Important Faces of the Manhattan Project

Secret History

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a guest professor at Princeton University in January 1933, the time period Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany.  Not long after that event, Einstein’s work was maligned as “Jewish Physics,” and many German scientists attempted to black list his theories and those who taught them.  Einstein then renounced his Prussian citizenship and stayed in the U.S., where he was given permanent residency and became an American citizen in 1940.  He also retained his Swiss citizenship. 

In 1939, Einstein was encouraged to send a letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt urging the study of nuclear fission for military purposes.  He wrote this letter due to fears that Nazi Germany would be the first to develop a nuclear weapon.  Upon reading this letter, President Roosevelt began investigating the probability of this occurring, and soon after ordered the formation of the Manhattan Project.

For more information on Albert Einstein, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein