ABSTRACT
Physicists all over the world were excited by the announcement in January 1939, by the German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, that the nucleus of the uranium atom produced barium when bombarded with neutrons. It was deduced by Otto Frisch and Lise Meitner that the barium resulted from the splitting or fissioning of the uranium nucleus. The German work was quickly confirmed by four laboratories in the United States (Columbia University, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, University of California) and others around the world. Those well recognized for their work at that time were Niels Bohr and E. Fermi. The possible military applications of atomic power were soon being discussed in every country. In the United States, studies of 336the possible approaches and problems were undertaken with government support in 1940. These studies produced promising results and culminated in June 1942 with the decision by the government to undertake an all-out effort to develop the bomb.
