---
product_id: 1566953
title: "The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition"
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---

# Pulitzer & 2 major awards winner 800 pages of exhaustive research Clear, elegant science explained The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition

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## Summary

> 📖 Unlock the untold saga of science, power & history—don’t just read it, live it!

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- **What is this?** The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition
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## Key Features

- • **Epic 800-Page Narrative:** Dive deep into the science, politics, and personalities that shaped the Atomic Age.
- • **Science Made Accessible:** Complex nuclear physics and history explained with clarity and gripping storytelling.
- • **Award-Winning Masterpiece:** Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award & Critics Circle winner—history’s gold standard.
- • **Thought-Provoking & Human:** Explore the moral dilemmas and human drama behind the world-changing invention.
- • **Timeless Historical Insight:** From quantum breakthroughs to WWII’s secret race, a panoramic view you can’t miss.

## Overview

The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, 800-page definitive history that masterfully blends rigorous scientific explanation with gripping biographical storytelling. Richard Rhodes chronicles the discovery of nuclear fission, the Manhattan Project, and the profound political and moral consequences of the atomic bomb, making this a timeless classic essential for understanding the intersection of science, war, and humanity.

## Description

**Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award** The definitive history of nuclear weapons— from the turn-of-the-century discovery of nuclear energy to J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project—this epic work details the science, the people, and the sociopolitical realities that led to the development of the atomic bomb. This sweeping account begins in the 19th century, with the discovery of nuclear fission, and continues to World War Two and the Americans’ race to beat Hitler’s Nazis. That competition launched the Manhattan Project and the nearly overnight construction of a vast military-industrial complex that culminated in the fateful dropping of the first bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Reading like a character-driven suspense novel, the book introduces the players in this saga of physics, politics, and human psychology—from FDR and Einstein to the visionary scientists who pioneered quantum theory and the application of thermonuclear fission, including Planck, Szilard, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Fermi, Teller, Meitner, von Neumann, and Lawrence. From nuclear power’s earliest foreshadowing in the work of H.G. Wells to the bright glare of Trinity at Alamogordo and the arms race of the Cold War, this dread invention forever changed the course of human history, and The Making of The Atomic Bom b provides a panoramic backdrop for that story. Richard Rhodes’s ability to craft compelling biographical portraits is matched only by his rigorous scholarship. Told in rich human, political, and scientific detail that any reader can follow, The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a thought-provoking and masterful work.

