USA HISTORY

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WORLD WAR II 1941 1945

THE START OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain aspects of the situation which has arisen seem to call for watchfulness and, if necessary, quick action on the part of the administration.-Albert Einstein, letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt-August 2, 1939 The development referred to in Einstein’s letter led directly to-
A
a government program to develop the atomic bomb
B
the first funding of scientific research by the federal government
C
the delivery of inexpensive electricity to U.S. consumers
D
the creation of a new cabinet department
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard worked together at Columbia in 1939-40 just after nuclear fission was discovered to ascertain the feasibility of a nuclear chain reaction, and then on the construction of the first nuclear reactor.

Detailed explanation-2: -As Szilard remembered, their primary concern was “what would happen if the Germans got hold of large quantities of the uranium which the Belgians were mining in the Congo.

Detailed explanation-3: -Einstein had written to inform Roosevelt that recent research on fission chain reactions utilizing uranium made it probable that large amounts of power could be produced by a chain reaction and that, by harnessing this power, the construction of “extremely powerful bombs” was conceivable.

Detailed explanation-4: -A Letter to the President In August 1939, Einstein wrote to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to warn him that the Nazis were working on a new and powerful weapon: an atomic bomb. Fellow physicist Leo Szilard urged Einstein to send the letter and helped him draft it.

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