomic bomb, how it was created 00:04:26.067 --> 00:04:28.601 in really such a short span of time as you're going to see. 00:04:28.601 --> 00:04:30.567 We're going to go through a timeline today 00:04:30.567 --> 00:04:32.133 and you'll see that. 00:04:32.133 --> 00:04:33.667 We'll be examining the discoveries 00:04:33.667 --> 00:04:35.601 of scientists to create, 00:04:35.601 --> 00:04:37.901 you know, one of the most powerful weapons 00:04:37.901 --> 00:04:39.801 the world has ever seen. 00:04:39.801 --> 00:04:42.701 You'll notice that Rob and I and eventually Jonathan, 00:04:42.701 --> 00:04:45.200 we're going to be talking about these same events 00:04:45.200 --> 00:04:46.601 and kind of in different ways. 00:04:46.601 --> 00:04:49.801 You know, sometimes you can tell the same story in multiple ways. 00:04:49.801 --> 00:04:51.067 You're going to see that today. 00:04:51.067 --> 00:04:52.901 We're going to obviously be live on camera here 00:04:52.901 --> 00:04:56.601 and doing some demonstrations and showing you some slides, 00:04:56.601 --> 00:04:59.133 and Jonathan is going to read a portion of his graphic novel 00:04:59.133 --> 00:05:00.767 to you all in just a bit. 00:05:00.767 --> 00:05:02.801 So some of the same sort of concepts 00:05:02.801 --> 00:05:04.901 delivered in very different ways, 00:05:04.901 --> 00:05:07.300 which I think will be a lot of fun today, 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:10.133 and so that's how we're going to really explore this, 00:05:10.133 --> 00:05:13.501 especially examining the science behind it, 00:05:13.501 --> 00:05:15.968 at least as best as we can in an hour. 00:05:15.968 --> 00:05:19.501 So that's our goal here to be done by 1:00, 00:05:19.501 --> 00:05:23.300 so even though we could probably talk about this topic 00:05:23.300 --> 00:05:27.767 for, you know, at least a few weeks, yeah, 00:05:27.767 --> 00:05:29.300 so we don't want to keep you that long. 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:31.934 So let's dive right in actually with, 00:05:31.934 --> 00:05:35.000 I always like to start these programs with a poll question, 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:37.801 and I know actually this poll might block what this is, 00:05:37.801 --> 00:05:39.133 but you guys should hopefully know this 00:05:39.133 --> 00:05:40.901 off the top of the app. 00:05:40.901 --> 00:05:44.400 So we're going to, let's see here, I got the poll up. 00:05:44.400 --> 00:05:46.667 So what did this on screen, maybe I can put it, 00:05:46.667 --> 00:05:48.834 let me actually move this and put it above it 00:05:48.834 --> 00:05:50.934 so you guys can really see. 00:05:50.934 --> 00:05:53.234 What do you think this is, and I'm going to broadcast 00:05:53.234 --> 00:05:56.734 the results in just a second here. 00:05:56.734 --> 00:06:00.100 All right. This has maybe been an easy question. 00:06:00.100 --> 00:06:03.334 I'll give it a few more minutes or a few more seconds. 00:06:03.334 --> 00:06:04.367 All right. 00:06:04.367 --> 00:06:06.300 I think I asked too easy of a question. 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:08.434 Hopefully we'll challenge you guys later. 00:06:08.434 --> 00:06:10.767 -It's an iconic image. -Yes. 00:06:10.767 --> 00:06:12.834 So, broadcasting, yes. 00:06:12.834 --> 00:06:14.767 You all know that this is an atom. 00:06:14.767 --> 00:06:17.367 We can't start this program without talking about, 00:06:17.367 --> 00:06:19.200 you know, an atom, and because we're going to be 00:06:19.200 --> 00:06:23.334 starting with this very small, and then working large, right. 00:06:23.334 --> 00:06:25.334 So very good, everybody. Yes. 00:06:25.334 --> 00:06:26.601 This is an atom. All right. 00:06:26.601 --> 00:06:29.767 Hopefully I can test your knowledge later, too. 00:06:29.767 --> 00:06:31.767 So we know the different parts of an atom. 00:06:31.767 --> 00:06:34.534 We're going to point out the electrons here. 00:06:34.534 --> 00:06:37.400 And then, of course, we'll be talking about 00:06:37.400 --> 00:06:39.367 this protons and neutrons 00:06:39.367 --> 00:06:42.901 we'll be talking about a lot today, forming the nucleus. 00:06:42.901 --> 00:06:44.767 And you all know that we are made of atoms, 00:06:44.767 --> 00:06:46.467 we're surrounded by billions of atoms, 00:06:46.467 --> 00:06:48.234 and when we talk about the atomic bomb eventually, 00:06:48.234 --> 00:06:49.734 we're not just going to be talking about one atom, 00:06:49.734 --> 00:06:51.000 we're talking about billions 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:53.667 and billions of atoms doing this reaction 00:06:53.667 --> 00:06:56.267 that we're about to show you here on screen. 00:06:56.267 --> 00:06:58.467 And we're going to start off, we're going to do this kind of 00:06:58.467 --> 00:07:00.934 as a timeline chronologically here, 00:07:00.934 --> 00:07:04.601 and we're going to start off with 1939 with the discovery, 00:07:04.601 --> 00:07:06.501 you know, of fission. 00:07:06.501 --> 00:07:09.033 Scientists, they were running these different kinds 00:07:09.033 --> 00:07:10.968 of experiments to learn about atoms 00:07:10.968 --> 00:07:14.567 and their properties and all of their potential, 00:07:14.567 --> 00:07:17.167 and during these experiments, 00:07:17.167 --> 00:07:19.367 the scientists got some strange results. 00:07:19.367 --> 00:07:22.834 And in one of these tests, 00:07:22.834 --> 00:07:24.634 they were going through these different processes 00:07:24.634 --> 00:07:26.167 with Uranium atoms 00:07:26.167 --> 00:07:29.367 and they saw that the nucleus of these atoms split, 00:07:29.367 --> 00:07:31.033 and they weren't really sure 00:07:31.033 --> 00:07:32.534 of what to make of the results, right, Rob? 00:07:32.534 --> 00:07:34.033 -They had a sample of Uranium 00:07:34.033 --> 00:07:36.567 and they were shooting neutrons at it 00:07:36.567 --> 00:07:37.868 to try to see what would happen, 00:07:37.868 --> 00:07:40.200 and really they were trying to understand 00:07:40.200 --> 00:07:43.767 how is a nucleus of an atom built, what is it like, 00:07:43.767 --> 00:07:45.601 so they were shooting neutrons at it. 00:07:45.601 --> 00:07:47.033 They had recently figured out how to do that 00:07:47.033 --> 00:07:52.000 and it was actually 1938, and a reaction occurred. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.234 They found out that they had some other chemicals in there 00:07:55.234 --> 00:07:58.367 and that it wasn't Uranium anymore, 00:07:58.367 --> 00:08:02.701 and they got a ton of energy released at the same time, 00:08:02.701 --> 00:08:05.000 and they weren't sure what to do about it. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.200 These were two guys in Germany doing this research. 00:08:08.200 --> 00:08:11.734 It's interesting that most of the research on fission 00:08:11.734 --> 00:08:14.934 and atoms and stuff was being done in Germany, 00:08:14.934 --> 00:08:18.100 and a collaborator of theirs, Lisa Meitner, 00:08:18.100 --> 00:08:24.801 had had to move to Sweden because she was a Jewish person, 00:08:24.801 --> 00:08:28.300 and so she had to leave Germany and go to... 00:08:28.300 --> 00:08:30.267 and they wrote her, sent her the results, 00:08:30.267 --> 00:08:31.934 and she said, "Oh, you know what's happened is 00:08:31.934 --> 00:08:34.434 that that Uranium has split in half, 00:08:34.434 --> 00:08:36.267 and that's why you don't have Uranium anymore, 00:08:36.267 --> 00:08:37.767 you have these two other chemicals," 00:08:37.767 --> 00:08:39.567 and she named it fission. 00:08:39.567 --> 00:08:41.400 -So fission, kind of a basic definition, 00:08:41.400 --> 00:08:43.868 is a reaction where the nucleus of an atom 00:08:43.868 --> 00:08:46.567 is split and all of that energy is released, 00:08:46.567 --> 00:08:48.934 and it is a tremendous amount of energy. 00:08:48.934 --> 00:08:50.834 And actually to demonstrate that, 00:08:50.834 --> 00:08:52.267 we have a little video for you today. 00:08:52.267 --> 00:08:53.801 We've got a couple videos. 00:08:53.801 --> 00:08:56.634 They're a little bit silly, I'm going to tell you right now. 00:08:56.634 --> 00:08:59.033 In this video, we're going to actually use a balloon 00:08:59.033 --> 00:09:02.133 to mimic what a nucleus would be like, 00:09:02.133 --> 00:09:05.267 and we're going to split that nucleus and see what happens. 00:09:05.267 --> 00:09:08.133 We're going to do it in slow motion, too, so watch out. 00:09:08.133 --> 00:09:09.968 So what I'm going to do for all of these clips, 00:09:09.968 --> 00:09:11.434 everyone, just so you know, 00:09:11.434 --> 00:09:14.667 make sure that they play nicely, crossing my fingers here, 00:09:14.667 --> 00:09:17.767 I'm going to pause our camera here live, play that 00:09:17.767 --> 00:09:23.601 [ Lost signal ] 00:09:23.601 --> 00:09:26.834 -So I'm Rob and I'm here to explain Niel Bohr's 00:09:26.834 --> 00:09:29.501 [Indistinct] model of the nucleus and fission. 00:09:29.501 --> 00:09:34.434 So a nucleus is like a big liquid drop, he said, 00:09:34.434 --> 00:09:38.834 and when the nucleus gets big and unstable it can split, 00:09:38.834 --> 00:09:40.901 and so energy can come in 00:09:40.901 --> 00:09:44.033 and it can force the two sides apart, 00:09:44.033 --> 00:09:47.868 and then something can come in that neutron 00:09:47.868 --> 00:09:49.968 and it can split the two sides. 00:09:49.968 --> 00:09:52.334 [ Pop ] 00:09:52.334 --> 00:09:55.868 And they have a lot of energy when they split. 00:09:55.868 --> 00:09:58.133 Let's see it again in slow motion. 00:09:58.133 --> 00:10:00.667 [ Speaking in slow motion ] 00:10:04.334 --> 00:10:07.467 [ Slow motion pop ] 00:10:13.234 --> 00:10:15.934 -I feel like I should have slowed that down 00:10:15.934 --> 00:10:19.801 even more for you all because even in that, like, 00:10:19.801 --> 00:10:21.634 very slow motion, you saw how quickly 00:10:21.634 --> 00:10:23.434 those two sides of the balloon, 00:10:23.434 --> 00:10:25.601 you know, went the other way, right, 00:10:25.601 --> 00:10:27.300 went the opposite ways from each other. 00:10:27.300 --> 00:10:28.734 That's the kind, you know, as I said, 00:10:28.734 --> 00:10:32.968 mimicking this kind of energy when you split a nucleus. 00:10:32.968 --> 00:10:35.467 So when we were talking about actually German scientists 00:10:35.467 --> 00:10:36.701 working on this kind of relates 00:10:36.701 --> 00:10:39.534 to what's going on here in our next slide. 00:10:39.534 --> 00:10:42.767 So they were worried about, you know, as they were studying 00:10:42.767 --> 00:10:44.801 this energy, you know, potential, 00:10:44.801 --> 00:10:47.100 they were starting to figure that through this process 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:50.000 called fission, they thought that maybe 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.000 this release of energy and release of lots of energy, 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.267 that could be potentially used to create a weapon. 00:10:56.267 --> 00:10:59.234 And so many of these scientists making these deductions, 00:10:59.234 --> 00:11:01.868 as I said, were from Europe and specifically Germany, 00:11:01.868 --> 00:11:04.434 and they had a fear that with war breaking out, 00:11:04.434 --> 00:11:06.901 look at the year, it's 1939, 00:11:06.901 --> 00:11:09.234 these discoveries could be put into use by, 00:11:09.234 --> 00:11:11.167 you know, the wrong people. 00:11:11.167 --> 00:11:14.367 So actually two scientists approached Albert Einstein, 00:11:14.367 --> 00:11:17.801 who you see here, and they asked Einstein 00:11:17.801 --> 00:11:20.767 to write a letter to President Roosevelt 00:11:20.767 --> 00:11:23.200 about the potential of this energy 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:24.601 and how it could be used. 00:11:24.601 --> 00:11:27.267 Because I said, think about it, Nazi Germany, you know, 00:11:27.267 --> 00:11:31.334 they had the potential maybe of developing this sort of weapon, 00:11:31.334 --> 00:11:34.033 and with Hitler seizing territory throughout Europe, 00:11:34.033 --> 00:11:36.167 this became really scary, right. 