A General Account of the Development of Methods of Using Atomic Energy for Military Purposes

vii, [1],182, [4] pages, and rear cover. Wraps. Footnotes. Appendices, Cover somewhat stained and scuffed, small creases. Henry DeWolf "Harry" Smyth (May 1, 1898 - September 11, 1986) was an American physicist and diplomat. He played key roles in the development of nuclear energy, in the Manhattan Project, a member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency. During WWII he was a member of the National Defense Research Committee's Uranium Committee and a consultant on the Manhattan Project. He wrote the Manhattan Project's first public official history, which came to be known as the Smyth Report. Smyth advocated for a comprehensive report to be released to the public following the weapon's use. Vannevar Bush, who oversaw the NDRC, agreed, and selected Smyth to write the report on the recommendation of James Conant. Groves granted Smyth unlimited access, waiving his insistence on compartmentalization. First printed edition (preceded only by typed and mimeographed editions). The report was released to the public on August 12, 1945, just days after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9. Smyth was commissioned to write the report by Major General Leslie R. Groves, Jr., the director of the Manhattan Project. The Smyth Report was the first official account of the development of the atomic bombs and the basic physical processes behind them. It also served as an indication as to what information was declassified; anything in the Smyth Report could be discussed openly. For this reason, the Smyth Report focused heavily on information, such as basic nuclear physics, which was either already widely known in the scientific community or easily deducible by a competent scientist, and omitted details about chemistry, metallurgy, and ordnance. The Smyth Report was on The New York Times best-seller list from mid-October 1945 until January 1946 and was translated into 40+ languages.…