Talk:Manhattan Project

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Manhattan Project has been listed as a level-4 vital article in History. If you can improve it, please do. This article has been rated as FA-Class by WikiProject Vital Articles.

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Organization

Q1: Why are Canada and Britain listed in the infobox? Wasn't the Manhattan Project an all-American effort?

A1: No, the Manhattan Project was a multinational effort, controlled by the United States, Britain and Canada.

Q2: Weren't other countries involved? Why aren't they listed too?

A2: Other countries were involved. There were many individuals from many countries. Especially notable contributions were made by Niels Bohr (Denmark) and Marcus Oliphant (Australia). The flags in the infobox refer to the governance of the project, which was by the United States, Britain and Canada.

Q3: Is it worth noting that Canada had such a role?

A3: Yes. This had important consequences in the post-war period.

Q4: Wasn't Robert Oppenheimer the head of the Manhattan Project?

A4: No, Major General Leslie R. Groves, Jr., was the director of the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory.

Q5: Wasn't Oppenheimer Groves' chief scientific advisor?

A5: No, Richard Tolman was Groves' chief scientific advisor. Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory.

Q6: Why is Kenneth Nichols listed as the commander of the Manhattan District? Wasn't Groves in command of the Manhattan District?

A6: No, Groves was director of the Manhattan Project; The Manhattan District was commanded by Colonel James C. Marshall until 1943, and then by Nichols.

Q7: Weren't the Manhattan Project and the Manhattan District the same thing?

A7: No, they were two separate entities. Check out the organization chart in the article.

Q8: Wasn't the sleeve patch worn only by WACs?

A8: No. have a look at the picture of the presentation of the Army–Navy "E" Award at Los Alamos on 16 October 1945. Nichols and Groves are wearing it.

Q9: Why is the district listed as participating in campaigns in the European theater?

A9: This refers to the activities of the Alsos Mission, which was part of the project.

Q10: And the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

A10: This refers to the activities of Project Alberta. Manhattan Project personnel, including Captain William S. Parsons were on board the aircraft which carried out the missions.

Other issues

Q11: I added something to the article but it got removed. Why?

A11: In all probability what you added was trivia, unsourced information or information cited to an unreliable source; such information is usually removed quickly because of the article's Featured Status. Articles on Wikipedia require reliable sources for an independent verification of the facts presented, consequently any information added to an article without a reliable source is subject to removal from the article at any Wikipedian's discretion.

Q12: I tried to edit this article but couldn't. Why?

A12:This article has been indefinitely semi-protected due to persistent vandalism or violations of content policy. Semi-protection prevents edits from anonymous users (IP addresses), as well as edits from any account that is not autoconfirmed (is at least four days old and has ten or more edits to Wikipedia) or confirmed. Such users can request edits to this article by proposing them on this talk page, using the {{editsemiprotected}} template if necessary to gain attention. They may also request the confirmed userright by visiting Requests for permissions.

Manhattan Project is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

Manhattan Project is the main article in the History of the Manhattan Project series, a featured topic. This is identified as among the best series of articles produced by the Wikipedia community. If you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on July 16, 2013.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
December 11, 2010	Good article nominee	Listed
January 27, 2011	WikiProject A-class review	Not approved
March 18, 2011	WikiProject A-class review	Approved
August 23, 2011	Featured article candidate	Promoted
July 16, 2013	Today's featured article	Main Page
December 21, 2016	Good topic candidate	Not promoted
May 29, 2018	Featured topic candidate	Promoted
Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on December 2, 2004, December 2, 2005, December 2, 2006, December 2, 2007, August 13, 2011, August 13, 2012, August 13, 2015, and August 13, 2017.
Current status: Featured article

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 25 January 2021 and 7 May 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): GIAP0896.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 00:29, 18 January 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Calutron Girls photo and caption[edit]

@Hawkeye7: I saw you reverted my edit. Could you point out where specifically in the source it says that Gladys Owens, seated in the foreground, was unaware of what she had been involved with until seeing this photo on a public tour of the facility 50 years later? I'm not seeing it. It says that she's in the foreground of the picture and that she had recognized herself in the photo on touring the facility, but nowhere does it say that she was unaware of what she had been involved with until she saw the photo- unless I'm missing something? Aerin17 (t • c) 05:11, 19 February 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

It says she was unaware. he was one of a special group of young high school graduates hired and trained to do only what they were told to do without questioning and without discussion. She only knew she was doing something vital to her nation and was helping win the war. The wording used was of the original caption taken from the Atlantic Monthly. [1] That could be added as a second source. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:37, 19 February 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

The Atlantic source is not useful; it's from 2012, while this caption was added in 2010 (by you, actually). It's more likely that the Atlantic article is pulling from Wikipedia than the other way around. And yes, the source does say that she was unaware of what she was doing, but it does not make the connection that seeing the photo was what told her what she had been doing. Aerin17 (t • c) 23:53, 19 February 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Okay, I have removed that from the caption. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:55, 20 February 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Why isn't Leslie Groves listed as a commander in the infobox?[edit]

It seems like a complete oversight to not have Leslie Groves mentioned as the commander of the Manhattan Project in the infobox doesn't it? I had to find out he was in charge from reading the text! 146.200.202.126 (talk) 12:10, 16 March 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Done - Thanks for your comment - and suggestion - added "Leslie Groves" (see => related edit) - iac - Stay Safe and Healthy !! - Drbogdan (talk) 12:48, 16 March 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Reverted Leslie Groves was the head of the Manhattan Project. The infobox refers to the Manhattan District, which was commanded by Nichols. Please read the article before making suggestions or changes. (Also the FAQ - note Q6) Hawkeye7 (discuss) 18:52, 16 March 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Testing Avro Lancasters to drop the bombs[edit]

There is a line of text Tests were carried out with modified Lancasters at Enstone Airfield referenced back to a Youtube video. The Youtube video does not make reference to any primary or secondary sources on the actual in-service testing and training of Lancaster crews for this mission. The claims in the Youtube video are also hotly disputed by others who reference back to primary source material. I would suggest removing this line of text unless other source material can be referenced. --harry543454 (talk) 02:29, 25 March 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Done Text removed. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 02:38, 25 March 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Typographical Errors[edit]

The introduction reads "The Project let to the development of two types of atomic bombs..." while it should read "The Project led to the development of two types of atomic bombs...". I advise an admin for the page to change "let" to "led". CallSignChaos (talk) 18:15, 29 September 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

The introduction reads "Because it was chemically identical to the most common isotope, uranium-238, and had almost the same mass..." while it should read "Because it is chemically identical to the most common isotope, uranium-238, and has almost the same mass...". The factual information conveyed on the properties of uranium are true in perpetuity and should be referenced in the present simple tense, present continuous tense, or the [resent perfect continuous tense, and are not be referenced in the past tense.

Done Sure. Changed as suggested. It was the way it was to keep the tense consistently in the past. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 21:15, 29 September 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]