00:11:36.167 --> 00:11:40.534 So this is the letter that Einstein wrote to the president. 00:11:40.534 --> 00:11:41.901 -Right. 00:11:41.901 --> 00:11:44.000 And the two scientists, I think one of them was Polish 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.601 and one of them was Czech, 00:11:46.601 --> 00:11:48.000 and so they came to Einstein 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:50.000 because Einstein was a very famous, 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:51.501 very respected scientist, 00:11:51.501 --> 00:11:54.601 and they knew that he would share their concerns. 00:11:54.601 --> 00:11:58.467 And actually, Niels Bohr had brought the news of, 00:11:58.467 --> 00:12:01.400 right before war broke out in 1939, 00:12:01.400 --> 00:12:05.133 Niels Bohr had come to a conference in Washington D.C. 00:12:05.133 --> 00:12:09.200 and talked about the results of fission, 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:11.601 and Marshall, you asked about fission 00:12:11.601 --> 00:12:13.334 and why do we call it fission, 00:12:13.334 --> 00:12:16.234 and she just borrowed a term from biology. 00:12:16.234 --> 00:12:18.100 The other term and time in science 00:12:18.100 --> 00:12:21.901 when we talk about fission is when single celled organisms 00:12:21.901 --> 00:12:23.501 like bacteria, when they split, 00:12:23.501 --> 00:12:25.167 they call that fission. 00:12:25.167 --> 00:12:26.601 So it's the same sort of thing, 00:12:26.601 --> 00:12:30.367 it's a word that means splitting or into two. 00:12:30.367 --> 00:12:31.334 -Great. Thanks. 00:12:31.334 --> 00:12:33.133 Thanks for answering that question. 00:12:33.133 --> 00:12:38.033 So with this news and with this letter that Roosevelt receives, 00:12:38.033 --> 00:12:41.234 he decides to create an advisory committee on Uranium, 00:12:41.234 --> 00:12:43.501 but really it's kind of slow moving 00:12:43.501 --> 00:12:44.801 between 1940 and '41, right? 00:12:44.801 --> 00:12:46.767 -It's what government advisory programs do. 00:12:46.767 --> 00:12:48.234 They don't go very fast. -Yeah. 00:12:48.234 --> 00:12:50.267 Well, if anything, they decided to rename it 00:12:50.267 --> 00:12:52.534 the Advisory Committee on Uranium. 00:12:52.534 --> 00:12:54.667 First it was like the S-1 project, 00:12:54.667 --> 00:12:56.234 and then it became the Manhattan project. 00:12:56.234 --> 00:12:57.901 If you have Uranium in your title, right, 00:12:57.901 --> 00:12:59.367 it's not secret enough. 00:12:59.367 --> 00:13:00.734 -That's not a very secret way to be doing it. 00:13:00.734 --> 00:13:02.367 -Yeah. Exactly. 00:13:02.367 --> 00:13:03.901 -But that changed with a big event, 00:13:03.901 --> 00:13:06.534 and here's where I get to ask you another poll question. 00:13:06.534 --> 00:13:07.734 And that big event was this. 00:13:07.734 --> 00:13:10.033 It happened on December 7th of 1941, 00:13:10.033 --> 00:13:12.367 or another way to ask this is, 00:13:12.367 --> 00:13:15.567 well, how did the United States get involved in World War II? 00:13:15.567 --> 00:13:17.133 Thinking this might be another easy question, 00:13:17.133 --> 00:13:22.033 but I'm going to put it out there and, well, yeah. 00:13:22.033 --> 00:13:23.934 Man, I should have challenged you all more. 00:13:23.934 --> 00:13:25.567 I'm going to let it kind of go 00:13:25.567 --> 00:13:27.000 and then I'll reveal the results, 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:33.300 but everybody looks like they're on their A game today, so. 00:13:33.300 --> 00:13:36.667 All right. I'm going to broadcast. Yes. 00:13:36.667 --> 00:13:38.400 United States got involved in World War II 00:13:38.400 --> 00:13:42.100 because Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 00:13:42.100 --> 00:13:45.000 It was a surprise attack, a secret attack. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:47.100 As we saw, I'm going to hide this poll, 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:51.133 on December 7th of 1941, 00:13:51.133 --> 00:13:53.667 and our U.S. Pacific fleet that was stationed 00:13:53.667 --> 00:13:55.767 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was attacked. 00:13:55.767 --> 00:14:00.267 Two thousand four hundred plus Americans died in the attack. 00:14:00.267 --> 00:14:04.501 And then, on December 8th as we see here... 00:14:07.334 --> 00:14:16.167 -Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, 00:14:16.167 --> 00:14:21.701 a date which will live in infamy, 00:14:21.701 --> 00:14:25.334 the United States of America was suddenly 00:14:25.334 --> 00:14:30.367 and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces 00:14:30.367 --> 00:14:33.133 of the empire of Japan. 00:14:39.968 --> 00:14:41.868 -So in that famous speech, as I said, 00:14:41.868 --> 00:14:44.667 Roosevelt was asking Congress to declare war on Japan. 00:14:44.667 --> 00:14:48.367 That happens almost unanimously, and then a few days after that, 00:14:48.367 --> 00:14:50.067 Germany declares war on the U.S. 00:14:50.067 --> 00:14:52.367 So if we think about it, within the span of what, 00:14:52.367 --> 00:14:55.000 less than a week, the United States is attacked, 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:56.634 U.S. declares war, 00:14:56.634 --> 00:14:59.367 and then someone else or other countries declare war 00:14:59.367 --> 00:15:00.868 on the United States. 00:15:00.868 --> 00:15:02.567 -Yup. -So that kind of speeds up, 00:15:02.567 --> 00:15:04.934 then, this process of this Manhattan Project. 00:15:04.934 --> 00:15:06.767 -It's kind of funny that an attack by Japan 00:15:06.767 --> 00:15:09.100 caused us to move forward our concern about Germany. 00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:10.767 -About Germany. Yeah. 00:15:10.767 --> 00:15:12.701 But then in the end, the weapon was used... 00:15:12.701 --> 00:15:13.734 -Against Japan. -Well, we'll get to that. 00:15:13.734 --> 00:15:14.934 We'll get to that. 00:15:14.934 --> 00:15:19.467 So by 1942, as I said, things start to speed up 00:15:19.467 --> 00:15:23.033 and the War Department takes over the Manhattan Project, 00:15:23.033 --> 00:15:25.400 and under the leadership of Leslie Groves 00:15:25.400 --> 00:15:27.634 who you see on screen there, there's a real picture 00:15:27.634 --> 00:15:29.601 and then actually you can see just some of Jonathan's 00:15:29.601 --> 00:15:31.400 drawings, too, throughout this as well. 00:15:31.400 --> 00:15:33.834 So thanks, Jonathan, for that. 00:15:33.834 --> 00:15:37.000 And the scientific director today, Robert Oppenheimer, 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:40.334 the Manhattan Project would undertake this tremendous task 00:15:40.334 --> 00:15:42.367 of creating the atomic weapon. 00:15:42.367 --> 00:15:44.334 In total, these numbers astound me. 00:15:44.334 --> 00:15:48.834 The Manhattan Project employed 130,000 people, 00:15:48.834 --> 00:15:50.501 and it cost two billion dollars. 00:15:50.501 --> 00:15:53.767 It was the largest scientific research project to date 00:15:53.767 --> 00:15:55.000 and you can see actually, 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:57.300 look at all the places here on our map 00:15:57.300 --> 00:15:59.567 where the research and development 00:15:59.567 --> 00:16:01.133 took place all across the country. 00:16:01.133 --> 00:16:04.133 -There were others in Canada, too, and three of those places, 00:16:04.133 --> 00:16:09.334 Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and the one in Washington state, 00:16:09.334 --> 00:16:12.267 those are still government research center. 00:16:12.267 --> 00:16:13.133 -Yeah. Yeah. 00:16:13.133 --> 00:16:16.000 So, and we also see there's, 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:17.534 we're going to be talking about fuel development 00:16:17.534 --> 00:16:19.934 in two kind of key places in Oak Ridge, 00:16:19.934 --> 00:16:22.300 Tennessee, and then in Hanford, Washington. 00:16:22.300 --> 00:16:23.767 The other crazy thing, right, Rob, 00:16:23.767 --> 00:16:25.834 is that most people at these places 00:16:25.834 --> 00:16:27.534 didn't really realize what they were doing. 00:16:27.534 --> 00:16:29.200 -They had no idea what they were doing. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:32.501 They were just told trained in a small, very specific 00:16:32.501 --> 00:16:33.901 thing, you know, just do this, 00:16:33.901 --> 00:16:36.300 tell us when this needle goes over here... 00:16:36.300 --> 00:16:37.501 -Right. Yeah. -...and they didn't know 00:16:37.501 --> 00:16:38.968 what they were doing. 00:16:38.968 --> 00:16:41.434 -Giving specific tasks, you know, and... 00:16:41.434 --> 00:16:44.367 -And I was mostly, at most of them, 00:16:44.367 --> 00:16:47.167 all the scientists were concentrated at Los Alamos, 00:16:47.167 --> 00:16:49.901 so those guys did know what they were doing. 00:16:49.901 --> 00:16:51.667 Maybe not the clerical workers on the site, 00:16:51.667 --> 00:16:55.934 but that's where they were building the bomb mechanism, 00:16:55.934 --> 00:16:58.234 so they really had to mentally prepare for that. 00:16:58.234 --> 00:17:00.334 -That's where actually J. Robert Oppenheimer 00:17:00.334 --> 00:17:03.501 set up shop, in Los Alamos in New Mexico, 00:17:03.501 --> 00:17:05.133 and as I said, we'll talk about that 00:17:05.133 --> 00:17:06.634 a little bit more in just a bit. 00:17:06.634 --> 00:17:10.100 So we're going to go back to this whole idea of fission 00:17:10.100 --> 00:17:11.534 and I just want to make sure 00:17:11.534 --> 00:17:13.801 that you all are paying attention here, 00:17:13.801 --> 00:17:17.334 and so I'm going to ask you one more time what fission is. 00:17:17.334 --> 00:17:19.601 So let's see what you guys say. 00:17:19.601 --> 00:17:21.868 Maybe this will be the most challenging of questions, 00:17:21.868 --> 00:17:25.167 and then I'll broadcast the results. 00:17:25.167 --> 00:17:28.734 Well, Rob, it looks like they might not have been listening. 00:17:28.734 --> 00:17:30.801 Okay. Oh, now it's turning around. 00:17:30.801 --> 00:17:32.400 -Oh, change your minds. There you go. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:35.767 -So you guys can flip flop if you want, change your mind here. 00:17:35.767 --> 00:17:38.300 You're also, if this does seem a little fuzzy material, 00:17:38.300 --> 00:17:40.267 as I said, Jonathan's going to be reading to you, 00:17:40.267 --> 00:17:43.767 reading his section about fission a little bit 00:17:43.767 --> 00:17:45.567 so you can refresh your memory on that. 00:17:45.567 --> 00:17:47.133 Okay. All right. 00:17:47.133 --> 00:17:50.133 You do know what it is, so here you go. 00:17:50.133 --> 00:17:51.200 Yes. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:53.200 It is C, when the nucleus of an atom 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:55.634 is split and energy is released. 00:17:55.634 --> 00:17:57.734 So we're going to go back to that idea. 00:17:57.734 --> 00:18:00.067 Instead of just talking about it with one atom, 00:18:00.067 --> 00:18:02.033 we need to talk about it with multiple atoms, 00:18:02.033 --> 00:18:03.834 potentially hundreds of thousands 00:18:03.834 --> 00:18:07.234 and millions and billions of atoms, right, 00:18:07.234 --> 00:18:09.767 and that really was something 00:18:09.767 --> 00:18:13.334 that was discovered by this man, Enrico Fermi. 00:18:13.334 --> 00:18:15.234 He, in 1942, discovered 00:18:15.234 --> 00:18:17.167 what a sustained nuclear chain reaction was. 00:18:17.167 --> 00:18:18.367 Can you talk about that a little more, Rob? 00:18:18.367 --> 00:18:19.734 -Yeah. 00:18:19.734 --> 00:18:21.634 So first of all, this is, like, a huge moment in history. 