continued to extend through time . Each time we see an image of the effects of the Project , we witness the birth of a strange attractor that could lead us to new consciousness about the atomic age . Popular representations of atomic energy suggest that the Manhattan Project does not die .
The Project itself is a strange attractor that resulted from and determined the historical system in which it operated : no one can accurately measure what the world would be today had the U . S . atomic bomb project failed . Certain people and places further served as smaller versions of strange attractors within the Project system . For example , General Leslie R . Groves headed the military program and he chose J . Robert Oppenheimer as the scientific director ; had anyone else been selected , the Manhattan Project could have , in theory , been an entirely different endeavor . In June 2015 , the Atomic Heritage Foundation in Washington , D . C . held a weekend event to celebrate the 70 th anniversary of the Manhattan Project and to recognize its upcoming dedication as a National Historical Park . During that time , I had the pleasure of watching a panel of experts , including Oppenheimer ’ s grandson and Groves ’ granddaughter , hold a good natured debate about which person — Groves or Oppenheimer — was indispensible to successfully completing the Project . The debate ended in a stalemate when neither side could definitely say the other side ’ s man was not critical to the timely development of the atomic bomb . If any one part of the process of convergence that brought Oppenheimer and Groves together had varied , perhaps our current existence might be entirely different — but , as with Lorenz ’ s weather , one cannot absolutely know about other outcomes .
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