On March 14th, one of the most important historical documents, J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project Report, will be auctioned. Titled ‘Atomic Bombs,’ this report was written just weeks before the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, revealing the inner workings of the Manhattan Project.
Manhattan Project Report Hits the Auction Block
The report, prepared in 1945, is titled ‘Atomic Bombs: A General Account of the Development of Methods for the Military Use of Atomic Energy under the Auspices of the United States Government, 1940-1945.
It includes signatures from notable scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer, Nobel Laureate Enrico Fermi, Ernest Lawrence, James Chadwick, Harold Urey, and Isidor I. Rabi. It was first presented to the media on August 12, 1945, just days after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
During this period, marking Japan’s surrender in World War II, the report was thought to be the first public disclosure of the atomic bomb’s creation.A similar auction occurred a decade ago (in 2014) when a card signed by 30 members of the ‘Los Alamos New Mexico Atomic Bomb Project’ was sold by Christie’s for $161,000.
When and Where Will the Auction Be Broadcast?
The auction, set for March 14th, will be broadcast live on RR Auctions’ website. Bidding for this historic document is expected to far exceed its starting price of $25,000, with current offers already reaching $32,000.
The future significance and value of the Manhattan Project Report will emerge over time. For those interested in science and world history, this document is seen as one of the most important ever to be auctioned publicly.
How significant do you think this report is historically? How does the high auction value of a scientific document reflect the role of science and history in society? How effective could the preservation and display of such documents be in shaping historical awareness for future generations?”
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