The Creation of the World's Deadliest BombThe search for a weapon that could end the world's most devastating war World War II has begun almost immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was sneak attacked by Japan which entered the United States into the Allied side of World War II. In 1938, German scientists discovered that if you bombarded uranium with neutrons, you could shatter the nucleus of an atom. When war broke out, scientists considered military uses for this new discovery. When atoms split, they release energy and if you put billions of these atoms together, it could start a chain reaction and cause a massive explosion. Three physicists, Léon Szilard, Eugène Wigner and Edward Teller, believed that a nuclear weapon was possible and Germany had already started working on it. They believed this was very important to the war effort, so much so that President Franklin D. Roosevelt needed to be informed. However, they weren't well-known enough to attract the president's attention, so they turned to famous theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein signed the letter and delivered it to Roosevelt. He said this required action. So Leo Szilard asked for six thousand dollars worth of materials to produce a nuclear chain reaction. This experiment by Enrico Fermi showed that fission releases energy, enough energy to create a weapon that could decide the fate of war. Roosevelt created the Manhattan Project, the goal of which was to create an atomic bomb. The project was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers who would direct and execute the project. The Manhattan Project was effective because of bold leadership and scientific advances that resulted in the creation of the world's paper industry, the quantity needed to operate the factories. But ultimately, the Army Corps of Engineers was able to complete the project and bring it to fruition. After that, the Cold War began, based on the nuclear weapons created through the Manhattan Project and today the nuclear bombs are twenty times more powerful than those used in Japan. Stanley, Matthew. Advanced World Book “Oppenheimer J. Robert”. World Book, 2014. Web. February 24, 2014 «J. Robert Oppenheimer. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. February 25, 1904Sullivan, Edward T. The Ultimate Weapon: The Race to Develop the Atomic Bomb. New York: Holiday House, 2007. Print. Gonzales, Doreen. The Manhattan Project and the Atomic Bomb in American History. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2000. Print. Cohen, Daniel. The Manhattan Project. Brookfield, Conn.: Millbrook, 1999. Print.