Eighty Years After Hiroshima: A Look Back at America’s Legacy of Scientific Achievement

Eighty Years After Hiroshima: A Look Back at America’s Legacy of Scientific Achievement

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, an event that not only ended World War II but also forever altered the course of history.

Much of the analysis today will review the debate as to whether the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should have been bombed. However, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the extraordinary American scientific achievements that made such a world-changing event possible, and the lessons we Americans need to relearn.

Part of this reflection is based on this spring’s family visit to Los Alamos, the home of the Manhattan Project. We stopped into the Bradbury Science Museum, which focuses on the history, science, and ongoing research related to the WWII mission and nuclear science in New Mexico. The exhibits gave me a deep appreciation for the astonishing scientific collaboration that brought together brilliant physicists, chemists, mathematicians, and engineers—including J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Niels Bohr. These giants worked around the clock at sites like Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hanford to unlock the secrets of atomic fission and develop a weapon that could hasten the end of the war while worrying about the possibility that Nazi Germany could beat them in the development race.

I would also like to give a special shout-out to General Leslie Groves, who was the genius organizer who put all the “moving parts” together. One of the men under his command praised him with faint damns.

Colonel Kenneth D. Nichols, district engineer of the Manhattan Engineer District, wrote of Groves: “First, General Groves is the biggest S.O.B. I have ever worked for. He is most demanding. He is most critical. He is always a driver, never a praiser. He is abrasive and sarcastic. He disregards all normal organizational channels. He is extremely intelligent. He has the guts to make timely, difficult decisions. He is the most egotistical man I know. He knows he is right and so sticks by his decision. He abounds with energy and expects everyone to work as hard, or even harder, than he does… if I had to do my part of the atomic bomb project over again and had the privilege of picking my boss, I would pick General Groves.”

Reflecting on the amazing collaboration between Groves and Oppenheimer on the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima. pic.twitter.com/1rZovSgti8

— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) August 6, 2025

After three intense years of research and engineering, the first atomic bomb was successfully tested at the Trinity site in New Mexico in July 1945. This triumph of science and engineering proved the feasibility of nuclear weapons and paved the way for their use against Hiroshima and, three days later, Nagasaki. Within days of these bombings, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and World War II came to a close.

The blessings associated with this swift conclusion can be numbered in the millions, if not billions. Of course, the use of the bombs eliminated the need for our country to sacrifice young men during an attempt to invade Japan. The sudden surrender also spared millions of Japanese, who were planning a kamikaze-inspired defense. I also believe that the scale of death and destruction that occurred at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki has given nuclear-weapons-holding countries an incentive not to use their arsenal…so far.

The Manhattan Project stands as one of the greatest scientific achievements in history, exemplifying the power of collaboration and innovation in the service of America’s national defense and the greater good. However, the undertaking was only one facet of the exceptional American scientific and technological efforts during World War II. Government investment and collaboration with universities and private industry yielded a host of inventions that forever changed civilian and military life alike: Radar advancements for better navigation and targeting, the mass production of penicillin and other medicines, synthetic rubber and plastics, and duct tape.

The Atomic Age, born eighty years ago, is a reminder of how American scientific ingenuity can redefine what is possible. However, since then, the ideological capture of “science” has redirected efforts away from supporting the nation and its people to more progressive/globalist ambitions. Researchers in the Food Industry, Big Pharma, Green Energy, Climate Crisis, and other narrative-driven science experts have hindered our progress and cost this nation its treasure, not only in monetary wealth but in lives and quality-of-life issues as well.

However, there is hope. Thanks to the work of many hard-working, diligent, honest, and brave scientists and researchers, much of the destructive policy pushed in the last couple of decades is being reversed, especially as it relates to the “climate crisis” and our nation’s energy sources.  I look forward to covering even more of that reversal in the next few years,

I want to conclude by combining my homage to the Manhattan Project with respect for another significant American technological achievement – the Moon landing. It appears American scientists are once again motivated to embrace the power and efficiency of nuclear, as well as push forward space exploration projects.

The U.S. should deploy a small nuclear power plant to the surface of the moon before China and Russia are able to do so, the interim head of NASA has told the space agency’s staff.

NASA should be ready to launch a reactor to the lunar surface by the first quarter of fiscal year 2030, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who is serving as the space agency’s acting administrator, said in a directive to NASA dated July 31. This would work out to late 2029.

…NASA should issue a request for proposals to industry within 60 days, according to Duffy’s directive. The reactor should be able to generate 100 kilowatts of electricity at a minimum, according to the directive. It would be transported aboard a heavy class lander with a payload of 15 metric tons.

A reactor without a 100-kilowatt output could power about 80 U.S. homes. By contrast, the average nuclear reactor in the U.S. fleet can power more than 700,000 homes.

It will be interesting to see where American scientific innovation will be in another 80 years. Hopefully, my great-grandchild will be able to cover it positively.

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