Is a scientist responsible for what they make?

That time, that place

In 1939 a letter drafted by Szilard and signed by Einstein reached Roosevelt, warning that Germany might build a nuclear weapon first.

The finest physicists in the world gathered at Los Alamos, many of them refugees from European fascism. The goal was clear and the justification was there.

Why this question

Then, in May 1945, Germany surrendered.

The original reason was gone. The project rolled on.

Szilard and others circulated a petition: demonstrate it over uninhabited ground first and give a chance to surrender. The petition never reached the decision-makers.

What was found

Before dawn on 16 July, the first test was carried out in the New Mexico desert.

The flash was visible tens of kilometers away. Sand beneath the tower fused into glass.

The reactions of those present differed. Oppenheimer later recalled a line from Hindu scripture. Bainbridge, the test director beside him, is said to have remarked that now they were all sons of bitches.

Three weeks later came Hiroshima, and then Nagasaki.