I pictured the Manhattan Project as a small secret startup during the war A group of wily scientists smashing uranium together in the desert Turns out it was 130,000 people and cost 2% of GDP https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project …
130,000 people at its *peak*. Total employment, with its high rate of turnover, was more like 500,000 people. E.g., around 1% of the US civilian labor force during WWII. It also generated around 1% of the patent applications created during World War II.
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Unbelievable. Though the vast majority of that was enriching uranium and plutonium, right? Industrial eng vs R&D
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Most of it was construction and operations of Oak Ridge and Hanford, right.pic.twitter.com/0voDn5H4Vr
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The AEC had very few direct employees but huge numbers of contractors — comparable to Manhattan Project peak. I only have numbers from 1947-1961, though.pic.twitter.com/EeX3yB4UD9
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