00:18:21.634 --> 00:18:26.701 For thousands of years, people have been splitting compounds, 00:18:26.701 --> 00:18:28.934 splitting one compound from another compound, 00:18:28.934 --> 00:18:32.033 burning wood, making gun powder. 00:18:32.033 --> 00:18:36.133 We released energy by breaking atoms apart, 00:18:36.133 --> 00:18:38.100 you know, one atom from another one. 00:18:38.100 --> 00:18:41.734 And then suddenly, we've discovered 00:18:41.734 --> 00:18:43.667 how to split an atom itself, 00:18:43.667 --> 00:18:45.667 and that's way more energy. 00:18:45.667 --> 00:18:47.701 And what Fermi figured out was, 00:18:47.701 --> 00:18:50.634 we saw that fission was undergoing and he said, 00:18:50.634 --> 00:18:54.467 "But is there a way to make it not just go, poof, 00:18:54.467 --> 00:18:57.734 but to make it happen slowly and continuously 00:18:57.734 --> 00:18:59.467 and control the reaction?" 00:18:59.467 --> 00:19:02.868 And it's kind of funny because he did this, 00:19:02.868 --> 00:19:04.501 they were supposed to be building a big lab 00:19:04.501 --> 00:19:06.033 for him out in the middle of nowhere 00:19:06.033 --> 00:19:07.300 and they weren't going very fast, 00:19:07.300 --> 00:19:10.434 so he took, there was a basement under the football field 00:19:10.434 --> 00:19:12.334 at the University of Chicago, 00:19:12.334 --> 00:19:14.634 and he built a nuclear reactor there, 00:19:14.634 --> 00:19:16.634 found a way to slow down the reaction 00:19:16.634 --> 00:19:17.934 so that it would control, 00:19:17.934 --> 00:19:20.701 it happened in a controlled way, and he got it to work, 00:19:20.701 --> 00:19:23.868 and then they immediately realized how dangerous this was 00:19:23.868 --> 00:19:26.167 and finished his lab out in the middle of nowhere 00:19:26.167 --> 00:19:28.901 so that he didn't blow up Chicago. 00:19:28.901 --> 00:19:31.634 -Well, a way to kind of demonstrate for you all today 00:19:31.634 --> 00:19:33.601 what a sustained nuclear chain reaction is, 00:19:33.601 --> 00:19:34.701 we're going to use, well, actually, 00:19:34.701 --> 00:19:36.567 I can hold it up so you can see. 00:19:36.567 --> 00:19:38.434 We're going to be showing you another video demo 00:19:38.434 --> 00:19:39.701 with dominoes, 00:19:39.701 --> 00:19:41.033 and as I said, Jonathan's going to show you 00:19:41.033 --> 00:19:42.634 how he illustrated this same sort of thing 00:19:42.634 --> 00:19:45.000 in just a little bit. This one also -- 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.234 [ Lost Signal ] 00:19:50.534 --> 00:19:51.934 Hey, everyone. 00:19:51.934 --> 00:19:53.267 Chrissy here, and what we're doing today 00:19:53.267 --> 00:19:54.667 is we're going to show you 00:19:54.667 --> 00:19:58.267 what a sustained nuclear chain reaction looks like. 00:19:58.267 --> 00:20:00.100 Now, we can't use a microscope 00:20:00.100 --> 00:20:01.434 or anything like that to show you, 00:20:01.434 --> 00:20:03.033 so we need to blow it up a little bit. 00:20:03.033 --> 00:20:05.868 And so what we're going to do to represent atoms 00:20:05.868 --> 00:20:08.234 is actually using dominoes. 00:20:08.234 --> 00:20:13.901 So we are going to see how one nucleus of one atom splits 00:20:13.901 --> 00:20:16.234 and how it starts off a reaction. 00:20:16.234 --> 00:20:17.868 So let's test it out. 00:20:17.868 --> 00:20:19.934 You guys ready? Okay. 00:20:19.934 --> 00:20:22.467 So in this first row of dominoes here, 00:20:22.467 --> 00:20:25.634 this would be like a sustained nuclear chain reaction. 00:20:25.634 --> 00:20:29.601 But what is happening here is only one atom splitting, 00:20:29.601 --> 00:20:31.300 causing another one to split. 00:20:31.300 --> 00:20:35.567 Something like this. 00:20:35.567 --> 00:20:38.701 In another type of sustained nuclear chain reaction, 00:20:38.701 --> 00:20:40.367 what we're trying to do instead, 00:20:40.367 --> 00:20:41.934 especially when creating a weapon, 00:20:41.934 --> 00:20:45.767 is we want that reaction to grow exponentially. 00:20:45.767 --> 00:20:48.834 So in this case instead of one atom hitting another atom 00:20:48.834 --> 00:20:51.801 when it splits over and over and over again, 00:20:51.801 --> 00:20:56.067 we want one atom when it splits to hit two or more atoms. 00:20:56.067 --> 00:20:58.133 Kind of something like this domino set up, 00:20:58.133 --> 00:21:01.868 and imagine this going on and on and on and on and on. 00:21:01.868 --> 00:21:05.000 Okay. Let's do it. 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.501 Okay, let's slow it down and see that in slow motion. 00:21:10.033 --> 00:21:12.734 [ Talking in slow motion ] 00:21:21.167 --> 00:21:24.167 [ Dominoes crash ] 00:21:36.033 --> 00:21:39.167 I love how those dominoes, for some reason, 00:21:39.167 --> 00:21:40.534 when they're slowed down to such a pace 00:21:40.534 --> 00:21:42.834 that they sound like bowling pins falling over. 00:21:42.834 --> 00:21:45.334 But think about that happening with billions 00:21:45.334 --> 00:21:46.934 and billions of atoms, as I said. 00:21:46.934 --> 00:21:49.634 That's the kind of reaction that we need to, 00:21:49.634 --> 00:21:51.067 you know, eventually create a weapon, 00:21:51.067 --> 00:21:53.367 and that's kind of what they were looking for, too. 00:21:53.367 --> 00:21:55.767 -That's a lot of what they were calculating at Los Alamos was, 00:21:55.767 --> 00:21:58.667 how much of these elements do we need 00:21:58.667 --> 00:22:03.033 to be able to put in one spot to make a big explosion like that. 00:22:03.033 --> 00:22:04.033 -Right. And speaking of... 00:22:04.033 --> 00:22:05.234 -They call that critical math. 00:22:05.234 --> 00:22:06.601 -Critical math. 00:22:06.601 --> 00:22:08.267 So there's a good vocabulary word for everybody. 00:22:08.267 --> 00:22:13.033 So speaking of elements, though, we are going to talk 00:22:13.033 --> 00:22:15.234 about the periodic table of elements, 00:22:15.234 --> 00:22:17.267 and actually a couple of them in particular. 00:22:17.267 --> 00:22:19.334 Now, Rob, isn't it right that I mean, 00:22:19.334 --> 00:22:21.033 any element could potentially fission. 00:22:21.033 --> 00:22:22.133 -Uh-huh. -You could split the nucleus 00:22:22.133 --> 00:22:23.567 of really element, 00:22:23.567 --> 00:22:26.667 but there's some that are better than others, like Uranium. 00:22:26.667 --> 00:22:29.267 -The bigger they are when you pack a, think about it. 00:22:29.267 --> 00:22:33.868 You guys know that a nucleus has lots of positive protons in it, 00:22:33.868 --> 00:22:35.467 and there's neutrons in it too, 00:22:35.467 --> 00:22:37.367 but eventually you're packing 00:22:37.367 --> 00:22:39.334 all those positive charges in there 00:22:39.334 --> 00:22:41.434 and the force that's holding them all together 00:22:41.434 --> 00:22:42.934 is not going to be able to hold them all together, 00:22:42.934 --> 00:22:46.100 so the bigger the nucleus, the more likely it is to split, 00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:48.968 and so if you look at the bottom of that periodic table, 00:22:48.968 --> 00:22:53.434 it's the ones way down at the bottom that are the ones 00:22:53.434 --> 00:22:56.734 that we think of as dangerous and nuclear and radioactive. 00:22:56.734 --> 00:22:59.767 -So when, you know, so let's talk 00:22:59.767 --> 00:23:02.033 about actually Uranium specifically. 00:23:02.033 --> 00:23:05.300 So Uranium has, there it is right there, 00:23:05.300 --> 00:23:08.133 it has 92 protons inside it's nucleus, 00:23:08.133 --> 00:23:10.934 and that's where you see the 92 in the corner here. 00:23:10.934 --> 00:23:16.133 And to get the atomic mass, which is the 238 in the bottom 00:23:16.133 --> 00:23:18.534 there, why don't you, so there's that big nucleus. 00:23:18.534 --> 00:23:23.567 I would be taking 92 protons and you add 146 neutrons, 00:23:23.567 --> 00:23:25.534 and that's how you get that 238 mass right there 00:23:25.534 --> 00:23:28.434 where you see in the bottom of that element. 00:23:28.434 --> 00:23:32.601 And so that shows you it's a huge, huge nucleus. 00:23:32.601 --> 00:23:35.234 But there's some Uranium in the world that exists 00:23:35.234 --> 00:23:38.167 that only actually has 143 neutrons. 00:23:38.167 --> 00:23:43.000 -Right. -So its mass is actually 235, 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:46.968 and so the 235, oh, why do you add 146, someone asked. 00:23:46.968 --> 00:23:51.033 146 is also, that's the amount of neutrons in the nucleus. 00:23:51.033 --> 00:23:54.601 So the amount of protons plus the amount of neutrons together, 00:23:54.601 --> 00:23:57.234 boom, you get the 238 mass. 00:23:57.234 --> 00:24:02.133 So, but as I was saying with the 235, that has only 143 neutrons, 00:24:02.133 --> 00:24:05.901 and that makes that nucleus even more unstable. 00:24:05.901 --> 00:24:08.234 And so it's so unstable 00:24:08.234 --> 00:24:09.734 it's a lot easier to split, right. 00:24:09.734 --> 00:24:12.334 -Yeah. -There's a lot less work 00:24:12.334 --> 00:24:16.400 involved in splitting those nuclei versus others. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:18.434 -Right. And some isotopes are better than others 00:24:18.434 --> 00:24:21.834 for creating these reactions. 00:24:21.834 --> 00:24:23.801 -So we want to, you've maybe heard that term, 00:24:23.801 --> 00:24:25.534 like, enriched Uranium before, 00:24:25.534 --> 00:24:28.400 and maybe not known what it meant or what that entailed. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:31.934 Well, that's pulling out that isotope that's more unstable. 00:24:31.934 --> 00:24:34.868 An isotope is a variant of an element. 00:24:34.868 --> 00:24:37.234 How do you enrich Uranium? 00:24:37.234 --> 00:24:39.100 What, was that a centrifuge, right, and all that? 00:24:39.100 --> 00:24:40.634 -Right. That's right. 00:24:40.634 --> 00:24:42.634 If you were following the news about Iran 00:24:42.634 --> 00:24:45.167 and watching their nuclear weapon development, 00:24:45.167 --> 00:24:46.868 there was talk about centrifuges 00:24:46.868 --> 00:24:49.734 and how many centrifuges were we going to let them have, 00:24:49.734 --> 00:24:50.901 and we sent them a virus 00:24:50.901 --> 00:24:53.200 that caused their centrifuges to blow up, 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:55.100 and that's how you separate it out. 00:24:55.100 --> 00:24:57.200 Because when things weigh a different amount 00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:58.667 or when you spin them around, 00:24:58.667 --> 00:25:01.000 the heavier ones are going to spin, 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:03.734 are going to have more momentum and go to the outside. 00:25:03.734 --> 00:25:06.634 So just like you would, you spin blood in a centrifuge 00:25:06.634 --> 00:25:08.634 to get all the blood cells down at the bottom 00:25:08.634 --> 00:25:10.267 and the plasma, it's the same thing. 00:25:10.267 --> 00:25:14.968 If you spin Uranium, you're going to get the lighter 235, 00:25:14.968 --> 00:25:17.400 which is what you want, at the center, 00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:20.501 and the heavier 238 on the outside. 00:25:20.501 --> 00:25:25.267 Now, 235, less than one percent of Uranium, 00:25:25.267 --> 00:25:26.968 if you could just get Uranium out of the ground, 00:25:26.968 --> 00:25:29.934 less than one percent of it is 235, 00:25:29.934 --> 00:25:32.601 and most of the rest is 238. 00:25:32.601 --> 00:25:35.567 And so it's hard work to get them apart. 00:25:35.567 --> 00:25:38.767 -Now, we have a demonstration for you all. 00:25:38.767 --> 00:25:40.801 Our centrifuge, well we don't have a centrifuge here 00:25:40.801 --> 00:25:41.968 at the World War II museum, 00:25:41.968 --> 00:25:44.234 but we have our own little version of it. 00:25:44.234 --> 00:25:46.100 It's a salad spinner. -A salad spinner. 