Anthony's+Week+Nov+5

The letter than Einstein wrote to Roosevelt was truly surprising. Einstein was a man who held deeply pacifist views. He was quoted as saying “My pacifism is an instinctive feeling, a feeling that possesses me because the murder of men is disgusting. My attitude is not derived from any intellectual theory but is based on my deepest antipathy to every kind of cruelty and hatred," (taken from []). He even wrote a letter to Freud asking for help to understand why humans go to war, which makes this letter in it even more interesting. He is informing Roosevelt about nuclear chain reactions using uranium. At first he explains that it could be used to produce massive amounts of power (i.e. nuclear reactors). He also goes on to say that this technology could, and would produce very powerful bombs, capable of destroying massive amounts of land. Now I am not saying that if Einstein hadn’t told Roosevelt this, that it would have meant America never would have developed nuclear bombs, because there were plenty of other scientists that would have told him the same thing. It is just so surprising that a pacifist like Einstein would want to admit to the President that this technology could be used as a weapon. Why would he even mention it? Did he already realize that it was a lost cause and despite his best efforts, nuclear bombs would still be produced? They are all very interesting questions, and my inclination is to lean towards the latter.