The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Ratings23
Average rating4.5
Here for the first time, in rich, human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan.
Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly -- or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity there was a span of hardly more than twenty-five years. What began as merely an interesting speculative problem in physics grew into the Manhattan Project, and then into the Bomb with frightening rapidity, while scientists known only to their peers -- Szilard, Teller, Oppenheimer, Bohr, Meitner, Fermi, Lawrence, and Von Neumann -- stepped from their ivory towers into the limelight.
[source][1]
[1]: http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Making_of_the_Atomic_Bomb.html?id=aSgFMMNQ6G4C
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Exceptionally good book, but the title is misleading: It's much more about the making of modern atomic physics, and how that precipitated the bomb. They don't get to making an actual bomb until more than half way into the book. Still super interesting though and full of great side-stories about Bohr, Meitner, Einstein, you name ‘em. Should be required reading for anyone interested in physics.
There was quite a bit of what I was looking for, a history of the engineering and science behind the development of the first fission bomb. But it was wrapped in too much about the histories, relationships and personalities of the scientists involved. Add in the politics of the time and ethical debates and over a third of the book was about stuff I wasn't interested in.
It was deeply researched and very thorough but I wanted to know more about how such large organizations were created so fast, how the shear scale of the processing plants was managed, what new engineering techniques had to be developed to allow laboratory methods to be run as a giant industries. It was a good book, just not what I wanted. I'm glad I read it.
This book takes a far broader approach to the topic than I was expecting. The breadth of scope helped me understand WWII society in a much more nuanced way; how different things are when our world devotes itself to destruction. I recommend wholeheartedly.
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