Review: Still the definitive history; exhaustive, epic and utterly gripping - When this book was published 25 years ago it was immediately recognized as a true classic, a history that was unlikely to be ever surpassed for the sheer amount of detail in it, the amazing breadth of the narrative and the spellbinding language and almost epic style that Rhodes brought in describing an earth-shattering event in human history. 25 years later this fact still rings true and it is inconceivable that anything of this caliber can ever be written. The new anniversary edition has a poignant foreword by Rhodes in which he traces the history of the book, examines our nuclear world and makes a heartfelt and yet commonsense plea for the ultimate abolition of these weapons of mass destruction. There are three things about the book which make it a timeless classic. The first is the sheer, staggering amount of meticulous research and attention to detail that Rhodes brings to his narrative. One simply marvels at the wealth of sources he must have plumbed and the time he must have spent in making sense of them, the mountains of material he must have assimilated and sorted and the number of people he must have interviewed. This book stands as a model of exhaustive research on any topic. A related aspect is the immense breadth and sweep of events, people and places that Rhodes covers. He paints on a canvas that's expansive enough to accommodate everything from quantum mechanics to the human psyche. In this book he doesn't just give us the details of the first atomic bombs but also holds forth on, among other things: the fascinating political and military personalities of the era (FDR, Truman, LeMay), a history of physics in the first half of the twentieth century, ruminations on war and peace including accounts and interpretations of key events during both World Wars, an account of anti-Semitism in Europe, the beginnings of "Big Science" in the United States, the psychological aspects of scientific personality, the moral calculus of bombing, the political history of Europe between the wars and the detailed engineering that went into building weapons of war. There are sections on each of these topics and more, and even the digressions are deep and riveting enough to temporarily immerse the reader into an alternative topic (for instance, a six page account on Jewish history and persecution transports the reader). Long paragraphs of direct quotation allow the characters to speak in their own words. What is remarkable is that Rhodes makes the material utterly gripping in spite of the extraordinarily broad coverage and the level of detail and holds the reader's attention from beginning to end through an 800 page work. This is an achievement in itself. The second aspect of this book that makes it such a fantastic read is the elegant, clear explanation of the science. It is no easy feat to describe the work of Rutherford and Oppenheimer on nuclear physics while at the same time dissecting the political manipulations of Churchill and Roosevelt. Yet Rhodes accomplishes a beautifully simplified (but not oversimplified) version of the momentous scientific ideas developed during the early twentieth century. He seems to have read the original papers on the neutron, radioactive transformations and nuclear fission and these sources are thoroughly documented in the extensive bibliography; key experiments and theories unravel into clear explanations supported by quotes from the original participants. In fact the first half of the book would be a first-rate introduction to the development of atomic physics and the life and times of brilliant scientists like Fermi, Heisenberg, Rutherford, Bohr, Chadwick, Einstein and the Curies who contributed to this discipline. These remarkable scientists are really at the center of Rhodes's account and their personalities and work come alive under his pen. This was physics during its most glorious age of discovery and nobody knew just how enormously it would impact politics and society; indeed, one of Rhodes's goals is to demonstrate how even the purest of science can have the most far-reaching practical and social ramifications. The work of all these scientists is set in revealing detail against the backdrop of growing anti-Semitism and political turmoil in Europe, and their subsequent emigration to the United States and England constitutes a very important chapter in this story. But the introduction of nuclear energy was primarily an act of science, and Rhodes excels in describing this science in patient and marvelous detail. Finally, what ensures this book's place in history is Rhodes's mesmerizing prose, of the kind employed by the select few historians and novelists like Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Herodotus who opened our eyes to world-changing historical events and to the human condition. In Rhodes's hands the making of the atomic bomb turns into an epic tale of triumph and tragedy akin to the Greek tragedies or the Mahabharata. He brings a novelist's eye to his characters and portrays them as actors in a heroic drama of victory and woe; a great example is the unforgettable opening paragraph of the book in which the physicist Leo Szilard first thinks of a chain reaction while waiting for a traffic light in London. The leading lights of the narrative are Niels Bohr and Robert Oppenheimer, brilliant men who also saw deep into the future. And there are many others, human beings laid bare in all their glorious folly, frailty and greatness, struggling to comprehend both natural and human forces. There are no saints and sinners here, only complex humans struggling to understand and control forces that are sometimes beyond their immediate comprehension, often with unintended consequences. Rhodes relentlessly drives home the point that man's greatest gifts can also be the cause of his greatest evils. He makes it clear that science, politics and human nature are inextricably linked and you cannot perturb one without perturbing the other. Taming this combustible mix will be a struggle that we will always grapple with. I first read "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" about fifteen years ago and consider it the most influential book I have ever come across. I am a scientist and the book completely changed my understanding of the inextricable relationship between science and society. Since then at any given moment I have about three copies of the book on my shelf, ready to be lent or gifted to anyone I feel might be interested. I consider it one of the best chronicles ever written about what human beings are capable of, both as creators and destroyers. In the making of the atomic bomb are lessons for all of humanity.
