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In reply to the discussion: Deadliest weapon ever invented- Metal Storm [View all]localroger
(3,783 posts)37. Not so
The Manhattan Project was begun more on the abstract principle that if such a superweapon was possible, we would have it. It was uncertain at the start of the Manhattan Project whether a bomb could be realized in time to be used in the war, and while the possibility of a German bomb was used to keep some of the scientists' enthusiasm up at the higher levels nobody seriously believed they had a chance (and, in fact, it was known by the end of 1943 that they didn't). By 1944 the Manhattan Project wasn't really about WWII at all; it was about position in the postwar world where it was becoming obvious the US and Russia would face off against one another.
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I wonder if anyone is considering a code of ethics for engineers that might make them think twice...
LongTomH
Aug 2013
#7
Accept the idea the Manhattan Project was, by 1944, not really about WWII you (generic you) then
HubertHeaver
Aug 2013
#41
This concept is 20 years old, has never been deployed (though the chinese are working on it)
AtheistCrusader
Aug 2013
#16
It's not a manufacturer's statement, it's an episode of a series on Discovery called
ET Awful
Aug 2013
#26