4 million USD for Albert Einstein's famous letter about the atomic bomb
Jun 26, 2024
Washington [US], June 26: The letter written by Mr. Einstein and his colleague Leo Szilard in August 1939 warned that the Nazi government was actively supporting nuclear research and could create "extremely powerful bombs", The Guardian reported on June 25. .
"Sir, recent research in nuclear physics shows that uranium can be turned into a new and important source of energy. Setting up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium may be feasible , and this also leads to the process of making bombs," the letter said.
Mr. Einstein urged Washington to develop a nuclear program and the late President Roosevelt then established a committee, the predecessor of the Manhattan Project - through which the US built the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki of Japan.
An early version of the letter is kept at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in New York. The second version is signed and shorter, owned by the late Microsoft Company co-founder Paul Allen . This is also the letter that will be auctioned in September, with an estimated value of 4 million USD.
Mr. Allen bought the letter back in 2002 for $2.1 million. The Wall Street Journal reported that it was the first historical document from the 20th century whose value reached $1 million. Mr. Einstein's letter will be auctioned by Christie's Company.
"Mr. Allen knew it was one of the most important documents in 20th century history, and not something simply to hang in an office," said Christie's President of the Americas, Marc Porter. .
Previously, physicist Einstein's surviving document detailing the theory of relativity was sold for $13 million in 2021.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
