Important Faces of the Manhattan Project

Secret History

Enrico Fermi

Enrico Fermi was an Italian physicist whose most notable work was the development of the first nuclear reactor and for the development of the quantum theory.  After winning the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity in 1938, Fermi moved his family from Rome, Italy to New York where he took a job at Columbia Univeristy.

In August 1939, Einstein signed a letter that was sent to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  This letter evoked a response in Roosevelt which caused him to assemble the Uranium Committee and to award Columbia University the first atomic energy funding of $6,000.  This funding was used in studies which led to the first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. 

This massive atomic pile of graphite bricks and uranium fuel was built under Stagg Field, the football stadium at the University of Chicago.  The reactor went critical on December 2, 1942. 

The reactor was important for several reasons.  First, it provided assistance in assessing the properties of fission, which was needed for understanding the internal workings of an atomic bomb.  Second, it served as the pilot plant for the massive reactors built in Hanford, Washington.

Fermi’s role in this project was very important.  He planned every step and calculation very carefully and meticulously. 

When the first sustained sustained nuclear chain reaction was made, a coded phone call was made to one of the Manhattan Project leaders.  It said, “The Italian navigator has landed in the new world.  The natives were very friendly.” 

Fermi later moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico during the later stages of the Manhattan Project to serve as a general consultant on the project.

For more information on Enrico Fermi, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi