Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster movie Oppenheimer brought a lot of attention to the Manhattan Project, a top-secret program to make the first atomic bombs during World War II. Now, a historically-important document detailing the development of the atomic bomb, signed by 24 Manhattan Project contributors like Oppenheimer, Fermi, Lawrence, Chadwick, Urey, and Rabi, is up for grabs at RR Auction. The ultra-rare document was privately printed in August 1945 with the title “Atomic Bombs: A General Account of the Development of Methods of Using Atomic Energy for Military Purposes Under the Auspices of the United States Government.” It was written by Henry D. Smyth just two weeks before the first detonation of the nuclear weapon in New Mexico, the Trinity nuclear test, which occurred on 16 July 1945.
Smyth was an American physicist, diplomat, and bureaucrat who played a number of key roles in the early development of nuclear energy. During World War II, he was a member of the National Defense Research Committee’s Uranium Committee and a consultant on the Manhattan Project.
The 200-page report records the technical and administrative aspects of the Manhattan Project and the development of the world’s most destructive weapon. It includes a foreword by General Leslie Groves dated August 1945 and was released to the press on August 12, 1945, just a few days after the US bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, respectively.
According to the auction house, the document is in “very good to fine” condition. The auction ends on March 14, but the Smyth report has already surpassed the $25,000 reserve price. The current highest bid sits at $35,433 at the time of writing.