Review: Global Warming of the Worst Kind - There is very little exaggeration in saying that the state of atomic physics in 1900 was hardly more advanced than the theories of ancient Greek atomists, Isaac Newton's whimsical speculations, or, for that matter, the elementary physics experiments we conducted in high school in 1965. Atomic physics is a grimly fascinating branch of science; so much has been written about its apocalyptic outcomes that we overlook its rapid evolution. In a mere half century the byproducts of atomic physics would become the dominant factor of international relations and planetary survival. "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" is the story of that rapid evolution. Richard Rhodes has captured the personalities and the technical breakthroughs of this remarkable five decade span, but he has also captured the times and the political upheavals that accelerated atomic research as much as the cyclotron ultimately would. Atomic breakthroughs might have occurred earlier, but the philosopher Michael Polanyi, cited in chapter two, notes the necessary confluence of the scientific community with what is already known. The nineteenth century had been the age of chemistry, not atoms, But by 1900 at least some in the scientific community [a lonely few, at first] were ready for the next step. Atoms seemed to inspire two opposite human reactions: breathtaking imagination, on the one hand, and a backbreaking attention to detail. In 1914 H.G.Wells had written "The World Set Free," a description of an imaginary atomic war between two alliances eerily similar to the alignment of World War I. One of its readers proves to be a pivotal player in this work, the eventual atomic physicist Leo Szilard. The Hungarian theoretical physicist was a creature of the lab but with an instinctive sense of European destiny, which troubled him greatly. Szilard was the first of a number of central European physicists who understood that atomic theory and application was a dangerous new force that required political nurturing and protection. The era of the Third Reich moved atomic research west, where it resided in England for several years until the conditions of WW II moved Szilard, Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller and others to the academic communities of the United States. The American military showed little interest in atomic weaponry until well after hostilities had commenced. Rhodes examines the incipient atomic programs of Germany, Japan, and Russia, the last being the most advanced. Atomic physics is not for the faint of heart, in terms of grasping at least an elementary sense of the experiments, implications, discoveries made and principles involved. Rhodes gives this process the detail it deserves; my sense is that a committed reader can follow the general outline of atomic development. In this respect the reader is in something of the same place as the scientists themselves, who were not always sure precisely what their results were telling them. I will say that the chapter "The New World" makes nuclear fission and its mechanics conceptually and physically understandable. This is the account of the first controlled nuclear reaction in 1942 in Chicago. I happened to read this work just prior to the Japanese earthquake/tsunami of 2011; the frantic efforts on the Japanese coast to submerge the reactor rods with fresh water made eminent sense after following the process detailed by Rhodes. It is worth noting--with some amazement--that less than three years prior to the tactical use of atomic bombs, science had its first verifiable evidence that atomic theory actually worked. The tactical implications of the Chicago testing still bedeviled the scientists at Los Alamos, New Mexico, who needed a triggering mechanism, a cyclotron in a suitcase, so to speak. In his biography "Racing for the Bomb," General Leslie Groves, when faced with multiple options, tended toward developing multiple schemas, a strategy which ultimately carried the day. The two bombs dropped on August 6 and 9, 1945, were triggered in significantly different way. In one case the bomb was detonated by the force of conventional implosion, while the second employed a "radioactive bullet" fired into nuclear fuel. From a technological standpoint, the odds against all three of America's first atomic bombs successfully detonating [Trinity, Hiroshima, Nagasaki] were staggering. But atomic development has always been much more than technology. Rhodes notes the discomfiture of the scientific community at the time, particularly after Germany was emasculated as a potential nuclear power. He is neither an advocate nor a prohibitionist on the matter of nuclear weaponry, but his seamless narrative and his photos from the bomb sites give the reader a stark crash course into what a dangerous business this is. He carries his story into the 1950's and the successful testing of hydrogen bombs, exponentially more powerful than anything detonated in the 1940's. The inclusion of philosopher Polanyi into this work is exceptionally fitting, because it is hard to conceive of any other branch of science which raises more ethical questions. Nothing in astronomy, biology or mathematics comes close to the potential life altering implications of atomic science. Rhodes' impartial positioning in this history has the effect of frightening off no reader of any political or military persuasion. That he is a consummate man of letters whose style is arresting and compelling carries the reader through the painstaking intricacies of the atomic process. I am an older reader who remembers the school house atomic bomb air raid drills. As I watch the generations behind me, I wonder if many people in their 20's or 30's understand the nature and destruction of nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are not the equivalent of a Chernobyl or a crippled Japanese power plant. They are instant life altering instruments whose impact is global and extending for millennia. I can think of no danger--including global warming--more critical than a citizenry that underestimates the impact of the atomic situation in the present day. I can think of no better conscious-raising than turning to Richard Rhodes.

