The Making of the Atomic Bomb Chapter Summary & Analysis | Epilogue

Epilogue Summary

Effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki horrify Leo Szilard, who believes the United States should assume full responsibility for making total world devastation possible. The United States government publishes a detailed report on how the atomic bomb was developed to forestall further information leaks by defining what is public and secret information about the development program. From this the Soviets learn which approaches to isotope separation not to pursue. The day after Nagasaki is bombed, Ernest Lawrence flies to New Mexico to work with Oppenheimer on postwar planning and finds him weary, guilty, and depressed, wondering if the dead at Hiroshima were not luckier than the survivors. Lawrence sees the positive side that the bomb might be the weapon to end all wars.

Members of the Interim Committee Scientific Panel, Lawrence, Oppenheimer, Compton, and Fermi, begin to rethink national policy and advocate free interchange of science and...
(read more)