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Einstein atomic bomb letter to be auctioned
The note helped persuade President Roosevelt the US should develop the world's first nuclear weapons.
Written to President Franklin D Roosevelt, in 1939, the note warns that Nazi Germany might be able to create such weapons - and suggests the US begins its own atomic programme. It was actually written by Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard with help from other scientists - but it was signed by Einstein because his status as one of the greatest scientific figures of all time made it more likely to get the president's attention. Dated 2 August 1939 - just weeks before the Second World War was declared - it warns that Germany may have worked out the science to create a nuclear bomb.
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