How did we have the technology to create nuclear weapons so many years ago?

Question

I thought that in the 30's and 40's there was hardly any tech around yet they were making things like that. Doesn't make sense to me.

How did they know what they were doing!?

Answer 1

war is like a catalyst for industrial and scientific progress. We were only building and investing in Nuclear and atomic research because we drastically needed something to end the war quickly. Its called guess and check; they didnt have it perfect, but we assigned hundreds and hundred of the worlds greatest minds to create something powerful and devastating. and they did it!

Answer 2

Oppenheimer led an international team to scientists Canadians Germans Israelis Poles Hungarians italians etc



after Einstein mentioned the Possibility of building Such a weapon the USA investigated it and decided it was Feasible but without the British would not have had a weapon until 1947



1932 James Chadwick proves the existence of neutrons, using alpha particles striking a beryllium foil. He determines their mass by measuring the recoil tracks of known atoms of the rarified gas in his cloud chamber.



John Cockcroft and E. T. S. Walton of Great Britain split the atom on a linear accelerator built at Ernest Rutherford's Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University. Their experiment proves Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.





the Leaders of nuclear Fission were the British and Churchill sent a Team 30 to los Alamos to finish the Job and we were ready to build 7 more before the end of 1945



In 1945 the canadians who were Crucial to building the Bomb gave their rights to the British and in 1945 the USA and the UK agreed to share the technology but before the UK team got Home the USA had changed its mind and in 1946 the British Built their own Independent Bomb



and In 1952 the USA who were lagging behind asked the UK and France if they could share technology an the UK said yes but you can only Join and Not take Over again





after Germany Fell Einstein was Right when he said the Germans will be Lucky to build a bomb before about 1953 and when asked he said we sent the NAZIS down the wrong road

Answer 3

The US government formed a super team and work at a break neck pace to create this weapon. We were in a race with the Germans and others to build the first bomb. We won that race, and Japan paid the price since they bought the first strike due to their attack on Pearl Harbor.



I think it was called the Manhattan project or something like that.

Answer 4

Well it's quite simple actually, because the basic technology used in Nuclear weapons is quite simple. And well there were some extremely smart nuclear physicians and mathematicians. So they found equations and created the bomb. Of course it wasn't nearly as efficient as modern weapons, but still it did the job.

Answer 5

EZ - Since WW2 we have "tested" 1,075 nuclear weapons; everything from a 1 kiloton artillery round to "Big Bertha" a 20 megaton device we popped off in outer space;

the cost? a mear $5 trillion dollars.



And what did we learn;



more explosive = bigger BOOM!

Answer 6

Yeah, amazing how we went right from bows and arrows to nukes, isn't it?



By the time nukes were feasible, there were already airplanes, submarines, radios, television, and even jet propulsion.



It wasn't quite as primitive in the 40's as you seem to think.

Answer 7

Back then they were busy inventing all the technology we take for granted today.

Answer 8

We had radar, jet engines, TV and Albert Einstein. What else do you need?

Answer 9

Simple, you got the info from aliens at Ares 51.











I'm sure someone was going to say it so I may as well get the points at least.