How did humans know that atomic bomb could be a thing?

Question

Like we all who built it first and all, but how did the humans know that such a weapon could be possible to build with so much capability? Was there research from older scientists and physicists that led to the idea that such a thing was possible and only needed to be built?

In: 985

Answer 1

Here is the story of Lise Meitner discussing the topic:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lise_Meitner#Nuclear_fission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lise_Meitner#Nuclear_fission)