Part 4/10:
In light of this impending failure, Oppenheimer greenlit the work of Seth Neddermeyer’s team, who explored an alternative means of achieving criticality through implosion. The principle hinged on rapidly compressing a subcritical mass of plutonium to increase its density, thereby enabling a nuclear chain reaction. However, early tests faced significant issues, often yielding mangled remnants of steel from their explosive experiments.
The process resembled a futile attempt to squeeze water through a hand—a chaotic, uncontrolled explosion yielding unsatisfactory results. Many scientists were skeptical; Richard Feynman, for one, bluntly described the approach as flawed.