## Features

- Used Book in Good Condition

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #15,255 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in Nuclear Weapons & Warfare History (Books) #4 in Nuclear Physics (Books) #27 in World War II History (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 4,183 Reviews |

## Images

![The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61KLAA1jwQL.jpg)

## Available Options

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Still the definitive history; exhaustive, epic and utterly gripping
*by A***R on August 14, 2012*

When this book was published 25 years ago it was immediately recognized as a true classic, a history that was unlikely to be ever surpassed for the sheer amount of detail in it, the amazing breadth of the narrative and the spellbinding language and almost epic style that Rhodes brought in describing an earth-shattering event in human history. 25 years later this fact still rings true and it is inconceivable that anything of this caliber can ever be written. The new anniversary edition has a poignant foreword by Rhodes in which he traces the history of the book, examines our nuclear world and makes a heartfelt and yet commonsense plea for the ultimate abolition of these weapons of mass destruction. There are three things about the book which make it a timeless classic. The first is the sheer, staggering amount of meticulous research and attention to detail that Rhodes brings to his narrative. One simply marvels at the wealth of sources he must have plumbed and the time he must have spent in making sense of them, the mountains of material he must have assimilated and sorted and the number of people he must have interviewed. This book stands as a model of exhaustive research on any topic. A related aspect is the immense breadth and sweep of events, people and places that Rhodes covers. He paints on a canvas that's expansive enough to accommodate everything from quantum mechanics to the human psyche. In this book he doesn't just give us the details of the first atomic bombs but also holds forth on, among other things: the fascinating political and military personalities of the era (FDR, Truman, LeMay), a history of physics in the first half of the twentieth century, ruminations on war and peace including accounts and interpretations of key events during both World Wars, an account of anti-Semitism in Europe, the beginnings of "Big Science" in the United States, the psychological aspects of scientific personality, the moral calculus of bombing, the political history of Europe between the wars and the detailed engineering that went into building weapons of war. There are sections on each of these topics and more, and even the digressions are deep and riveting enough to temporarily immerse the reader into an alternative topic (for instance, a six page account on Jewish history and persecution transports the reader). Long paragraphs of direct quotation allow the characters to speak in their own words. What is remarkable is that Rhodes makes the material utterly gripping in spite of the extraordinarily broad coverage and the level of detail and holds the reader's attention from beginning to end through an 800 page work. This is an achievement in itself. The second aspect of this book that makes it such a fantastic read is the elegant, clear explanation of the science. It is no easy feat to describe the work of Rutherford and Oppenheimer on nuclear physics while at the same time dissecting the political manipulations of Churchill and Roosevelt. Yet Rhodes accomplishes a beautifully simplified (but not oversimplified) version of the momentous scientific ideas developed during the early twentieth century. He seems to have read the original papers on the neutron, radioactive transformations and nuclear fission and these sources are thoroughly documented in the extensive bibliography; key experiments and theories unravel into clear explanations supported by quotes from the original participants. In fact the first half of the book would be a first-rate introduction to the development of atomic physics and the life and times of brilliant scientists like Fermi, Heisenberg, Rutherford, Bohr, Chadwick, Einstein and the Curies who contributed to this discipline. These remarkable scientists are really at the center of Rhodes's account and their personalities and work come alive under his pen. This was physics during its most glorious age of discovery and nobody knew just how enormously it would impact politics and society; indeed, one of Rhodes's goals is to demonstrate how even the purest of science can have the most far-reaching practical and social ramifications. The work of all these scientists is set in revealing detail against the backdrop of growing anti-Semitism and political turmoil in Europe, and their subsequent emigration to the United States and England constitutes a very important chapter in this story. But the introduction of nuclear energy was primarily an act of science, and Rhodes excels in describing this science in patient and marvelous detail. Finally, what ensures this book's place in history is Rhodes's mesmerizing prose, of the kind employed by the select few historians and novelists like Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Herodotus who opened our eyes to world-changing historical events and to the human condition. In Rhodes's hands the making of the atomic bomb turns into an epic tale of triumph and tragedy akin to the Greek tragedies or the Mahabharata. He brings a novelist's eye to his characters and portrays them as actors in a heroic drama of victory and woe; a great example is the unforgettable opening paragraph of the book in which the physicist Leo Szilard first thinks of a chain reaction while waiting for a traffic light in London. The leading lights of the narrative are Niels Bohr and Robert Oppenheimer, brilliant men who also saw deep into the future. And there are many others, human beings laid bare in all their glorious folly, frailty and greatness, struggling to comprehend both natural and human forces. There are no saints and sinners here, only complex humans struggling to understand and control forces that are sometimes beyond their immediate comprehension, often with unintended consequences. Rhodes relentlessly drives home the point that man's greatest gifts can also be the cause of his greatest evils. He makes it clear that science, politics and human nature are inextricably linked and you cannot perturb one without perturbing the other. Taming this combustible mix will be a struggle that we will always grapple with. I first read "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" about fifteen years ago and consider it the most influential book I have ever come across. I am a scientist and the book completely changed my understanding of the inextricable relationship between science and society. Since then at any given moment I have about three copies of the book on my shelf, ready to be lent or gifted to anyone I feel might be interested. I consider it one of the best chronicles ever written about what human beings are capable of, both as creators and destroyers. In the making of the atomic bomb are lessons for all of humanity.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Global Warming of the Worst Kind
*by T***S on June 25, 2011*

