Manhattan Project Notebook (1942)
Citation: Notebook recording the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, December 2, 1942; Records of the Atomic Energy Commission; Record Group 326; National Archives.
引文：记录第一个受控自持核链式反应的笔记本，1942 年 12 月 2 日；原子能委员会的记录；记录组326；国家档案馆。
This notebook records an experiment of the Manhattan Project, the all-out, but highly secret, effort of the federal government to build an atomic bomb during World War II.
这本笔记本记录了曼哈顿计划的一项实验，这是二战期间联邦政府为制造原子弹而全力以赴但高度机密的努力。
Recorded here is the world's first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, achieved on December 2, 1942.
这里记录了 1942 年 12 月 2 日实现的世界上第一个受控、自持核链式反应。
Eight months after the United States entered World War II, the federal government launched the Manhattan Project, an all-out, but highly secret, effort to build an atomic bomb – and to build one before the Germans did.
美国加入第二次世界大战八个月后，联邦政府启动了曼哈顿计划，这是一项全面但高度秘密的制造原子弹的努力，并且比德国人更早制造原子弹。
The task was to translate the vast energy released by atomic fission into a weapon of unprecedented power.
任务是将原子裂变释放的巨大能量转化为威力空前的武器。
On December 2, 1942, a group of distinguished physicists, working under top-secret conditions in an unpretentious laboratory at the University of Chicago, took a crucial step towards this goal: they created the world’s first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
1942 年 12 月 2 日，一群杰出的物理学家在芝加哥大学一个朴实无华的实验室里，在绝密条件下工作，朝着这一目标迈出了关键的一步：他们创造了世界上第一个受控、自我维持的核链式反应。
Nobel prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi directed the experiment.
诺贝尔奖获得者物理学家恩里科·费米指导了这项实验。
Fermi directed the construction of a pile of graphite and uranium bricks and wooden timbers, assembled in the precise arrangement necessary to start and stop a nuclear chain reaction.
费米指导建造了一堆石墨、铀砖和木料，并按照启动和停止核链式反应所需的精确排列进行组装。
Cadmium rods inserted into the pile regulated the nuclear reaction to prevent it from “burning” itself out of control.
插入堆中的镉棒可以调节核反应，防止其“燃烧”失控。
Had it not been controlled, the experiment could have released a catastrophic amount of energy, wreaking havoc in the middle of the densely populated city of Chicago.
如果不加以控制，该实验可能会释放出灾难性的能量，对人口稠密的芝加哥市中心造成严重破坏。
“We’re cooking!” was the exuberant reaction recorded when the experiment succeeded.
“我们正在做饭呢！”这是实验成功时记录的热烈反应。
The data shown on these notebook pages is the record of the nuclear reactor’s response to the movement of the control rods.
这些笔记本页面上显示的数据是核反应堆对控制棒运动的响应记录。
Less than three years later, the first atomic weapon would be tested in New Mexico on July 16, 1945.
不到三年后，第一枚原子武器于 1945 年 7 月 16 日在新墨西哥州进行了测试。
Though originally created for potential use against Germany, the war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945.
尽管最初是为了对抗德国而创建的，但欧洲战争于 1945 年 5 月 8 日结束。
After a successful test at the Trinity site, President Truman decided to use two atomic weapons to end the war on the Pacific front.
在三一核试验场成功进行试验后，杜鲁门总统决定使用两枚原子武器来结束太平洋前线的战争。
On August 6th and 9th, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths.
8月6日至9日，美国向广岛和长崎投下原子弹，导致数十万人死亡。
Within days, Japan surrendered and World War II was over.
几天之内，日本投降，第二次世界大战结束。
However, the creation of these new destructive weapons would intensify a new type of conflict – the Cold War between the two remaining global superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.
然而，这些新型毁灭性武器的制造将加剧一种新型冲突——美国和苏联这两个全球超级大国之间的冷战。
When the Soviet Union tested their own atomic weapon in 1949, an arms race between the United States and the U.S.S.R.
1949年，苏联试验了自己的原子武器，美国和苏联之间爆发了军备竞赛。
began.
开始了。
This document is available on DocsTeach, the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives.
该文档可在 DocsTeach 上找到，这是一个使用国家档案馆文档进行教学的在线工具。
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查找包含本文档的教学活动，或创建您自己的在线活动。