The J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee, in collaboration with the Los Alamos Historical Society, will host a FREE lecture on April 4, 2022, 7 pm at Duane Smith Auditorium, Los Alamos, NM.
Abstract:
In August 1942, the Manhattan Project was formally established. Its mission: Build an entirely reliable atomic bomb as quickly as possible. It’s been estimated that half a million people worked on the project in some capacity at one point or another during the war at installations all over the country. The three main sites were Oak Ridge, Hanford, and Los Alamos.
“MANHATTAN” tells the story of the project from the Los Alamos perspective. Led by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Los Alamos technical staff of approximately 1,700 employees designed, built, tested, and helped deliver the world’s first nuclear weapons in combat only 27 months after the Laboratory held its first major technical conference. Atomic bombs helped bring history’s deadliest conflict to a victorious conclusion, but not before 60-80 million people had been killed worldwide.
Speaker Biography:
Alan B. Carr was hired by Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2003 after completing his graduate work in history at Texas Tech University. As a historian, he has appraised thousands of sets of records held by Laboratory organizations for historical value. Over the years, Alan has produced several publications pertaining to the Manhattan Project, nuclear weapons testing, and the Laboratory’s development during the Cold War years. He has lectured for numerous professional organizations and been featured as a guest on many local, national and international radio and television programs. He currently serves as a Program Manager and the Senior Historian for the Laboratory.