It seems to me that the general consensus was that the Americans were leading the world during WW2 in the atomic race, correct? So, I was wondering if at any point in time, it wasnt the case.
And also... If anyone had read Richard Overy's "Why the Allies won", it raises an interesting point that regardless of all the material resources the American scientists would've had, they still wouldn't have developed the atomic bomb by at least, mid-1945. I find that rather hard to believe at first but with Overy's facts, it seems possible.

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"Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains save both!" - Erwin Rommel

There were three things needed to develop an A-bomb in the 1940s:

- A huge industrial bases and infraestructure
- A large body of leading scientists
- An amazingly big budget

In the 1940s ONLY the US had all the three.

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

I think it was in Dec 1941 (?) when Roosevelt gave the money to finance the A-bomb development and that´s when the US won the race. Before that, like Friedrich says, the did not have the money or the equipment to complete it. So before that, if you´re asking, the US were not in the lead of the race.

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And after 1941 certainly none of the remaining super-powers had any of the 3…

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

Interestingly the letter from Einstein to Roosevelt was initially to be presented to the president on September 1, 1939 but I think we all know what kept that meeting from occuring. The letter was eventually delivered to Roosevelt on Oct 11, 1939 and by the end of that month the money from the government started to flow into the research that would lead to the atomic bombs.
However the money that was going into the research at this point in time would be miniscule compared to what the government would spend after November 1941 when the National Academy of Sciences issued a report that was delivered to Roosevelt stating, "A fission bomb of superlative destructive power will result from bringing quickly together a sufficient mass of element U235."

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Bill Murray
Why do we press harder on the remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?

Hi Bill!

My only source is from the book "Enola Gay" by Thomas&Witts in which they mention that Alexander Sachs persuaded Roosevelt to accept the Einstein letter for further procedures as well that on 6th Dec 1941 Roosevelt gave his permission to use huge sums of money for the decelopment of such (!!) bomb ( strange co-incidence?) and not just nuclear research.

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Hey there Kai,

My sources for the October 11, 1939 date of Sachs presenting the Einstein letter to Roosevelt is Richard Rhodes' "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" and is corroborated at the following sites;
www.atomicarchive.com/History/mp/introduction.shtml
https://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mi...pics/abomb.htm

However, I do agree that the actual bomb project itself didn't really get off the ground until the Dec 6, 1941 date.

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Bill Murray
Why do we press harder on the remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?

The Germans actually made some very good progress in the atomic race. They even had a large supply of Atomic Heavy Water that they captured at the Norsk Hydro plant in the Telemark Mountains. The plant was heavily damaged by Norwegian and British(?)Commandos. Several months later, the plant was operational again and after bombing by the Allies, the Germans decided to move the production equipment and the heavy water to German. One of the original sabateurs was still living in the area and he snuck aboard a ferry and planted a charge that sunk the ferry and destroyed 10+ tons of heavy water that the Germans had.

Take care and have a great day....


ciao,
john.