II. Review of basic concepts

THE EXTENT to which the foregoing 1940 concepts have been vindicated or exceeded is now a matter of history in the record of the now famous “Manhattan Project” which culminated in the successful development of the so-called atomic bomb. In addition to military implications attention now is turning to the potential industrial uses of nuclear energy. This seems to be an appropriate time, therefore, to review the basic concepts as now understood, especially the more rudimentary ones which usually are taken for granted in a specific technical treatise.