00:25:46.100 --> 00:25:47.667 -And what we're going to do is kind of show you 00:25:47.667 --> 00:25:49.767 how a centrifuge would work. 00:25:49.767 --> 00:25:52.067 I'm going to be moving the camera now so you all, 00:25:52.067 --> 00:25:54.167 sorry if anybody gets sea sick here, 00:25:54.167 --> 00:25:55.968 but this is... 00:25:55.968 --> 00:25:59.667 Oh, let me get the right angle here. 00:25:59.667 --> 00:26:02.033 There we go. -All right. So this is 235. 00:26:02.033 --> 00:26:03.801 -That's the corn pops. 00:26:03.801 --> 00:26:06.200 -And these red beans, which are very important to us 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:09.601 in New Orleans, are the 238. 00:26:09.601 --> 00:26:10.868 And you can see they're all mixed up 00:26:10.868 --> 00:26:12.767 so I could slowly go through there. 00:26:12.767 --> 00:26:16.133 That would be a lot of work to get those 235s out. 00:26:16.133 --> 00:26:20.434 So what I can do is I can spin the centrifuge around, 00:26:26.868 --> 00:26:28.834 and now you can see that it's a little bit, 00:26:28.834 --> 00:26:30.033 they're a little bit separated. 00:26:30.033 --> 00:26:31.634 So it takes a lot of work, 00:26:31.634 --> 00:26:34.501 but I can get some corn pops out of here, 00:26:34.501 --> 00:26:36.667 I mean 238, having 235 out of there. 00:26:36.667 --> 00:26:38.300 -235? Yeah, corn pops. 00:26:38.300 --> 00:26:42.033 -And, you know, if I run it again 00:26:42.033 --> 00:26:44.567 I can separate them even more. 00:26:48.501 --> 00:26:51.467 And so by doing this a few times... 00:26:54.868 --> 00:26:56.801 I can eventually get... 00:26:56.801 --> 00:26:58.734 -All the corn pops out or most of them out. 00:26:58.734 --> 00:27:00.067 -Yeah. -Right. 00:27:00.067 --> 00:27:01.400 -And so it's a better way to get them out. 00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:03.400 It's a way to get them out and get what I want. 00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:07.934 -So anybody want that concoction of corn pops and red beans? 00:27:07.934 --> 00:27:09.434 I don't know. That might not sound very appetizing. 00:27:09.434 --> 00:27:10.734 -They're kind of stale and sticky. 00:27:10.734 --> 00:27:12.968 -Yeah. -Stale corn pops and red beans. 00:27:12.968 --> 00:27:16.834 So, but anyway, that's U-235 and U-238. 00:27:16.834 --> 00:27:20.634 And so that is what they were doing, 00:27:20.634 --> 00:27:23.334 that's what they were working on in those two main places 00:27:23.334 --> 00:27:25.000 where they're doing bomb fuel production 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:26.267 in Hanford, Washington. 00:27:26.267 --> 00:27:27.934 They're actually doing that same sort of thing, 00:27:27.934 --> 00:27:29.234 but with Plutonium. 00:27:29.234 --> 00:27:32.267 -Well, what they're doing there is if you take 238 00:27:32.267 --> 00:27:34.634 and you put it in a reactor for a long time, 00:27:34.634 --> 00:27:37.067 it becomes Plutonium. 00:27:37.067 --> 00:27:38.267 -Oh, okay. Gotcha. 00:27:38.267 --> 00:27:40.033 So it's a little bit different, the process. 00:27:40.033 --> 00:27:42.534 But back in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 00:27:42.534 --> 00:27:45.701 they're working making Uranium fuel. 00:27:45.701 --> 00:27:48.601 Now, so these places are working on developing fuel 00:27:48.601 --> 00:27:50.267 for the bomb back at Los Alamos. 00:27:50.267 --> 00:27:52.133 They're trying to figure out a casing 00:27:52.133 --> 00:27:55.901 so that those reactions don't happen accidentally. 00:27:55.901 --> 00:27:59.033 I can't tell you how many times I filmed that domino scene 00:27:59.033 --> 00:28:00.434 because I would knock the dominoes over with my elbow... 00:28:00.434 --> 00:28:01.534 -Accidentally. 00:28:01.534 --> 00:28:03.300 -...you know, that kind of thing. 00:28:03.300 --> 00:28:04.734 These things can accidentally start to react, 00:28:04.734 --> 00:28:06.000 so you want to make a casing 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.267 that prevents that from happening, 00:28:08.267 --> 00:28:10.567 makes so you can do it when you want to do that. 00:28:10.567 --> 00:28:12.968 So that's what they were working on back at Los Alamos 00:28:12.968 --> 00:28:14.467 among many other things. -Yeah. 00:28:14.467 --> 00:28:17.701 How they keep it apart and then make it a critical mass occur 00:28:17.701 --> 00:28:20.000 just when you need to detonate the bomb, 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:21.634 so if the critical mass occurs earlier, 00:28:21.634 --> 00:28:24.367 it's going to blow up too early. 00:28:24.367 --> 00:28:27.467 -So by, you know, July really, 00:28:27.467 --> 00:28:29.100 they're putting all the pieces together 00:28:29.100 --> 00:28:31.501 and you can see the first atomic bomb 00:28:31.501 --> 00:28:37.901 was the test of Trinity on July 16th of 1945. 00:28:37.901 --> 00:28:40.567 They are testing this in the deserts of New Mexico 00:28:40.567 --> 00:28:45.601 in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and the test was a success. 00:28:45.601 --> 00:28:48.234 And many years later, Robert Oppenheimer said, 00:28:48.234 --> 00:28:51.801 "We knew that the world would not be the same." 00:28:51.801 --> 00:28:53.767 You know, they realized, you know, all this work they put in, 00:28:53.767 --> 00:28:55.234 they realized they made something 00:28:55.234 --> 00:28:57.300 tremendously destructive, you know. 00:28:57.300 --> 00:28:58.734 -Yeah. A lot of the scientists 00:28:58.734 --> 00:29:01.200 were a little bit uncomfortable 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:03.300 with what they were doing, and it's interesting, 00:29:03.300 --> 00:29:04.667 I think that it's fascinating to me 00:29:04.667 --> 00:29:09.267 is that they only discovered Plutonium in like, 1940, 00:29:09.267 --> 00:29:13.701 and by 1945 this was a Plutonium bomb, so. 00:29:13.701 --> 00:29:16.033 -So in five years. -It was really fast. 00:29:16.033 --> 00:29:17.501 -Yeah. 00:29:17.501 --> 00:29:20.868 And then really, essentially almost less than a month later, 00:29:20.868 --> 00:29:22.300 Harry Truman was calling for the bomb, 00:29:22.300 --> 00:29:25.000 and this is kind of how it worked in short. 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:27.133 So Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 00:29:27.133 --> 00:29:28.968 our president who you saw earlier, 00:29:28.968 --> 00:29:33.567 he died in April of 1945, making Truman the president, 00:29:33.567 --> 00:29:35.267 and... -Truman didn't know about it. 00:29:35.267 --> 00:29:37.234 -... Yeah, until he became president. 00:29:37.234 --> 00:29:39.667 And so he had this committee to kind of brief him and help him 00:29:39.667 --> 00:29:42.100 make these decisions about this kind of weapon, 00:29:42.100 --> 00:29:44.100 and the committee kind of eventually said, 00:29:44.100 --> 00:29:46.801 I think in July, or maybe it was in June 00:29:46.801 --> 00:29:48.734 they gave the thumbs up, they gave the go ahead 00:29:48.734 --> 00:29:49.901 that they think we should use it, 00:29:49.901 --> 00:29:51.267 and it kind of brings up that question, 00:29:51.267 --> 00:29:53.200 I think Jonathan brings it up in the book really well, 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:55.434 but you know, if you make this thing, 00:29:55.434 --> 00:29:57.434 why would you not use it, right. 00:29:57.434 --> 00:29:59.100 So you had a good analogy for it. 00:29:59.100 --> 00:30:00.501 -Well, yeah. 00:30:00.501 --> 00:30:02.400 You don't make a hammer and then leave it on the shelf. 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:04.901 I mean, you get a hammer because you're going to use it. 00:30:04.901 --> 00:30:06.300 -Right. 00:30:06.300 --> 00:30:08.467 So, you know, essentially as this process was happening, 00:30:08.467 --> 00:30:11.934 there was really no way, you know, of stopping it. 00:30:11.934 --> 00:30:14.934 In July of 1945, the Potsdam Conference 00:30:14.934 --> 00:30:17.234 goes on between allied nations, 00:30:17.234 --> 00:30:20.534 and they decide to send this declaration to Japan 00:30:20.534 --> 00:30:22.567 on July 26th of 1945 00:30:22.567 --> 00:30:26.434 asking for an unconditional Japanese surrender. 00:30:26.434 --> 00:30:32.367 That was initially met with silence, and on July 31st, 00:30:32.367 --> 00:30:34.868 Truman gives the official bomb approval by this, 00:30:34.868 --> 00:30:36.968 look at this, like, wrinkly letter here. 00:30:36.968 --> 00:30:38.334 It doesn't say much. 00:30:38.334 --> 00:30:39.234 It doesn't say exactly what he's doing here, 00:30:39.234 --> 00:30:40.734 but he's giving approval 00:30:40.734 --> 00:30:44.634 and, as you can see, not sooner than August 2nd. 00:30:44.634 --> 00:30:45.868 You all know this. 00:30:45.868 --> 00:30:47.701 Probably you've reviewed this history a lot. 00:30:47.701 --> 00:30:50.801 On August 6th of 1945, the first atomic bomb 00:30:50.801 --> 00:30:52.667 is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. 00:30:52.667 --> 00:30:54.334 Its nickname is Little Boy. 00:30:54.334 --> 00:30:56.701 This one is actually a uranium bomb. 00:30:56.701 --> 00:31:00.934 The other two were plutonium, and in Hiroshima, 00:31:00.934 --> 00:31:05.300 140,000 people are killed from the blast, 00:31:05.300 --> 00:31:07.801 and we see some... 00:31:07.801 --> 00:31:09.501 Again, I think you've all probably seen images 00:31:09.501 --> 00:31:11.267 of just total and complete destruction, 00:31:11.267 --> 00:31:13.968 the city, if anything, just shells of buildings 00:31:13.968 --> 00:31:16.701 still standing, but not much other than that, 00:31:16.701 --> 00:31:19.200 and 3 days later, 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:22.434 a second atomic bomb is dropped on August 9th. 00:31:22.434 --> 00:31:23.634 Fat Man is its nickname. 00:31:23.634 --> 00:31:24.868 It's dropped on Nagasaki. 00:31:24.868 --> 00:31:28.000 As we said, this one is a plutonium bomb, 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:30.234 and total destruction there as well. 00:31:30.234 --> 00:31:32.434 You can see some images from our digital collection 00:31:32.434 --> 00:31:33.968 there on-screen. 00:31:33.968 --> 00:31:36.167 -And Nagasaki wasn't the original target. 00:31:36.167 --> 00:31:37.667 -No. Because of weather, I think 00:31:37.667 --> 00:31:38.701 they had to change course, so... 00:31:38.701 --> 00:31:40.000 -Yeah, it was switched to Nagasaki 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:42.167 because the other town was covered with clouds. 00:31:42.167 --> 00:31:46.834 -Yeah, and 75,000 people were killed in Nagasaki, 00:31:46.834 --> 00:31:49.400 and what I want to play -- I think John and... 00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:51.901 Sorry. 00:31:56.534 --> 00:31:59.534 -August 9th, the bomb was exploded above the city, 00:31:59.534 --> 00:32:03.734 and in the towering mushroom, Japan could read its doom. 00:32:03.734 --> 00:32:06.067 This was more than a routine bombing, 00:32:06.067 --> 00:32:08.968 it was the funeral pyre of an aggressor nation. 00:32:08.968 --> 00:32:11.501 The bomb had been purposely exploded high 00:32:11.501 --> 00:32:14.067 so that the greatest part of its radioactive material 00:32:14.067 --> 00:32:16.267 was dissipated in the stratosphere. 00:32:16.267 --> 00:32:19.300 [ Dramatic music plays ] 00:32:19.300 --> 00:32:23.634 ♪♪ 00:32:23.634 --> 00:32:26.534 From the air, the skeletons o f the Mitsubishi plants 00:32:26.534 --> 00:32:28.000 made evident that Nagasaki's 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:31.000 war-making power was totally destroyed. 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:34.400 For the valley area of little more than 3 square miles, 00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:36.934 blast and fire reduced the industrial plants 00:32:36.934 --> 00:32:39.434 and surrounding buildings to blackened rubble. 