Reference no: EM131965669

The beginnings of the atomic bomb actually began in the early 1900's when scientists began to study the structures of atoms. This accelerated science and the hunger for knowledge for scientists and by 1930's scientists began discovering how to split atoms, particularity the atoms of uranium. Soon, the worldwide race for the first to build a successful atomic bomb would ensue.

During the summer of 1939 United States scientists caught wind that Germany was close to completing their bomb and immediately wrote to president Roosevelt about their fears (The story of...). Soon after, on December seventh, 1941 after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the American running for the completion of the atomic bomb accelerated. During WWII the Japanese fell far behind the rest of the nuclear pack due to their industrial economy (The Story of...).

Ultimately the United states would prevail in the race for the atomic bomb. With the creation of two bombs which they would drop on Japan. The first nuclear bomb to be weaponized and utilized during war was the bomb famously known as "Little Boy", the Uranium based bomb (Little Boy and Fat Man). Little boy was dropped upon the Japanese city of Hiroshima on the Sixth of August, 1945. But, the United States was not done yet. They next dropped the next atomic bomb used in war. The next bomb was given the nickname "Fat Man", which mainly used plutonium, was dropped on Nagasaki on the ninth of August, 1945 (Little Boy and Fat Man).

The race for the atomic bomb was over and the United States had won. But this was the beginning of the cold war and many countries would follow in the race and continue to develop their own nuclear atomic bombs. The development and use of the atomic bombs changed the world in many ways. The bombs are constantly used as a scare tactic upon countries. The science behind them is used to make different and more lethal weapons. The development of the atomic bomb ultimately began a new era of war, one where the deadliest kind of weapon can be used to wipe out countries and civilizations as a whole. Ultimately the development of the atomic bomb opened up the floodgates for a more lethal and horrifying warfare.