Matt+King+-+Entry+10+(Due+Nov+4)

Einstein's Letter to F.D.R.

I have mixed feeling after reading Einstein’s letter to president F.D Roosevelt. The source of these feelings is from Einstein’s assumption about uranium and, more importantly, nuclear bombs. Einstein says, “This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable--though much less certain--that extremely powerful bombs of this type may thus be constructed. A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory. However, such bombs might very well prove too heavy for transportation by air.” To me, this statement serves as a warning of possessing atomic bombs. As he correctly gathers, the bombs would be capable of obliterating a large area; the bombs are very powerful, but with such great power comes even greater responsibility. A problem that I have with this statement is that, as history goes to show in 1945, the bombs eventually are designed to be just light enough to be carried by large bombing aircraft, and used effectively, as seen in the war.

Another statement he makes is, ” The United States has only very poor ores of uranium in moderate quantities. There is some good ore in Canada and former Czechoslovakia, while the most important source of uranium is in the Belgian Congo.” This is essentially a map given to F.D.R. from Einstein, telling where to obtain the best quantity of uranium. Since Einstein was well-renowned as a pacifist and an oppose of WWII, it seems somewhat odd that he essentially handed over the location of the most ideal uranium for the construction of bombs; although he did not necessarily believe that the ore would be used in a destructive manner, Einstein was well aware of the destructive power that these ores could be used for.