Atomic Bomb WI

ATOMIC BOMBS ARE FAKE! IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF THE JEWS!

Oh, wait ... I'm not Eleven11. Anyway.

I've often read about how Germany could have developed the atomic bomb, but many things kept them back, not in the least improper mathematics on the part of their physicists. IIRC they got an equation wrong or something, and thus proclaimed atomic weaponry as "impossible."

WI that was circulated out into the mathematical community? Simply put, what if Germany and everyone else (US, UK, USSR, etc.) thought that atomic bombs were mathematically impossible, and thus fantasy? I suppose some things in WWII would have progressed differently, such as the Japanese surrender, but what else would have changed?

I don't think it'd be plausible for people to believe atomic weaponry to be impossible for forever, so WI mathematicians fix the equations later on ITTL? So, let's say that instead of in the 1940s, Manhattan Project-esque programs spring up in the 1950s or early 1960s? Would the later development change anything, and how much would depend on who got the bomb first?
 
IIRC, the UK also came to the conclusion of impossibility IOTL, and didn't have enough resources to spare anyway.
 

CalBear

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The difficulty is that you had far too many very bright folks working on the bomb. The German error was as much related to what they believed was the only (or at least only doable) enrichment process as with the rather striking error in the equasions.

A second problem with the German effort was that, by & large, it was very much the second team. There were several fairly brilliant men, but compared to the Manhattan group, the Reich was seriously understrength.

Lastly, you have the Nazi reluctance to accept the science of the thing. The leaders, most of whom were dumb as doorknobs, dismissed the idea as "Jewish science", something beheath the Reich's best efforts.

In all it's hard to imagine that everyone makes the same mistake as the Reich.

However, to the actual main question...

As to the major differences in WW II, the biggest is obviously Japan. No nukes mean the Allies invade, with the bloody mess that would entail. The main thrust, however, might go straight to Honshu, and not Kyushu as initially planned (there was a growing amount of concern about just how well the Japanese had fortified the southern end of the Island). Without the quick Japanese collapse, you probably see the USSR taking all of Korea (I think that Hokkaido might be a bit beyond the Red Army's reach, although that would depend on how fast Honshu fell & if the Allies got bogged down.)

The major differences would be immediately post war. Without the Bomb, you will likely not see the massive demobilization of OTL. The Cold War would probably be a lot hotter without the spectre of Nuclear weapons.
 
War between USA and USSR sometime would be a possibility.

Also without nuclear weapons ever being used in warfare and thus the full extent of their horror is not unveiled to the world, its much more likely that nuclear war would occur.
 
I do remember reading some time ago (i think it was in a book called Hitler's Scientiests or some such) it was Heisenberg (sp) who (weather on purpose or not) miscalculated the amount of fissile materials. hope that helps

(but of course this WI is OTL because your right Atomic bombs are a CONSIPIRACY!!)
 
Actually, Heisenberg "confirmed" the miscalculation after the British had already confirmed that a bomb was possible. However, due to the fact that the war was already going on (this was the summer of 1941), the British discovery was not relayed to Germany.

You can't really "leak" anything into the scientific community at the time because the war had effectively shut the doors among all the combatants. It's part of the reason why Germany was reluctant to employ nerve gas -- they simply assumed that the Allies weren't saying anything because they had made the same discovery. So it was with the Allies and nuclear weapons. They couldn't be absolutely sure Heisenberg had ruled them out until after the war, when he and other German scientists were interrogated. All signs pointed to that, but there was no way to be certain.
 
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