$30 billion? That doesn’t sound right...
The Manhattan Project was actually quite cheap: 30 billion in 2012 $. But the spending breakdown is highly interesting. Takeaway: theory is cool & gets your name in books, but most of the effort for any large project is in the engineering. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/05/17/the-price-of-the-manhattan-project/ …pic.twitter.com/6V19TIyApI
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~2 billion 1945 dollars
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Kind of a bargain. In contrast we spend $30 - 40b per year on Pell Grants
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When we scaled up to make lots and lots of nukes, it probably got more expensive, but it was indeed a deal.
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Back in the 90s, a friend asked me If I knew how much the whole triad, vehicles plus warheads, adding in the national labs, cost: I said between 30 and 40 billion, which was correct.
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A hell of a deal then.
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Maybe a third of what we spend on beer.
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But seriously I like to bring up Pell Grants because we spend huge amounts per year on them and surely at least half of that is a complete waste. Eg about half of recipients are over 22.
End of conversation
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Compared to a direct invasion of Japan it was highly cost effective -- and of course the resultant technology didn't stop there, and it was absolutely critical, cost entirely aside, that the Soviets not be the only ones with the bomb.
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If you want to get into the traditionalist/revisionist debate over what internally settled Japan's decision to surrender, Twitter is not the place. The positions in this debate propose a false dichotomy, anyway: - 100% The Bomb - 100% Russia Both were surely factored in.
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Even here in Japan it isn't entirely agreed other than to say that it was a complex decision and much more was in play and at stake than just Russia or the bomb.
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THAT SAID... Compared to other government projects, even current ones today, I would have to regard the Manhattan Project as a success and rather cost effective considering the technology gap at the outset. Consider, for example, the SLS and JWST.
End of conversation
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Alternative interpretation: spending on pure theory pays back many times over.
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No, most of the effort for any large project that succeeds is engineering. Most of the effort in modern large projects (that often fail) is in pushing paper.
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theory : engineering :: inspiration : perspiration
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