Inventing something unique and that changes the course of human history must be one of the most satisfying feelings that can exist.
It is a matter of imagining the complacency of those who were behind creations as brilliant as the wheel, concrete, the steam engine or the internet.
However, not all inventions have ends exclusively beneficial to the world; there are some that, to tell the truth, have left a tragic and macabre balance.
And some of the geniuses behind those fearsome finds have ended up haunted by their conscience.
Here we tell you the stories of four of them that, many times without measuring the destructive power of their creations, ended up generating some of the most lethal weapons in history.
1. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb”:
There was no other scientist more linked to the creation and use of atomic bombs during World War II than Robert Oppenheimer.
The American theoretical physicist was the director of the Manhattan Project , which achieved develop the first atomic bomb in history.
This was detonated in the New Mexico desert – in an operation called “Trinity” – on 16 July 1943, less than a month before the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki , in Japan, where it is estimated that they died between 150. 000 and 250. 01 persons.
Oppenheimer, a complex and charismatic figure, had dedicated himself to studying the energetic processes of subatomic particles, including electrons, positrons and cosmic rays.
But the warlike conflict that was being experienced in those years in the world made his professional life take another course.
So, after Albert Einstein sent a letter to the then president of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, warning him of the danger that threatened all of humanity if the Nazis became the first to make an atomic bomb , the idea of creating a nuclear weapon at the government level in the United States became a priority.
And who led that process was, precisely, Oppenheimer. He quickly started looking for a process for the separation of uranium – 235 of natural uranium and to determine the critical mass necessary to manufacture said bomb.
Among other things, he was instructed to establish and manage a laboratory to carry out this task. And in 1943, chose the plateau of Los Alamos , in New Mexico.
“Oppenheimer held a position of immense responsibility and was pushed to the limit,” explains the historian specializing in nuclear weapons to BBC Mundo, Alex Wellerstein.
“He was involved in key decisions about the design of the atomic bombs, and was personally involved in the decisions about how they would be used these pumps; urged that they be used against cities and was on the committee that made decisions about where the bombs would be dropped exactly, ”he adds.
But later, Oppenheimer would repeatedly express his regret at the death of the thousands of victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Even two months after the bomb explosion, he resigned from his post. From 1947 until 1952 was an advisor to the United States Atomic Energy Commission from where he advocated for the international control of nuclear power to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and curb the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
In addition, he strongly opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb.
But their efforts were unsuccessful. Due to his controversial public statements – which he was joined by several enemies – his security credentials were withdrawn and his political influence was eventually stripped away.
“At the end of the decade of 1950 and early 1960, Oppenheimer was quite bitter and regretted many things. The area of his regret has always centered on these postwar failures. He regretted not having succeeded with his gun control ambitions and having been unable to stop the growth of large arsenals of several megatons ”, says Wellerstein.
After the explosion of the bombs, Oppenheimer would declare that the words of the Hindu sacred text Bhagavad Gita came to mind: “Now I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
Many historians have interpreted these words as a sentiment of guilt regarding his lethal creation. For others, like Wellerstein, it has more to do with amazement at something “beyond this world,” such as nuclear weapons.
However, Oppenheimer will always be remembered (and will know ) as the “father of the atomic bomb.”
2. Arthur Galston and Agent Orange:
American plant biologist and physiologist Arthur Galston never thought he was creating something that could be used as a weapon: the Orange agent.
His area of study focused on plant hormones and the effects of light on plant development.
He was there when he experimented with a plant growth regulator, called triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA). The scientist discovered that this component could stimulate the flowering of soybeans and make it grow more quickly.
However, he also warned that, if applied in excess, the compound it would cause the plant to lose its leaves.
But Galston’s findings were not reduced only to the plant world.
In the context of the Vietman War – occurred between the years 1955 and 1970 – other scientists used them to create the Agent Orange, a powerful herbicide that aimed to eliminate forests and crops that could be exploited by the Vietcong guerrilla.
Thus, since 1962 to 1970 US troops released approximately 20 million gallons of the herbicide to destroy crops and expose the positions and routes of movement of your enemies.