00:32:39.434 --> 00:32:46.868 ♪♪ 00:32:46.868 --> 00:32:48.701 The Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works 00:32:48.701 --> 00:32:50.534 extended almost a mile in length. 00:32:50.534 --> 00:32:52.667 Before the blast, these were modern buildings 00:32:52.667 --> 00:32:55.701 constructed like our own American factories. 00:32:55.701 --> 00:32:57.334 Closer examination of the ruins 00:32:57.334 --> 00:32:59.167 shows the same complete destruction 00:32:59.167 --> 00:33:01.801 that characterized the ruins of Hiroshima. 00:33:15.267 --> 00:33:17.701 -The video, of course, doesn't mention the human cost, 00:33:17.701 --> 00:33:19.467 but you can see at least the physical cost 00:33:19.467 --> 00:33:21.634 on the ground there at Nagasaki. 00:33:21.634 --> 00:33:22.934 -Yeah. -And, really, 00:33:22.934 --> 00:33:25.100 there was no real, you know, answer to a weapon... 00:33:25.100 --> 00:33:27.934 This was the first time weapons like this have ever been used, 00:33:27.934 --> 00:33:29.300 so Japan really had, 00:33:29.300 --> 00:33:31.200 you know, no response other than surrender, you know. 00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:32.968 -They didn't know what it was we dropped on them. 00:33:32.968 --> 00:33:37.033 They just knew... -Yeah, that it was serious, 00:33:37.033 --> 00:33:38.834 and it led to their eventual surrender 00:33:38.834 --> 00:33:40.901 on August 15th of 1945. 00:33:40.901 --> 00:33:43.868 Those official surrender documents were signed 00:33:43.868 --> 00:33:47.334 actually on September 2nd of 1945 aboard 00:33:47.334 --> 00:33:50.133 the USS Missouri, one of our battleships, 00:33:50.133 --> 00:33:53.901 and that really brings a close to World War II. 00:33:53.901 --> 00:33:57.033 In Europe, the war had ended a few months before, 00:33:57.033 --> 00:34:00.567 and actually the 70th anniversary of that is tomorrow, 00:34:00.567 --> 00:34:02.400 and then now, with this surrender, 00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:03.634 the war is finally over. 00:34:03.634 --> 00:34:06.634 Now, of course, that's, you know, 00:34:06.634 --> 00:34:08.100 kind of the close of World War II. 00:34:08.100 --> 00:34:11.067 That is not nearly the close of the story of atomic weapons. 00:34:11.067 --> 00:34:14.434 We still see their legacy every single day today. 00:34:14.434 --> 00:34:16.167 -A big story in Iran. -Yeah. 00:34:16.167 --> 00:34:17.934 Unfortunately, you know, as I said, 00:34:17.934 --> 00:34:19.133 we could take weeks to talk about this, 00:34:19.133 --> 00:34:21.267 and we don't have weeks. 00:34:21.267 --> 00:34:23.400 We just have an hour, so I want to right now 00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:26.734 turn it over to Jonathan Fetter-Vorm. 00:34:26.734 --> 00:34:30.534 He is the author and illustrator, 00:34:30.534 --> 00:34:34.167 graphic novelist, of "Trinity," 00:34:34.167 --> 00:34:37.400 and he's going to do a little bit of a reading for you all. 00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:39.067 I'm going to actually bring it up right now, 00:34:39.067 --> 00:34:40.968 so those of you who aren't familiar with the book, 00:34:40.968 --> 00:34:43.868 and, Jonathan, I think I just enabled your mic and webcam. 00:34:43.868 --> 00:34:45.667 -Oh, yeah. Right. -Let me see here. 00:34:45.667 --> 00:34:48.033 Yeah. I did. -Can you hear me now? 00:34:48.033 --> 00:34:50.100 -Just want to make sure, and so whenever you get a chance... 00:34:50.100 --> 00:34:51.367 -Good. 00:34:51.367 --> 00:34:52.901 -...plug in that microphone, and there you go. 00:34:52.901 --> 00:34:54.601 Looks like you are about to show up right there. 00:34:54.601 --> 00:34:55.701 -Thanks for having me. 00:34:55.701 --> 00:34:57.501 -It's great to meet you sort of. 00:34:57.501 --> 00:35:00.234 -All right. Let's see if we can hear you. 00:35:00.234 --> 00:35:02.300 Ooh, all right. Okay. We can hear you. 00:35:02.300 --> 00:35:04.734 Yeah, you're coming through loud and clear. 00:35:04.734 --> 00:35:06.734 Thanks so much for joining us today. 00:35:06.734 --> 00:35:10.033 You know, we're so excited to be... Yeah. 00:35:10.033 --> 00:35:15.501 So we had our take with the silly video so that... 00:35:15.501 --> 00:35:17.601 -Oh, good. This is exciting. 00:35:17.601 --> 00:35:19.367 It was nice to see the domino trick 00:35:19.367 --> 00:35:20.968 actually played out with real dominoes. 00:35:20.968 --> 00:35:23.501 It's one thing to draw it in a cartoon form, 00:35:23.501 --> 00:35:24.734 which you're going to see now. 00:35:24.734 --> 00:35:26.467 -...be here today and, of course, as you know, 00:35:26.467 --> 00:35:28.033 reading this for everybody. 00:35:28.033 --> 00:35:29.167 -Yeah. 00:35:29.167 --> 00:35:32.033 Yeah, it's hard to draw that. Okay. 00:35:32.033 --> 00:35:34.901 So I'm going to read from some selections 00:35:34.901 --> 00:35:38.567 from the beginning of my graphic novel "Trinity," 00:35:38.567 --> 00:35:40.934 and we're going to go over some of the stuff 00:35:40.934 --> 00:35:42.400 that you covered already in the webinar, 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:45.300 but, yeah, let's go. Okay. 00:35:45.300 --> 00:35:48.634 So we start in the desert in Alamogordo the day 00:35:48.634 --> 00:35:51.167 before the Trinity test. 00:35:51.167 --> 00:35:53.667 "'Clearance badges.' 'Oh, good afternoon, Doctor.'" 00:35:53.667 --> 00:35:55.300 This is Oppenheimer in the car. 00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:58.467 "'What's your name, Solider?' 'Private Daniels, sir.' 00:35:58.467 --> 00:36:01.100 'Have you ever heard of Prometheus, Private Daniels?' 00:36:01.100 --> 00:36:03.067 'No, sir. I don't recall that name.' 00:36:03.067 --> 00:36:05.033 'Well, the Ancient Greeks believed that Prometheus 00:36:05.033 --> 00:36:06.567 did something terrible. 00:36:06.567 --> 00:36:07.901 He broke the law of the gods 00:36:07.901 --> 00:36:11.501 when he stole a secret from them. 00:36:11.501 --> 00:36:13.400 For his crimes, Zeus, the king of the gods, 00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:15.501 shackled Prometheus to a mountaintop, 00:36:15.501 --> 00:36:17.734 and every day, the punishment was the same, 00:36:17.734 --> 00:36:19.834 every day for the rest of eternity.' 00:36:19.834 --> 00:36:22.701 'That's a hell of a rap. What did he do that was so bad?' 00:36:22.701 --> 00:36:25.300 'He gave humans knowledge for which we weren't ready. 00:36:25.300 --> 00:36:27.601 He showed us how to make fire.' 00:36:27.601 --> 00:36:30.133 In the deserts of New Mexico on a patch of sagebrush 00:36:30.133 --> 00:36:32.200 and sand code-named Trinity, 00:36:32.200 --> 00:36:35.200 another ancient secret was about to be revealed. 00:36:35.200 --> 00:36:38.868 Atop a 100-foot tower sat the world's first atomic bomb, 00:36:38.868 --> 00:36:41.200 a construction of metal and wire with the potential 00:36:41.200 --> 00:36:43.300 to burn as bright as a star, 00:36:43.300 --> 00:36:46.767 that is, if it would burn at all. 00:36:46.767 --> 00:36:49.234 The bomb and the secret to its otherworldly fire 00:36:49.234 --> 00:36:52.033 was conceived many years before in the cities of Europe. 00:36:52.033 --> 00:36:55.100 It was Paris, France, 1898. 00:36:55.100 --> 00:36:57.200 The chemist Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre, 00:36:57.200 --> 00:36:59.467 discovered the elements polonium and radium, 00:36:59.467 --> 00:37:01.868 which both emitted a mysterious energy. 00:37:01.868 --> 00:37:04.667 They called this energy radio activity. 00:37:04.667 --> 00:37:07.033 So some elements as we saw earlier like uranium 00:37:07.033 --> 00:37:08.300 are inherently unstable. 00:37:08.300 --> 00:37:10.701 They throw off energy and in the process 00:37:10.701 --> 00:37:13.400 transform into other elements, 00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:15.467 so if you let a brick of uranium sit for, say, 00:37:15.467 --> 00:37:16.901 4 1/2 billion years, 00:37:16.901 --> 00:37:19.634 chances are that half of it will turn into lead. 00:37:19.634 --> 00:37:21.167 This is called radioactive decay, 00:37:21.167 --> 00:37:25.234 and it's happening around us in nature. 00:37:25.234 --> 00:37:27.901 So several years after the Curies discovered this, 00:37:27.901 --> 00:37:29.501 two German scientists..." 00:37:29.501 --> 00:37:32.000 This is Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:33.501 "...derive some very strange results 00:37:33.501 --> 00:37:35.634 from a rather routine experiment. 00:37:35.634 --> 00:37:38.234 Hahn and Strassmann bombarded uranium nitrate with neutrons, 00:37:38.234 --> 00:37:41.400 and instead of producing radium, they wound up with barium. 00:37:41.400 --> 00:37:42.667 'These results make no sense. 00:37:42.667 --> 00:37:44.968 They must be contaminated. Let us write to Lise. 00:37:44.968 --> 00:37:47.734 A fresh pair of eyes might help.' 00:37:47.734 --> 00:37:49.968 Well, Lise Meitner should have been working side by side 00:37:49.968 --> 00:37:52.968 with her colleagues, but the year was 1939. 00:37:52.968 --> 00:37:54.167 Lise Meitner was Jewish, 00:37:54.167 --> 00:37:55.801 and she was forced to escape from Germany 00:37:55.801 --> 00:37:58.234 as the Nazis rose to power. 00:37:58.234 --> 00:38:00.133 Meitner wrote back that she thought the results showed 00:38:00.133 --> 00:38:03.200 that neutrons were breaking the uranium atoms into pieces, 00:38:03.200 --> 00:38:05.334 and they named this process nuclear fission. 00:38:05.334 --> 00:38:09.133 It was very exciting news. 00:38:09.133 --> 00:38:10.767 Fission is the reaction that makes all of the things 00:38:10.767 --> 00:38:13.601 that we associate with nuclear energy possible. 00:38:13.601 --> 00:38:15.334 To explain fission, it helps to take a closer look 00:38:15.334 --> 00:38:16.767 at the inside of an atom." 00:38:16.767 --> 00:38:19.267 So here is my version of the drawing that we saw earlier 00:38:19.267 --> 00:38:21.133 in the PowerPoint. 00:38:21.133 --> 00:38:23.901 "As you know, atoms are composed of three kinds of particles: 00:38:23.901 --> 00:38:26.801 neutrons, protons, which are positively charged, 00:38:26.801 --> 00:38:29.567 and electrons, which have a negative charge. 00:38:29.567 --> 00:38:30.968 So these particles bind together 00:38:30.968 --> 00:38:34.133 thanks to the interplay of very powerful opposing forces. 00:38:34.133 --> 00:38:36.934 The electrostatic force, the big arrows, 00:38:36.934 --> 00:38:38.601 pushes particles away from each other 00:38:38.601 --> 00:38:42.467 and a so-called strong force pulls particles together. 00:38:42.467 --> 00:38:44.801 When these powerful forces fall out of equilibrium, 00:38:44.801 --> 00:38:48.400 the atom breaks or fissions apart, like that balloon. 00:38:50.734 --> 00:38:52.734 So when Hahn and Strassmann conducted their experiment, 00:38:52.734 --> 00:38:55.033 they launched a neutron into an atom of uranium, 00:38:55.033 --> 00:38:56.968 a metal that was made up of the heaviest 00:38:56.968 --> 00:38:59.634 and largest atoms known at the time. 00:38:59.634 --> 00:39:02.334 Because a neutron has no electrical charge, 00:39:02.334 --> 00:39:04.567 it can slip through the powerful wall 00:39:04.567 --> 00:39:07.868 of electrons that surrounds every atom. 00:39:07.868 --> 00:39:10.033 You can see here this extra neutron is absorbed 00:39:10.033 --> 00:39:12.434 into the already bloated uranium nucleus, 00:39:12.434 --> 00:39:14.601 upsetting that careful balance of forces 00:39:14.601 --> 00:39:16.200 that holds the atom together, 00:39:16.200 --> 00:39:19.434 and in a flash, the whole atom fractures. 00:39:19.434 --> 00:39:21.567 Its protons and electrons and neutrons 00:39:21.567 --> 00:39:24.701 rearrange themselves into different elements. 