Dr. Robert Oppenheimer and Lt. General Leslie Groves

The US Nuclear Research in World War II was conducted within the Manhattan Project (1942-1947), headed by the famous physicist, Robert Oppenheimer (right) and Lieutenant General Leslie Groves (left). The project was top secret, yet even so Stalin had been informed about its contents by Russian spies before the Potsdam Conference had begun.
Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell, who was present during the Trinity test, was quoted by Groves in a report sent to the US politicians at Potsdam: “the explosion had far exceeded the most optimistic expectations and wildest hopes of the scientists. All seemed to feel that they had been present at the birth of a new age – The Age of Atomic Energy- and felt their profound responsibility to help in guiding into right channels the tremendous forces which had been unlocked for the first time in history.”. (Josef Mlejnek)