__________________Synopsis of The Day the Sun Rose Twice

______Ferenc Morton Szasz’s The Day the Sun Rose Twice is an account of the culmination of

the Manhattan Project in the Trinity site nuclear test on July 16, 1945. The book is an

introductory treatment of the massive, multinational endeavor to produce an atomic weapon, as

the author prefers to focus on the events leading to the bomb test itself. In the final chapters,

Szasz expounds upon his thesis that the Trinity test was a singular event that “changed the world

forever”¹ and “has evolved into the most crucial issue of the twentieth century.”²

______The rise of Fascism in Germany, Hungary and Italy in the 1930s disrupted the physics

community, which early in the century experienced a major conceptual revolution from

Newtonian principles to relativistic and subatomic concepts. Two Germans discovered nuclear

fission in 1938, and shortly thereafter Enrico Fermi at Columbia University predicted the use of

this principle in weaponry. Implored by Albert Einstein and Hungarian physicists aware of close

ties between European research institutions and new Fascist regimes, President Franklin

Roosevelt authorized the development of an atomic weapons program on October 12, 1939.

______ Little work was accomplished until after Pearl Harbor, when the president established the

National Defense Research Committee to mobilize science for wartime applications. In June

1942, the nuclear program was yielded to the army and Major General Leslie R. Groves was

soon installed as head of the Manhattan Engineer District. Scientists developing the bomb were

concentrated at Los Alamos, New Mexico, which hosted 6,500 people by the end of the war.

Szasz believes, “never before in the history of the human race have so many brilliant minds been

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gathered together at one place.”³ The program was united in an intense effort to divine the secret

of atomic power before Nazi Germany. A paucity of information regarding Germany’s program

persisted, fueled by pessimistic reports from refugee scientists, until a secret mission during the

D-Day operation discovered that it was years behind the Manhattan Project. Hitler poorly

grasped the significance of the bomb, unsympathetic scientists defected, and Allied attacks on

Nazi facilities crippled attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

______Two types of bombs were developed at Los Alamos: a proven uranium 235-based form

and a plutonium bomb in which scientists were unconfident. Though initially reticent to order a

test explosion for fear of wasted plutonium and potential congressional investigation in event of

failure, Groves’ desire to avoid inadvertently presenting the enemy with an unexploded device

overcame his reluctance. A test date was set for July 16, 1945 to give President Truman leverage

at the Potsdam Conference.

______ In addition to the unprecedented magnitude of the work at Los Alamos, several vital

questions were posed by the Trinity test concerning effects of the blast that could potentially

alter or even destroy the world. Project scientists considered the dire possibility that the test

explosion could ignite the atmosphere, resulting in an uncontrolled, endless reaction. Nobel

laureate Francis Aston warned, “this most successful experiment might be published to the rest

of the universe in the form of a new star.”⁴ The second question posed by Trinity concerned the

effects of the air blast and ground concussion of the detonation on the nearby area. The final

problem, and that with the most significant and under-appreciated consequences, was that of the

effects of radioactive fallout on the immediate area and nearby New Mexico towns.

______The successful completion of this $2 billion, six-year effort had two immensely

important, immediate consequences. Upon learning of the test, President Truman negotiated

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with aggression at Potsdam. Twenty-four years of antagonism with the Soviets and the absence

of the United Nations caused Winston Churchill and other prominent officials to oppose the

internationalization of the atom, and Joseph Stalin was told only of a “new and powerful

weapon”⁵ in American hands. Stalin earlier ordered the acceleration of his nuclear program

when Western scientists withheld their research from publication to stymie Nazi efforts, and the

first Soviet atomic device was exploded years ahead of predictions. The arms race had begun.

______The other far-reaching fruit of Trinity was the decision to use the bomb in combat. After

Japan declined Truman’s demand for surrender, Hiroshima was destroyed by a uranium bomb on

August 6, 1945. Three days later, Nagasaki followed suit. Szasz rejects both the official

justification that the bombings ended the war quickly with relatively little loss of life and

Japanese pride intact, maintained in Truman’s memoirs, and the revisionist perspective of Soviet

intimidation. He proposes that the use of the bomb was an inexorable outcome of the Manhattan

project. Though Roosevelt planned a test to be observed by all nations and religious faiths,

Oppenheimer, who opposed combat use, stated, “the decision was implicit in the project.”⁶

______The development of the atomic bomb, this chain of events sparked from the program’s

nascence amidst fears of a nuclear Nazi regime, led to prodigious, world-changing legacies in the

scouring of Japan, long-term effects of radiation, and the birth of the Cold War. The Trinity site

test exemplified this tremendous potential, aptly captured by Churchill’s reaction to learning of

the successful explosion. “What was gunpowder? Trivial. What was electricity? Meaningless.

This atomic bomb is the Second Coming in Wrath.”⁷

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Szasz, Ferenc Morton. The Day the Sun Rose Twice. Albuquerque: University of New
Mexico Press, 1984.

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