00:39:24.701 --> 00:39:26.501 The reaction also releases stray neutrons, 00:39:26.501 --> 00:39:28.267 which fly off on their own, 00:39:28.267 --> 00:39:30.767 but the most significant byproduct of this collision 00:39:30.767 --> 00:39:32.968 is energy and lots of it. 00:39:35.067 --> 00:39:37.701 Just how much energy comes from a nuclear reaction? 00:39:37.701 --> 00:39:40.234 About 70 million times more energy 00:39:40.234 --> 00:39:42.100 than from a chemical reaction. 00:39:42.100 --> 00:39:45.767 So if, for example, you fissioned 1 kilogram of uranium, 00:39:45.767 --> 00:39:47.767 about the size of a ping-pong ball, 00:39:47.767 --> 00:39:52.901 it would make the same size explosion as 20,000 tons of TNT. 00:39:52.901 --> 00:39:56.400 One little chunk of uranium has more potential explosive energy 00:39:56.400 --> 00:40:00.400 than a pile of TNT tacked 10 stories high. 00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:02.400 If fission could work on a large enough scale, 00:40:02.400 --> 00:40:04.601 instead of just one atom at a time, 00:40:04.601 --> 00:40:07.400 mankind stood to gain more than merely the ability 00:40:07.400 --> 00:40:09.367 to make explosions. 00:40:09.367 --> 00:40:10.934 In fact, fission promised to reveal 00:40:10.934 --> 00:40:13.334 some of the deepest mysteries of the universe." 00:40:17.467 --> 00:40:18.634 We're going to jump ahead a little bit. 00:40:18.634 --> 00:40:20.901 This is 1939, before the Manhattan Project 00:40:20.901 --> 00:40:22.934 has really gone into full swing, 00:40:22.934 --> 00:40:25.767 and here's Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard. 00:40:25.767 --> 00:40:27.267 "Szilard and Fermi had demonstrated 00:40:27.267 --> 00:40:28.934 a dramatic phenomenon particular 00:40:28.934 --> 00:40:31.801 to nuclear fission, a chain reaction. 00:40:31.801 --> 00:40:33.033 Achieving a chain reaction 00:40:33.033 --> 00:40:35.167 is the single most important concept 00:40:35.167 --> 00:40:37.767 in the production of nuclear energy." 00:40:37.767 --> 00:40:39.834 Okay. So remember that fission produces three things: 00:40:39.834 --> 00:40:41.734 a staggering amount of energy, 00:40:41.734 --> 00:40:46.100 new atoms and a few stray neutrons. 00:40:46.100 --> 00:40:47.834 "The energy from fission is what makes bombs 00:40:47.834 --> 00:40:49.467 and nuclear reactors so powerful, 00:40:49.467 --> 00:40:51.133 but that energy means nothing 00:40:51.133 --> 00:40:54.200 if you can't get more than a couple of atoms to fission. 00:40:54.200 --> 00:40:55.400 In other words, the only way to get 00:40:55.400 --> 00:40:57.067 any significant amount of energy 00:40:57.067 --> 00:41:01.300 is to fission as many atoms as possible and all at once." 00:41:01.300 --> 00:41:04.334 This is where a chain reaction comes in, 00:41:04.334 --> 00:41:06.033 and here are the dominoes. 00:41:06.033 --> 00:41:08.367 "The concept of a chain reaction is relatively simple: 00:41:08.367 --> 00:41:09.601 The product of one reaction 00:41:09.601 --> 00:41:12.033 is enough to start another reaction. 00:41:12.033 --> 00:41:13.801 In this model, let's say that the fission is the act 00:41:13.801 --> 00:41:15.234 of tipping over dominoes. 00:41:15.234 --> 00:41:18.334 If the dominoes are lined up too far apart, the reaction stops, 00:41:18.334 --> 00:41:19.634 but if they're lined up perfectly, 00:41:19.634 --> 00:41:21.400 close enough together, then all we have to do is topple 00:41:21.400 --> 00:41:23.067 the first domino in the row 00:41:23.067 --> 00:41:26.133 and the rest will fall. The same is true of fission. 00:41:26.133 --> 00:41:29.167 With enough atoms arranged in just the right configuration, 00:41:29.167 --> 00:41:33.601 a reaction can go on indefinitely." 00:41:33.601 --> 00:41:34.801 We're going to skip ahead now. 00:41:34.801 --> 00:41:36.267 Now, we're in the height of the Manhattan Project 00:41:36.267 --> 00:41:40.300 and General Leslie Groves, who we've met, and Enrico Fermi. 00:41:40.300 --> 00:41:42.868 "Groves had built the factory as necessary to make bomb fuel, 00:41:42.868 --> 00:41:44.634 and Fermi had demonstrated the viability 00:41:44.634 --> 00:41:46.801 of making a chain reaction. 00:41:46.801 --> 00:41:48.834 Only one facet of the atomic bomb was still missing 00:41:48.834 --> 00:41:50.801 and that was criticality. 00:41:50.801 --> 00:41:53.534 Criticality is a term used to describe the ideal conditions 00:41:53.534 --> 00:41:54.968 for a chain reaction. 00:41:54.968 --> 00:41:56.234 A row of dominoes is critical 00:41:56.234 --> 00:41:59.100 if each domino that falls knocks over one other. 00:41:59.100 --> 00:42:02.067 Fermi assembled a critical mass of uranium in the reactor, 00:42:02.067 --> 00:42:04.734 and he achieved a linear chain reaction, 00:42:04.734 --> 00:42:06.968 which is to say that each atom that fissioned 00:42:06.968 --> 00:42:09.200 caused one other atom to fission. 00:42:09.200 --> 00:42:11.534 Theoretically, this sort of reaction can go on forever 00:42:11.534 --> 00:42:13.100 if you have infinite atoms, 00:42:13.100 --> 00:42:15.567 but it's not going to get any bigger. 00:42:15.567 --> 00:42:18.067 A bomb, however, requires something more explosive: 00:42:18.067 --> 00:42:21.100 a chain reaction that grows exponentially. 00:42:21.100 --> 00:42:25.467 A bomb requires a super critical mass. 00:42:25.467 --> 00:42:27.501 So imagine an area the size of a basketball court 00:42:27.501 --> 00:42:28.801 and a pile of dominoes. 00:42:28.801 --> 00:42:31.033 To make a super critical mass, line up the dominoes 00:42:31.033 --> 00:42:34.133 so that each one that falls will knock over two more dominoes, 00:42:34.133 --> 00:42:36.601 and each one of those will knock over two more." 00:42:36.601 --> 00:42:38.734 I wish that we could have done this in a basketball court. 00:42:38.734 --> 00:42:41.067 This would have been a much more fun demonstration, 00:42:41.067 --> 00:42:42.567 but this is essentially what's happening 00:42:42.567 --> 00:42:44.901 inside the core of an atomic bomb. 00:42:44.901 --> 00:42:48.334 "The reactive material, uranium or plutonium, is packed together 00:42:48.334 --> 00:42:50.767 so tightly that when one atom fissions, 00:42:50.767 --> 00:42:54.000 the released neutrons can't help but to hit two more atoms, 00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:56.901 causing them to fission as well. 00:42:56.901 --> 00:42:59.200 In other words, once a super critical mass is assembled, 00:42:59.200 --> 00:43:05.067 an exponential chain reaction is practically inevitable. 00:43:05.067 --> 00:43:07.467 Variations on this kind of super critical reaction 00:43:07.467 --> 00:43:11.567 happen often in nature, avalanches, epidemics, 00:43:11.567 --> 00:43:13.767 but it's a lot harder for humans to recreate 00:43:13.767 --> 00:43:16.434 these sorts of complex systems. 00:43:16.434 --> 00:43:18.100 A super critical reaction requires 00:43:18.100 --> 00:43:20.801 an astounding amount of work and organization 00:43:20.801 --> 00:43:22.601 just to get all the necessary pieces 00:43:22.601 --> 00:43:24.567 arranged in the right order. 00:43:24.567 --> 00:43:27.167 All this work, whether it's lining up dominoes 00:43:27.167 --> 00:43:31.000 or enriching uranium, builds toward one single moment: 00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:35.334 the moment when what was once impossible becomes inevitable. 00:43:35.334 --> 00:43:38.767 In that moment, the logic of the chain reaction takes over. 00:43:38.767 --> 00:43:42.167 The fire will only stop when there's nothing left to burn." 00:43:44.467 --> 00:43:46.167 So now we're going to skip ahead further. 00:43:46.167 --> 00:43:48.334 This is the night before the Trinity test. 00:43:48.334 --> 00:43:50.567 "Members of the Armed Forces Public Relations Department 00:43:50.567 --> 00:43:52.467 are busy drafting press releases, 00:43:52.467 --> 00:43:56.000 one to explain what was likely going to be a very big explosion 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:59.334 and another in case that explosion proved to be too big. 00:43:59.334 --> 00:44:00.367 Outside the command center, 00:44:00.367 --> 00:44:07.534 scientists were staking out spots 00:44:07.534 --> 00:44:09.634 from which to watch the blast." 00:44:09.634 --> 00:44:12.367 This is Edward Teller here. 00:44:12.367 --> 00:44:13.834 "'What are you doing?' 00:44:13.834 --> 00:44:15.734 'They told us to lie like this to shield our eyes.' 00:44:15.734 --> 00:44:16.901 'Nonesense,' he said. 00:44:16.901 --> 00:44:19.200 'We must look the beast in the eye.'" 00:44:19.200 --> 00:44:20.634 Here's some other scientist. 00:44:20.634 --> 00:44:21.934 "'Hey, what's in that bottle?' 'Suntan lotion. 00:44:21.934 --> 00:44:24.667 You want some, you know, just in case?'" 00:44:24.667 --> 00:44:26.367 And then Enrico Fermi. 00:44:26.367 --> 00:44:27.701 "'It's a simple diagnostic, really. 00:44:27.701 --> 00:44:29.534 If I drop these scraps from a fixed height 00:44:29.534 --> 00:44:31.667 and measure their drift as a function of displacement 00:44:31.667 --> 00:44:33.033 from the shock wave...'" 00:44:33.033 --> 00:44:34.467 And in the control center. 00:44:34.467 --> 00:44:38.701 "'The X unit is fully charged, 30 seconds now. 00:44:38.701 --> 00:44:42.534 T-minus 15 seconds. T-minus 10 seconds. 00:44:42.534 --> 00:44:50.267 Minus 5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.' 00:44:50.267 --> 00:44:52.801 In the beginning, there was only a spark. 00:44:52.801 --> 00:44:54.133 It leapt from the firing switch 00:44:54.133 --> 00:44:56.767 across the leads of 32 detonators. 00:44:56.767 --> 00:44:58.834 The spark ignited the explosive lenses, 00:44:58.834 --> 00:45:01.567 which focused the force of their blast inwards, 00:45:01.567 --> 00:45:05.300 crushing the plutonium core into a super critical mass. 00:45:05.300 --> 00:45:07.367 The first plutonium atoms began to fission, 00:45:07.367 --> 00:45:11.400 releasing energy and excess neutrons, 00:45:11.400 --> 00:45:13.133 which went on to fission more atoms, 00:45:13.133 --> 00:45:16.834 which fissioned more atoms in turn and so on exponentially. 00:45:16.834 --> 00:45:19.434 As the fissioning atoms released their boundless energy, 00:45:19.434 --> 00:45:23.334 the surrounding material heated up and expanded outwards 00:45:23.334 --> 00:45:24.834 until the remaining plutonium atoms 00:45:24.834 --> 00:45:28.467 were too far apart for the reaction to continue, 00:45:28.467 --> 00:45:31.133 but just as the quantum reaction came to an end, 00:45:31.133 --> 00:45:33.567 the visible explosion roared to life. 00:45:33.567 --> 00:45:37.267 Energized material, hotter now than the surface of the sun, 00:45:37.267 --> 00:45:42.367 blossomed outward in a churning sphere of super-heated gas. 00:45:42.367 --> 00:45:45.133 The rest of the world fell away into darkness. 00:45:45.133 --> 00:45:48.300 There was only the light. 00:45:48.300 --> 00:45:51.601 In these fractions of a second, the atomic light was still pure. 00:45:51.601 --> 00:45:53.200 It was not yet a bomb. 00:45:53.200 --> 00:45:55.801 It was not yet a symbol of apocalypse. 00:45:55.801 --> 00:45:58.100 It was not yet a part of our world. 00:45:58.100 --> 00:45:59.400 In these fractions of a second, 00:45:59.400 --> 00:46:01.334 the atomic light was still as timeless 00:46:01.334 --> 00:46:03.701 and indifferent as the universe itself. 00:46:06.234 --> 00:46:08.167 Darkened eyes of observers in the command center 00:46:08.167 --> 00:46:11.634 more than 5 miles away saw a sudden flash to the east, 00:46:11.634 --> 00:46:12.968 the glow of the atmosphere 00:46:12.968 --> 00:46:15.667 burning like the filament of a light bulb. 00:46:15.667 --> 00:46:19.400 The ball of fire glared brighter than three suns on a clear day, 00:46:19.400 --> 00:46:21.300 so bright that 50 miles away, 00:46:21.300 --> 00:46:23.167 a blind girl turned her head and asked, 00:46:23.167 --> 00:46:24.801 'What is that?' 00:46:24.801 --> 00:46:29.234 Oppenheimer, speaking years later, recalled his reaction. 