Given this, Galston was deeply affected and repeatedly alerted the authorities and the world of the enormous environmental damage that was causing agent orange. Then, he charged that the herbicide also posed a risk to humans.
The most dangerous component of Agent Orange is dioxin , a contaminant that can remain in the environment for decades and, among other things, can cause cancer, malformations in fetal development, infertility problems and attack the nervous and immune systems.
The warnings of Galston and other scientists led the United States government to order a toxicology study. In light of the results, the then president, Richard Nixon, ordered the arrest of the fumigation of Agent Orange.
Later, the biologist Vegetable would say: “I used to think that one could avoid getting involved in the antisocial consequences of science by simply not working on any project that could have evil or destructive ends. I have learned that things are not so simple and that almost any scientific finding can be perverted or deformed under social pressure. ”
He also assured that Agent Orange was “a misuse of science.”
“Science is destined to improve the lot of humanity, not to diminish it, and its use as a military weapon seemed inadvisable to me”, added.
3. Mikhail Kalashnikov, creator of the AK rifle – 47:
He was the designer of one of the most recognized weapons on the planet: the semi-automatic AK rifle – 47 .
On 1947, the Russian Mikhail Kalashnikov created this simple, resistant and reliable rifle that became the weapon of rigor of the Soviet armies and Russian, as well as dozens of other countries.
The AK – 47 was also a symbol of revolution around the world; was in action on the battlefields of Angola, Vietnam, Algeria and Afghanistan. He was also a companion of rebel armies in Latin America, such as the FARC and ELN in Colombia.
Palestinian groups used it frequently and there is a famous photo of Osama bin Laden flaunting the rifle with its characteristic curved magazine.
The relative simplicity of the design made it cheap to manufacture and easy to maintain on the battlefield. It became the most widely used assault rifle in the world and, according to calculations, accumulates more deaths than atomic bombs.
Although throughout his life Mikhail Kalashnikov expressed few remorse for his deadly invention – “I sleep soundly,” he once said -, shortly before his death he confessed that he had a “unbearable spiritual pain.”
In a letter to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church which he attended (which was leaked by Russian media a month after his death), said he felt responsible for the millions of deaths caused by his revolutionary rifle.
“My spiritual pain is unbearable. I keep asking myself the same insoluble question. If my rifle deprived people of life, could it be that I … a Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths? ”, he wondered.
“The longer I live,” he wrote, “the more this question sticks in my head and the more I wonder why the Lord allowed man the diabolical desires of envy, greed and aggression.”
4. Alfred Nobel and dynamite:
In December 1896, two young Swedish engineers had the surprise of their lives when they opened the will of their admired Alfred Nobel , who left them in charge of employing most of his fortune in order to create an entity to celebrate the advancement of humanity.
Following the teacher’s instructions, Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist gave life to the Nobel Foundation, which established annual awards for merit in physics, chemistry, medicine and physiology, literature, and world peace; to those in 1969 added the economy.
This last wish of Nobel is not random and has a compelling reason behind it. It is said that, in the twilight of his days, he was tormented by the idea of death and destruction that the application of his inventions had generated.
And that is why he decided to bequeath a large part of his fortune to the creation of the foundation.
Decades earlier, the Swedish chemist, engineer, writer and inventor had created dynamite.
Born in the bed of a A family of engineers, Nobel worked with his father in the manufacture of explosives. But in 1864 lived a tragic experience that marked his life , when his younger brother and four other people were killed in an explosion of nitroglycerin.
Two years later, in 1866, Nobel developed a method that allowed the unstable liquid explosive to be handled safely. To reduce its volatility, he mixed nitroglycerin with an absorbent porous material, thus creating dynamite.
This invention brought immense wealth and fame to its inventor, and started a new era in construction… but also in destruction. Well, it did not take long for it to begin to be used for military purposes.
Thus, it was applied as an explosive filler in artillery shells and military demolition charges, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Nobel passed away on 10 from December to 1896 at his home in San Remo, Italy, having signed his final will that laid the foundations for what would become the most prestigious international award for the advancement of man.
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