Tom Friedman's latest book, on energy technology, is "Hot, Flat and Crowded." His description of his plan:
As usual, Friedman likes to make up facts to go with his argument. The Manhattan Project was enormous, employing well over 100,000 people. Here are some details:
- 10 locations, including a skyscraper, and 5000 employees in Manhattan alone. (NY Times, Oct. 30, 2007)
- The Uranium processing facility caused Oak Ridge, Tennessee to grow into the fifth largest city in Tennessee with 75,000 people. The complex contained a 350-bed hospital, 55 miles of railroad, 13 supermarkets, nine drug stores and a complete school system. (more here)
- At one point Oak Ridge plants were consuming 1/6th of the electrical power produced in the U.S., more than New York City. (Wikipedia)
- Total expenditures: $2 billion in 1945 (approximately $24 billion in current dollars) (Brookings study)
So, uh, did you just know all this stuff off the top of your head?
Posted by: ElZo | November 12, 2008 at 10:12 PM
I remember hearing about the size of the Manhattan Project budget on PBS. Google did the rest.
Posted by: Archit Shah | November 12, 2008 at 10:50 PM