Spring 2023, Deep Springs College, Prof. Brian Hill
The Manhattan project is a chance to look simultaneously at the almost unbelievable scientific and technological developments which came in rapid succession just before, during, and after WWII, and at their historic consequences. The fundamental science begins in the late 1800s with the discovery of natural radioactivity (by Becquerel and the Curies), the development of controlled fission (Fermi’s atomic pile), and the possibility of violent fission chain reactions. The history includes the race to make weapons based on fission, the destruction of two cities, and the setting of the stage for the superpower stalemate that has continued with slowly shifting characteristics decade-after-decade ever since.
A study of the Manhattan Project is not just an opportunity to study momentous scientific developments and past events. Its ongoing significance makes it nearly a duty to understand what we have collectively created. By the end of the course, each person will have their own response to the events and the resulting situation.
I. The Atom, and Basic Physics for Nuclear Fission
II. Discovery of Radioactivity
III. Physics Background needed for Chapter 2 of Reed on Controlled Fission (Enrico Fermi’s Atomic Pile)
IV. Possibility of a Fission Bomb (A-Bomb)
V. The Race to Develop the Atomic Bomb
VI. Assembly of the Manhattan Project Scientists
VII. Creation and Refinement of Fissile Isotopes
VIII. Gun and Implosion Designs for Criticality
IX. Technology to Deliver a Bomb
X. The First Three Atomic Bombs: Trinity, Little Boy, and Fat Man
XI. The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
XII. The Fusion Bomb (H-Bomb)
XIII. The Arms Race and The Beginning of the Cold War, Mutually Assured Destruction, Arms Control
XIV. Contemporary Problems and Analyses, Nuclear Proliferation, Nuclear Terrorism, Stability-Instability Paradox, Superpower Behavior
Detailed daily schedules will be kept retrospectively:
There will be a lot of handouts. Get a three-ring binder to keep all the handouts and problem sets organized. Assignments should be on 8 1/2 x 11 paper (and not torn out from a bound notebook). Multi-page assignments should be stapled. Corrections should be erased (if done in pencil) or recopied (if done in pen). To make nice diagrams and graphs, you will often need a ruler.
The College’s general policies on absences and late work are applicable. There was an email from the Dean on this September 8, 2022. The policies below are consistent with that email:
Whereas missed coursework affects both your classmates and professors by lowering the thinking and understanding you bring to a given class, and interrupts the course schedule that has been set up and is adjusted on an ongoing basis with substantial care. The same is true for absences — whereas a handful of absences might be “normal” at colleges with large lectures or less serious academics, at Deep Springs we expect students to miss no classes save for legitimate health issues or emergencies requiring also missing labor and governance obligations.
For a student wishing to submit a course assignment past its required deadline, the student may request an extension on the assignment directly from the professor 48 hours in advance. Within 48 hours of the due date, the student must request an extension directly from the Dean. Exceptions will be granted by the Dean only if the student faces unforeseen and unforeseeable circumstances. A student who misses the deadline will be penalized an amount that is roughly equivalent to a letter grade for each day the assignment is late. Assignments cannot be turned in after solutions and graded assignments have been passed back, which generally happens one to two classes after they were turned in.