A Biography of Leslie R. Groves

自第二次世界大战以来，美国一直在努力为这个国家面临的问题找到“快速的科学解决办法”。以前，是“抗癌战争”能在相对较短的时间内找到治疗方法。目前，积极分子正在呼吁开展一项针对艾滋病的“曼哈顿计划”，以找到一种能立即治愈这种可怕疾病的方法。当这些项目失败时，为这些“曼哈顿式”项目的巨额成本买单的公众自然会对科学产生怀疑——即使是那些愤世嫉俗的政客们做出了这些承诺。考虑到这些问题，对公众来说，理解曼哈顿计划成功的原因和方式，以及当前的项目是否符合战时努力所呈现的模式，是至关重要的。戈德堡博士正在用这笔经费继续这项工作。戈德堡博士正在完成他对莱斯利·r·格罗夫斯将军的研究，他是曼哈顿工程区的指挥官。戈德堡博士旨在提供一个背景，让人们了解格罗夫斯将军是谁，为什么他被选为原子弹项目的负责人，以及使该项目如此有效的特点。他也在探索为什么这些相同的特征在战后对他如此不利。对曼哈顿计划的大多数论述都集中在创纪录时间内解决的技术难题上，或者集中在原子弹的发展对战争结束和战后外交史的影响上。通过在研究格罗夫斯将军的背景下考察曼哈顿计划，人们立即需要评估他的组织哲学，以及格罗夫斯的行政风格和他创建的行政机制对项目成功的重要性。＊＊＊

9320369 Goldberg Ever since World War II, the United States has endeavored to find a "quick scientific fix" for the problems confronting this nation. Previously, it was the "War on Cancer" that would find a cure within a relatively short period of time. Currently, activists are calling for a "Manhattan Project" for AIDS to find an immediate cure for that dreaded disease. When these projects fail, the public which has been led to foot the massive costs of these "Manhattan-like" projects rightly becomes skeptical of science-- even if it is the case that it was the politicians who cynically made these promises. Given these problems, it is critically important for the public to understand why and how the Manhattan Project succeeded and how current projects may or may not fit the model that that war-time effort presents. It is this task which Dr. Goldberg is continuing with this grant. Dr. Goldberg is completing his study of General Leslie R. Groves, Commanding General of the Manhattan Engineer District. Dr. Goldberg aims to provide a context of understanding who General Groves was, why he was picked to head the atomic bomb project, and the characteristics that made his administration of the project so effective. He is also exploring the reasons why these very same characteristics served him so poorly after the war. Most treatments of the Manhattan Project focus on the technical puzzles which were solved in record time or on the impact of the development of the bomb on end-of-the-war and post-war diplomatic history. By examining the Manhattan Project in the context of a study of General Groves, one is immediately confronted with the need to assess his philosophy of organization and the importance to the success of the project of Groves' administrative style and the administrative machinery he created. ***