The Birth of the Atomic Bomb in New Jersey

“Both the man of science and the man of action live always at the edge of mystery, surrounded by it,”--J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The famous educational institute known as Princeton University is 15 to 20 minutes away from South Brunswick. Two miles south of Princeton University, another equally important educational institute, The Institute for Advanced Study, sits quietly in the meadows of Princeton.

Separate facilities with an informal alliance. Some of the most important and influential scientists in the world were gathering together in 1944 to create, build and test the most powerful weapon known to mankind.

World War II was in full battle and the fear of German technology was driving the American government to prepare for the creation of the Manhattan Project. The two universities had educated some of the most brilliant thinking minds in the quest to create nuclear fission.

The Institute of Advanced Studies depended solely on donations, which in the 1930s were provided by Louis Bamberger and Caroline Bamberger Fuld, also known for the Bamberger’s department stores.

The scientists were even supported by Albert Einstein, who in later years questioned his own decision to support the project.  Indeed the entire scientific team would later question the creation of the Atomic Bomb.