MOREHEAD STATE UNIVERSITY

Individual Project 3
Science and Technology Legitimacy and Use
Drew Kelly
9/28/2014

In Albert Einsteins first letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, he noted a great concern that
Germany may be constructing a new type of bomb that was created by the chain reaction from
Uranium. From the letters I gather the feeling that the letters were not taken serious enough. The
final letter did not get to FDR sue to his death. But in his final letter he introduced Dr. Szilard
then inventor of the Uranium chain reaction, which is the process that can create atomic bombs.
In this final letter to the president he said that Szilard was worried the scientist that was working
on his project were not communicating clearly with the members of your (FDRs) cabinet who
were responsible for formulating the policy(Fourth Letter, 1945). This shows that the letters that
Einstein had written had either been overlooked or not taking seriously. However the letters did
have an effect, by 1942 FDR had launched a full scale development program called the
Manhattan project that would create the atomic bomb (Wiki, 2010). As for the question at hand, I
think that the decisions that have been made in the past have led America to be a bully. Dont
get me wrong I love our country and do support it. Since it was thought that Germany was
attempting to create the first bomb, we jumped on the opportunity to create bombs of our own,
and I agree with what we did. I think that the common groups of society, meaning the ones who
do not fight to protect this country, want our government to bomb anyone who gets in our way.
That is why they do not make those decisions. Because of last centurys actions it has shown us
that we are not the only country that is trying to create new technologies and figure out the best
way to use them. If another had the chance to take America down I think they would do it
without hesitation.
Since we were the first to create the A-bomb and use it, it showed that we are willing to
use weapons of mass destruction and we will legitimize it however we see necessary. I think that
this was Dr. Szilards concern in the fourth letter to FDR; he was not only concerned for our

safety but also for how we would use the potential of Uranium. Dr. Szilard was concerned about
the misuse of the weapon, and in some cases I think his fear came true. If we look at different
weapons of mass destruction like biological warfare we can find other concerns for use there.
This type of warfare is when diseases are weaponized and used. A huge controversy right now is
double-use, which means if it is made for public use, and then it should be available for
military uses, and vice versa. This all started long ago, when the invention of the A-bomb was
thought of. I think having our defense is one thing but it is up to America, to act responsibly and
use the weapons we have only in the right time. I think that all of these events have shown the
people of America that we are not the only ones with power and the will to use mass destructive
weapons, thus given our society a protected, yet frightened society, frightened that someone can
create weapons that could attack us, and protected that it hasnt happened yet. This gives us all a
false since comfort and hope.

References:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/reyes/weaponry.html
http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/einstein.shtml