LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY IS TURNING 75. IT ALL BEGAN IN 1943 AS PART OF THE TOP SECRET MANHATTAN PROJECT TO DEVELOP THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB DURING WORLD WAR TWO. HEATHER MCCLENAHAN, DIRECTOR OF THE LOS ALAMOS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, SAYS THE LAB HAS BEEN MORE THAN AN ECONOMIC ENGINE FOR NEW MEXICO. IT’S AN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WITH SCIENTISTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.
MCLENAHAN SAYS THE MANHATTAN PROJECT BROUGHT ABOUT THE FIRST MERGER OF BIG GOVERNMENT AND BIG SCIENCE. AND WITHOUT THAT, AGENCIES LIKE NASA WOULD LIKELY HAVE NEVER BEEN POSSIBLE.
