Dr. Albert Einstein was revealed yesterday to have been the first scientist to concern himself with the potentialities of the atom Arab as it might affect the United States, at a hearing before a special Senate Committee.
Dr. Alexander Sachs, a Russian-born American economist, told the committee that in October, 1939, he went to President Roosevelt with a letter from Dr. Einstein describing developments to date on atomic energy, and pointing out that it was conceivable that an atomic bomb might be developed which could be carried by ship to our shores and blast an entire port area and its environs. The letter also pointed out that the Germans had made considerable progress along these lines.
As a result of the Einstein letter and a memorandum by physicist Dr. Leo Szilard, the late President named a board to form a working committee. Early in 1940, dissatisfied with the progress being made, Dr. Sachs, upon the advice of Prof. Einstein, appealed to the White House for more assistance, which was given. This was the beginning of the experiments which culminated in the establishment of the “Manhattan Enginering District” and the manufacture of the bombs which fell upon Hiroshima and Degasaki.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