00:46:29.234 --> 00:46:31.400 'We knew the world would not be the same. 00:46:31.400 --> 00:46:32.634 A few people laughed. 00:46:32.634 --> 00:46:36.534 A few people cried. Most people were silent. 00:46:36.534 --> 00:46:40.667 I remembered the line from Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, 00:46:40.667 --> 00:46:44.267 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' 00:46:47.801 --> 00:46:49.067 'Robert! It worked! 00:46:49.067 --> 00:46:51.167 The gadget worked! Let me shake your hand!'" 00:46:51.167 --> 00:46:52.467 And this is a real quote. 00:46:52.467 --> 00:46:55.200 "'Now we're all sons of bitches.' 00:46:55.200 --> 00:46:57.400 By the next morning, the weather had cleared, 00:46:57.400 --> 00:46:58.767 and the only evidence of the test 00:46:58.767 --> 00:47:00.801 was the twisted stumps of the steel tower 00:47:00.801 --> 00:47:03.400 and a crust of green radioactive glass, 00:47:03.400 --> 00:47:05.167 the result of the incomprehensible heat 00:47:05.167 --> 00:47:07.367 that blasted the desert sands. 00:47:07.367 --> 00:47:10.234 What began as an experiment was now a working bomb. 00:47:10.234 --> 00:47:12.100 The Manhattan Project had transitioned over 00:47:12.100 --> 00:47:14.334 from the realm of science into that of politics, 00:47:14.334 --> 00:47:15.968 diplomacy and war. 00:47:15.968 --> 00:47:17.934 The chain reaction had started." 00:47:33.200 --> 00:47:34.300 -All right, Jonathan. -Oh, great! 00:47:34.300 --> 00:47:36.033 -Thanks so much for reading that. 00:47:36.033 --> 00:47:37.834 I was just so captivated. 00:47:37.834 --> 00:47:39.467 -That was great! That's great. 00:47:39.467 --> 00:47:41.200 -I think everybody was so captivated, too, 00:47:41.200 --> 00:47:42.501 that I'm waiting on some... 00:47:42.501 --> 00:47:44.767 -Well, for me a big part of it was that my grandparents 00:47:44.767 --> 00:47:46.300 actually worked on the Manhattan Project. 00:47:46.300 --> 00:47:47.634 -So I have my own question. Is that okay with you? 00:47:47.634 --> 00:47:49.434 -They were out in the deserts in eastern Washington 00:47:49.434 --> 00:47:50.834 at the Hanford Reactor... 00:47:50.834 --> 00:47:53.400 -I want to know, I mean, can you tell us a little bit more... 00:47:53.400 --> 00:47:54.567 -So I remember growing up 00:47:54.567 --> 00:47:56.000 hearing stories from my grandfather. 00:47:56.000 --> 00:47:59.734 He was a welder, didn't know anything about radioactivity, 00:47:59.734 --> 00:48:02.400 but he worked on the project, and he worked on it for years 00:48:02.400 --> 00:48:04.300 without knowing what he was building 00:48:04.300 --> 00:48:07.234 because it was all so secret. 00:48:07.234 --> 00:48:09.501 The first time they realized what they had done 00:48:09.501 --> 00:48:11.434 was the day after the bombs were dropped, 00:48:11.434 --> 00:48:13.167 and they read it in the newspaper, 00:48:13.167 --> 00:48:15.534 so I grew up hearing this story, 00:48:15.534 --> 00:48:19.100 which just seemed too crazy to be true, 00:48:19.100 --> 00:48:20.601 and so I started researching it, 00:48:20.601 --> 00:48:22.501 and I actually included my grandparents 00:48:22.501 --> 00:48:25.000 in a couple scenes here. 00:48:39.167 --> 00:48:40.701 -Did you? Oh, that's so... 00:48:40.701 --> 00:48:42.734 I'm going to look for them now in the book 00:48:42.734 --> 00:48:45.467 -Well, one of the great things about the Manhattan Project 00:48:45.467 --> 00:48:49.667 was that the government kept incredibly good documentation 00:48:49.667 --> 00:48:51.234 of what they were doing, so they took photographs 00:48:51.234 --> 00:48:53.934 of absolutely everything and a lot of those photographs 00:48:53.934 --> 00:48:55.501 are in government archives 00:48:55.501 --> 00:48:57.767 that you can research online, or you can... 00:48:57.767 --> 00:48:59.534 You know, they're open to the public, 00:48:59.534 --> 00:49:01.968 so I had a lot of photos that I was drawing from, 00:49:01.968 --> 00:49:03.901 and then probably the most fun part 00:49:03.901 --> 00:49:07.300 was that I went around to all of these sites. 00:49:07.300 --> 00:49:10.434 So twice a year they open up the Trinity test site, 00:49:10.434 --> 00:49:11.767 and you can actually drive out 00:49:11.767 --> 00:49:13.601 in the middle of the desert in New Mexico, 00:49:13.601 --> 00:49:16.601 and you can walk around at ground zero, 00:49:16.601 --> 00:49:20.067 and the twisted stumps from this last scene, they're still there. 00:49:20.067 --> 00:49:21.434 There's still these concrete stumps, 00:49:21.434 --> 00:49:23.501 and that's all that's left after the blast. 00:49:23.501 --> 00:49:27.000 So I spent about 2 weeks driving around the West 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:31.601 going to these nuclear test sites or power plants 00:49:31.601 --> 00:49:34.534 or actually nuclear-disposal facilities, 00:49:34.534 --> 00:49:35.934 so that was pretty fascinating. 00:49:35.934 --> 00:49:38.767 I got to do a lot of drawing from your life there. 00:49:54.133 --> 00:49:56.300 -That's so awesome. -Oh, that's a good question. 00:49:56.300 --> 00:49:58.067 -This is my first one, so it was sort of, 00:49:58.067 --> 00:50:00.901 you know, trial and error. 00:50:00.901 --> 00:50:04.200 A big part of it was starting with individual scenes, 00:50:04.200 --> 00:50:05.701 like some of the things that I just read to you. 00:50:05.701 --> 00:50:07.634 -How do you put together an entire book, you know? 00:50:07.634 --> 00:50:09.801 -I guess, like, coming up with the idea of dominoes, 00:50:09.801 --> 00:50:11.100 that was an important one, 00:50:11.100 --> 00:50:13.434 trying to come up with visual metaphors 00:50:13.434 --> 00:50:15.467 that you can use to try to explain the science, 00:50:15.467 --> 00:50:17.834 and then once you have those, then I link it 00:50:17.834 --> 00:50:22.033 with stories of characters that I like. 00:50:22.033 --> 00:50:25.334 The big thing about this story was trying to organize it 00:50:25.334 --> 00:50:28.901 in a way that both made sense for the science, 00:50:28.901 --> 00:50:30.033 helped explain the science, 00:50:30.033 --> 00:50:32.567 but then also helped it do the history, 00:50:32.567 --> 00:50:35.334 helped communicate the history of how these bombs were used, 00:50:35.334 --> 00:50:38.834 and so the book, I divided it into three sections, 00:50:38.834 --> 00:50:41.601 which is convenient because not only the fact 00:50:41.601 --> 00:50:43.100 that the book is called "Trinity" 00:50:43.100 --> 00:50:44.634 and the Trinity test site 00:50:44.634 --> 00:50:46.868 but that there were three atomic bombs used, 00:50:46.868 --> 00:50:49.167 and so each each one served a different purpose. 00:50:49.167 --> 00:50:51.968 The Trinity test was to talk about the science. 00:50:51.968 --> 00:50:54.033 The Hiroshima test was to talk about 00:50:54.033 --> 00:50:59.467 some of the moral implications and what the bomb did to cities, 00:50:59.467 --> 00:51:04.167 and then the Nagasaki explosion was the use of the bomb 00:51:04.167 --> 00:51:07.567 against people and to show what the human cost of it was, 00:51:07.567 --> 00:51:11.234 so that was how I structured the thing, 00:51:11.234 --> 00:51:12.601 but, yeah, to make a comic, 00:51:12.601 --> 00:51:15.467 I just started out doing a bunch of little doodles, 00:51:15.467 --> 00:51:17.334 doing some sketches, writing a script, 00:51:17.334 --> 00:51:18.968 sort of like a movie script, 00:51:18.968 --> 00:51:21.534 you know, explaining what each panel is going to do, 00:51:21.534 --> 00:51:26.434 and then lots of drawing over and over again for years. 00:51:34.300 --> 00:51:36.200 That's a good question. 00:51:36.200 --> 00:51:38.067 So the thing about comics is that there are 00:51:38.067 --> 00:51:39.300 so many different stages. 00:51:39.300 --> 00:51:40.701 You start with a script 00:51:40.701 --> 00:51:42.734 and then sketches, and then you do pencils... 00:51:42.734 --> 00:51:44.067 -Did you start at the beginning of the time and write... 00:51:44.067 --> 00:51:46.100 -...and inks and lettering, and so you're going over 00:51:46.100 --> 00:51:48.367 the same material over and over again. 00:51:48.367 --> 00:51:51.100 So when I wrote it, it was sort of haphazard. 00:51:51.100 --> 00:51:53.267 It was a scene here, a scene there, 00:51:53.267 --> 00:51:56.100 but then I was sort of careful 00:51:56.100 --> 00:51:58.701 when I was drawing it that I would save -- 00:51:58.701 --> 00:52:03.534 that I start at the beginning and wrote and drew to the end, 00:52:03.534 --> 00:52:05.067 although I would jump around once in a while 00:52:05.067 --> 00:52:07.934 because the thing about drawing 150 pages 00:52:07.934 --> 00:52:10.367 is that you get better at drawing over the course of it, 00:52:10.367 --> 00:52:12.400 so I wanted to make sure that the first drawings 00:52:12.400 --> 00:52:14.300 weren't really bad and then the last drawings 00:52:14.300 --> 00:52:16.801 really good, so I would switch it up a little bit. 00:52:16.801 --> 00:52:18.567 I'd sketch a page in the beginning 00:52:18.567 --> 00:52:19.868 and then sketch a page in the end 00:52:19.868 --> 00:52:21.667 so that people wouldn't necessarily be able to see 00:52:21.667 --> 00:52:24.033 that I was getting better at drawing hands, 00:52:24.033 --> 00:52:26.334 which I definitely did by the end of it. 00:52:42.968 --> 00:52:45.267 -We're getting an interesting question from like, 00:52:45.267 --> 00:52:47.267 this is from the McFarland family [Indistinct]. 00:52:47.267 --> 00:52:48.834 -Oh, for sure. Yeah, I... 00:52:48.834 --> 00:52:50.367 -They were asking, "Did you talk with anyone from Japan?" 00:52:50.367 --> 00:52:51.868 -So to get to the first question, 00:52:51.868 --> 00:52:53.968 no, I didn't talk to anyone from Japan. 00:52:53.968 --> 00:52:56.467 I wish that I had known someone 00:52:56.467 --> 00:52:58.000 that I could have talked to. 00:52:58.000 --> 00:52:59.767 Subsequently, since the book has come out 00:52:59.767 --> 00:53:01.767 and it was translated in Japanese, 00:53:01.767 --> 00:53:04.300 I have had conversations with people 00:53:04.300 --> 00:53:09.200 who are mainly historians or scholars of the time period, 00:53:09.200 --> 00:53:11.200 but one of my goals in writing this book 00:53:11.200 --> 00:53:13.934 was to try to tell parts of the story 00:53:13.934 --> 00:53:16.934 from the Japanese perspective. 00:53:16.934 --> 00:53:19.834 In terms of talking to other people involved 00:53:19.834 --> 00:53:23.234 with the project, I sent, 00:53:23.234 --> 00:53:25.968 like, versions of the script and drafts of the book 00:53:25.968 --> 00:53:28.667 to two scientists who actually worked on the Manhattan Project, 00:53:28.667 --> 00:53:32.334 and they both helped to, like, check the science, 00:53:32.334 --> 00:53:34.467 make sure I had it all right, 00:53:34.467 --> 00:53:37.734 and then also they did a good job of telling me, 00:53:37.734 --> 00:53:39.634 you know, anecdotes about what it was like 00:53:39.634 --> 00:53:41.434 working at Los Alamos or what it was like 00:53:41.434 --> 00:53:43.734 working at Hanford, and then, like I said, my grandparents. 00:53:43.734 --> 00:53:46.033 I interviewed them and wrote down some of their stories 00:53:46.033 --> 00:53:49.067 about what it was like working in a company town as, 00:53:49.067 --> 00:53:54.200 you know, workers there, and then online, again. 00:53:54.200 --> 00:53:57.000 There are a lot of diaries and a lot of journals online 00:53:57.000 --> 00:53:59.367 that have been declassified that the government, 00:53:59.367 --> 00:54:01.534 you know, you can access, and you can learn a lot 00:54:01.534 --> 00:54:03.033 about what the experiences of people 00:54:03.033 --> 00:54:05.000 were like just from that. 00:54:12.400 --> 00:54:13.968 And it's fun, too. 00:54:13.968 --> 00:54:16.033 It was exciting to get to read -- 00:54:16.033 --> 00:54:17.834 It's amazing to read diary entires, I mean, 00:54:17.834 --> 00:54:19.868 because a lot of the people who were fighting 00:54:19.868 --> 00:54:22.567 in World War II were in their, you know... 00:54:22.567 --> 00:54:24.801 late teens, early 20s, and at the time 00:54:24.801 --> 00:54:26.033 when I was researching this book, 00:54:26.033 --> 00:54:27.501 I was reading the journal of a guy 00:54:27.501 --> 00:54:31.200 who was on the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, 00:54:31.200 --> 00:54:33.467 and he was my age when he did it, 00:54:33.467 --> 00:54:36.100 and it was amazing to be able to, 00:54:36.100 --> 00:54:38.534 you know, read his diary entries. 00:54:53.334 --> 00:54:55.834 Yeah, I actually used that a lot for "Trinity." 00:54:55.834 --> 00:54:58.267 It was really helpful to understand the science. 00:54:58.267 --> 00:54:59.968 Also, they have all of the equations, 00:54:59.968 --> 00:55:02.501 and I used those equations on the blackboards in the drawings. 00:55:02.501 --> 00:55:04.634 -...new scientists that came on to the project, 00:55:04.634 --> 00:55:06.501 and you can download the whole book and read the whole thing. 00:55:06.501 --> 00:55:09.200 -It doesn't make any sense to me, but... 00:55:13.100 --> 00:55:14.567 -Yep. 00:55:14.567 --> 00:55:18.367 -Yeah. -Yeah, aren't they beautiful? 00:55:18.367 --> 00:55:21.067 I love those equations, and I could tell, 00:55:21.067 --> 00:55:22.367 just looking at your book, 00:55:22.367 --> 00:55:25.601 that those diagrams they made of the model of the bomb 00:55:25.601 --> 00:55:26.734 and how it was going to go together, 00:55:26.734 --> 00:55:28.767 I could see that you used that for your book. 00:55:28.767 --> 00:55:31.234 -One of the things that I sort of knew about 00:55:31.234 --> 00:55:34.434 but didn't really appreciate until I researched the story 00:55:34.434 --> 00:55:36.601 was just how big the secret was of the Manhattan Project. 00:55:36.601 --> 00:55:38.067 -...Surprise you that you didn't know 00:55:38.067 --> 00:55:39.467 about the Manhattan Project or bombs or anything like that? 00:55:39.467 --> 00:55:41.367 -Hundreds of thousands of people were involved 00:55:41.367 --> 00:55:46.467 and only a few dozen of them knew what exactly was going on, 00:55:46.467 --> 00:55:48.567 and there was even a time when the president, 00:55:48.567 --> 00:55:50.968 when Truman took office, before he even knew 00:55:50.968 --> 00:55:52.334 that an atomic bomb existed, 00:55:52.334 --> 00:55:57.167 so it was amazing that you could do something on that scale 00:55:57.167 --> 00:56:01.100 that cost so much taxpayer money and was completely secret. 00:56:04.334 --> 00:56:05.634 -Yeah. 00:56:17.267 --> 00:56:18.734 -It's unbelievable. All right. 00:56:18.734 --> 00:56:21.167 Well, I see if there's any good other student questions. 00:56:21.167 --> 00:56:23.234 -Exactly, yeah. So this is just the first -- 00:56:23.234 --> 00:56:26.067 The Trinity test is essentially the first half of the book, 00:56:26.067 --> 00:56:28.801 and then the rest is about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 00:56:28.801 --> 00:56:31.300 And then the book actually finishes in modern day. 00:56:31.300 --> 00:56:34.601 It finishes out in the deserts in New Mexico 00:56:34.601 --> 00:56:37.033 at a nuclear waste-disposal site. 00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:44.567 Well, my next project is actually -- 00:56:44.567 --> 00:56:45.968 It came out 2 days ago. 00:56:45.968 --> 00:56:48.334 It's a graphic history of the Civil War. 00:56:48.334 --> 00:56:52.000 It's called "Battle Lines," and I started that 00:56:52.000 --> 00:56:55.801 while I was also working the A Bomb book, on "Trinity." 00:56:55.801 --> 00:57:00.133 -It's been a long project, but it's finally out now. 00:57:02.901 --> 00:57:05.400 Yeah, exactly. 00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:17.000 -Well, now I'm going to finally learn some Civil War history. 00:57:19.100 --> 00:57:20.133 -So, yeah. 00:57:20.133 --> 00:57:21.434 In addition to getting "Trinity," yeah, 00:57:21.434 --> 00:57:23.200 so now there's two Jonathan Fetter-Vorm books 00:57:23.200 --> 00:57:25.868 out there that you all can buy. 00:57:25.868 --> 00:57:27.434 Okay. So I have a closing question 00:57:27.434 --> 00:57:28.934 because I know we're kind of getting towards the time. 00:57:28.934 --> 00:57:30.267 This is, I guess, for all of us. 00:57:30.267 --> 00:57:31.601 -Well, I think two things. -You know, [Indistinct]. 00:57:31.601 --> 00:57:34.434 I think first of all the threat of nuclear attack... 00:57:34.434 --> 00:57:35.634 -I mean, why do you think people should still 00:57:35.634 --> 00:57:36.734 learn about this subject? 00:57:36.734 --> 00:57:37.801 -...has diminished since the Cold War, 00:57:37.801 --> 00:57:38.968 but these bombs are still up there, 00:57:38.968 --> 00:57:40.501 and there are until thousands of them, 00:57:40.501 --> 00:57:43.267 so the more that people understand that, 00:57:43.267 --> 00:57:45.834 the nuclear weapons, how terrifying they can be, 00:57:45.834 --> 00:57:47.901 it's an important thing to know about. 00:57:47.901 --> 00:57:51.000 And then I think also the idea of government secrecy, 00:57:51.000 --> 00:57:53.567 of trying to learn as much as we can 00:57:53.567 --> 00:57:56.467 about the history of projects 00:57:56.467 --> 00:57:58.133 that are being funded with taxpayer money 00:57:58.133 --> 00:58:01.067 that we don't necessarily get to vote about. 00:58:01.067 --> 00:58:03.167 That all started with the Manhattan Project 00:58:03.167 --> 00:58:06.067 and it's a legacy that we're still grappling with. 00:58:21.934 --> 00:58:23.434 -Do you have anything to add to that, Ross? 00:58:23.434 --> 00:58:26.334 -Yeah. I think, I mean, I'm a pro-science 00:58:26.334 --> 00:58:28.367 kind of person, but at the same time... 00:58:28.367 --> 00:58:29.868 -It's crazy. -...I think that scientists 00:58:29.868 --> 00:58:32.667 need to have a responsibility for thinking about those tools, 00:58:32.667 --> 00:58:35.534 those hammers they make and the bombs they make. 00:58:35.534 --> 00:58:39.267 You know, we just saw the news that some Chinese scientists 00:58:39.267 --> 00:58:42.868 have been editing, you know, genes in embryos, you know, 00:58:42.868 --> 00:58:46.367 and it's like just because you can, should you? 00:58:46.367 --> 00:58:51.033 I think that question will always be there for us, 00:58:51.033 --> 00:58:53.734 and I think that it's not just big things like that. 00:58:53.734 --> 00:58:56.501 I mean, we're still dealing not just with the nuclear effects, 00:58:56.501 --> 00:58:59.434 but, I mean, a lot of health concerns today 00:58:59.434 --> 00:59:03.801 are about new materials and plastics that we make, 00:59:03.801 --> 00:59:05.968 and those were all World War II things, 00:59:05.968 --> 00:59:07.567 and so I think it was a time 00:59:07.567 --> 00:59:10.167 when we made huge strides and advances 00:59:10.167 --> 00:59:13.534 and we solved a lot of problems, but when you solve problems, 00:59:13.534 --> 00:59:18.467 you create problems that you don't know about yet, so... 00:59:18.467 --> 00:59:20.434 -And I think -- didn't some of those scientists 00:59:20.434 --> 00:59:22.067 as part of the Manhattan Project realize that, like, 00:59:22.067 --> 00:59:26.033 J. Robert Oppenheimer, I mean, he, you know... 00:59:26.033 --> 00:59:28.000 -He was an outcast... -Yeah. 00:59:28.000 --> 00:59:29.167 -...after this because he... 00:59:29.167 --> 00:59:30.434 -It's a bizarre encounter 00:59:30.434 --> 00:59:33.767 between Oppenheimer and Truman in which Truman, 00:59:33.767 --> 00:59:36.167 after the meeting, promises to never 00:59:36.167 --> 00:59:38.501 let that guy in the office ever again 00:59:38.501 --> 00:59:41.367 because Oppenheimer was so outspoken 00:59:41.367 --> 00:59:44.334 against nuclear weapons after he built one. 00:59:46.601 --> 00:59:56.000 -Yeah. 00:59:56.000 --> 00:59:57.868 -I do. Yeah. Yeah. It's my last name. 00:59:57.868 --> 01:00:01.100 It's www.fetter-vorm.com. 01:00:01.100 --> 01:00:03.434 There's a hyphen between Fetter and Vorm. 01:00:03.434 --> 01:00:05.467 -But, yeah, you can go online. 01:00:05.467 --> 01:00:07.033 You can find me on Twitter or Facebook, 01:00:07.033 --> 01:00:09.367 and a lot of my art, especially for my new book, 01:00:09.367 --> 01:00:11.934 which just came out, it's all online, so... 01:00:18.367 --> 01:00:19.901 -All right. 01:00:24.133 --> 01:00:25.934 -Yeah. 01:00:27.267 --> 01:00:28.567 -Awesome. 01:00:28.567 --> 01:00:30.934 Well, unfortunately, we're 1 o'clock my time, 01:00:30.934 --> 01:00:32.434 2 o'clock your time. 01:00:32.434 --> 01:00:34.667 This has been such a wonderful conversation that, 01:00:34.667 --> 01:00:38.734 as I said I kind of feel like I want this webinar to go on, 01:00:38.734 --> 01:00:41.300 and I want to respect also teachers' time too 01:00:41.300 --> 01:00:43.200 because I know they don't have endless hours 01:00:43.200 --> 01:00:44.634 in the classroom to talk about this. 01:00:44.634 --> 01:00:48.934 So on that note, I want to say, Johnathan, thank you so, 01:00:48.934 --> 01:00:50.334 so much for participating in this, 01:00:50.334 --> 01:00:51.868 and, Rob, thank you as well. 01:00:51.868 --> 01:00:52.934 -Well, thank you. -And you can... 01:00:52.934 --> 01:00:53.968 -Oh, I just want to thank you guys. 01:00:53.968 --> 01:00:55.601 This has been fantastic. This is exciting. 01:00:55.601 --> 01:00:57.934 -We have an ask-the-expert thing at the museum. 01:00:57.934 --> 01:01:01.567 You can e-mail questions, and you can find out 01:01:01.567 --> 01:01:03.467 a lot of stuff on our website. 01:01:03.467 --> 01:01:05.200 -Yeah. 01:01:05.200 --> 01:01:06.367 So, Johnathan, I think we cut you off. 01:01:06.367 --> 01:01:10.968 What did you want to say? 01:01:10.968 --> 01:01:12.868 Well, and everybody out there watching, yeah, 01:01:12.868 --> 01:01:15.567 thank you so much for tuning in, too. 01:01:15.567 --> 01:01:17.000 You know, I learned a lot, 01:01:17.000 --> 01:01:19.033 and I've enjoyed hanging out with these two guys. 01:01:19.033 --> 01:01:22.334 I hope you did too, and I think to close out for today 01:01:22.334 --> 01:01:24.767 I'm going to switch it over to one more area. 01:01:24.767 --> 01:01:26.501 You're actually -- we're going to go away, 01:01:26.501 --> 01:01:27.901 but you're going to see some of the things 01:01:27.901 --> 01:01:29.234 that Rob was talking about. 01:01:29.234 --> 01:01:32.901 This is our Science & Technology in World War II website 01:01:32.901 --> 01:01:35.934 here at the museum, 01:01:35.934 --> 01:01:39.100 and you can actually go there right now, 01:01:39.100 --> 01:01:42.234 and you can ask an expert question there, 01:01:42.234 --> 01:01:45.133 and also here you can see, you know, 01:01:45.133 --> 01:01:47.601 this is our last webinar for the school year, 01:01:47.601 --> 01:01:48.934 which I'm kind of sad about. 01:01:48.934 --> 01:01:50.601 -Yeah. -But we'll have more next year, 01:01:50.601 --> 01:01:51.968 which is great. -We'll have more next year. 01:01:51.968 --> 01:01:53.968 And if you miss us, you can watch this one over again. 01:01:53.968 --> 01:01:55.934 -Yeah. So we'll have the recording available. 01:01:55.934 --> 01:01:59.234 I will send information about that to all of the teachers. 01:01:59.234 --> 01:02:02.133 It'll eventually be archived on our website, 01:02:02.133 --> 01:02:03.834 and then lastly you saw, of course, 01:02:03.834 --> 01:02:06.167 you can buy "Trinity" if you all haven't... 01:02:06.167 --> 01:02:09.434 If you enjoyed the reading so much, as much as I did, 01:02:09.434 --> 01:02:11.400 and you would be interested in purchasing it, 01:02:11.400 --> 01:02:12.834 I mean, you can get it anywhere, but of course 01:02:12.834 --> 01:02:14.701 we have it at our museum store 01:02:14.701 --> 01:02:16.534 for a little bit of an extra discount.