In 1977, a Princeton student designed a detailed guide on how to build an atomic bomb as part of a university project. What began as a scientific paper ultimately led to an FBI intervention and garnered significant media attention.
Who is behind the project? John Aristotle Phillips was 21 years old when he worked on an academic project in 1977. He was a physics student at Princeton University. As reported by the magazine Xataka, he designed the blueprints for a functioning atomic bomb as part of an assignment. A project that became known as “How to Build Your Own Atomic Bomb.”
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From the Library to the Table: The Design of an Atomic Bomb
How did the project come about? Phillips wanted to stand out from the crowd. His professor, Freeman Dyson, had assigned the task of developing a difficult project to test one’s own capabilities. Phillips seized the opportunity to propose something unusual: he wanted to build an atomic bomb using public knowledge.
Using materials from the US government, including unclassified reports and technical documents, as well as information from the Princeton library, he gathered everything he needed to understand how an atomic bomb works. After months of research, he compiled a 40-page document. A detailed blueprint for an atomic bomb. The nuclear scientist Dr. Frank Chilton described the design as “practically guaranteed to work.”
How did the project become a success? Phillips went beyond pure research and even contacted the chemical company DuPont to find out what materials would be required for the implosion necessary to trigger a nuclear chain reaction. With a simple inquiry and without any classified knowledge, he obtained information that allowed him to identify the crucial explosive for his bomb.
Although he lacked uranium or plutonium, which would have been necessary for actual functionality, the theoretical plan could have created a bomb that was about one-third as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb. To illustrate his theory, he even built a non-working model in his room.
A Knowledge-driven Project with Consequences
What happened after the submission of the paper? After John Phillips submitted his work, he received the highest grade, an “A.” However, the project quickly spread by word of mouth and drew the attention of professionals and the media. The media (via Google News) reported on his project and Phillips became known as “The A-Bomb Kid.”
Coverage increased when alleged Pakistani scientists offered him money in exchange for the paper. By this time, his project had already been confiscated. Due to the widespread attention, ultimately the FBI and the CIA took notice of the case. They confiscated both Phillips’s work and the model, classifying the contained information as confidential.
What happened to Phillips? After the incidents, Phillips did not become a scientist but rather an anti-nuclear activist. He used his fame to raise awareness of the dangers of nuclear power. In his book “Mushroom: The True Story of the A-Bomb Kid” (ISBN: 978-0688033514), published in 1979 with David Michaelis, he shared his experiences.
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