There is very little exaggeration in saying that the state of atomic physics in 1900 was hardly more advanced than the theories of ancient Greek atomists, Isaac Newton's whimsical speculations, or, for that matter, the elementary physics experiments we conducted in high school in 1965. Atomic physics is a grimly fascinating branch of science; so much has been written about its apocalyptic outcomes that we overlook its rapid evolution. In a mere half century the byproducts of atomic physics would become the dominant factor of international relations and planetary survival. "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" is the story of that rapid evolution. Richard Rhodes has captured the personalities and the technical breakthroughs of this remarkable five decade span, but he has also captured the times and the political upheavals that accelerated atomic research as much as the cyclotron ultimately would. Atomic breakthroughs might have occurred earlier, but the philosopher Michael Polanyi, cited in chapter two, notes the necessary confluence of the scientific community with what is already known. The nineteenth century had been the age of chemistry, not atoms, But by 1900 at least some in the scientific community [a lonely few, at first] were ready for the next step. Atoms seemed to inspire two opposite human reactions: breathtaking imagination, on the one hand, and a backbreaking attention to detail. In 1914 H.G.Wells had written "The World Set Free," a description of an imaginary atomic war between two alliances eerily similar to the alignment of World War I. One of its readers proves to be a pivotal player in this work, the eventual atomic physicist Leo Szilard. The Hungarian theoretical physicist was a creature of the lab but with an instinctive sense of European destiny, which troubled him greatly. Szilard was the first of a number of central European physicists who understood that atomic theory and application was a dangerous new force that required political nurturing and protection. The era of the Third Reich moved atomic research west, where it resided in England for several years until the conditions of WW II moved Szilard, Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller and others to the academic communities of the United States. The American military showed little interest in atomic weaponry until well after hostilities had commenced. Rhodes examines the incipient atomic programs of Germany, Japan, and Russia, the last being the most advanced. Atomic physics is not for the faint of heart, in terms of grasping at least an elementary sense of the experiments, implications, discoveries made and principles involved. Rhodes gives this process the detail it deserves; my sense is that a committed reader can follow the general outline of atomic development. In this respect the reader is in something of the same place as the scientists themselves, who were not always sure precisely what their results were telling them. I will say that the chapter "The New World" makes nuclear fission and its mechanics conceptually and physically understandable. This is the account of the first controlled nuclear reaction in 1942 in Chicago. I happened to read this work just prior to the Japanese earthquake/tsunami of 2011; the frantic efforts on the Japanese coast to submerge the reactor rods with fresh water made eminent sense after following the process detailed by Rhodes. It is worth noting--with some amazement--that less than three years prior to the tactical use of atomic bombs, science had its first verifiable evidence that atomic theory actually worked. The tactical implications of the Chicago testing still bedeviled the scientists at Los Alamos, New Mexico, who needed a triggering mechanism, a cyclotron in a suitcase, so to speak. In his biography "Racing for the Bomb," General Leslie Groves, when faced with multiple options, tended toward developing multiple schemas, a strategy which ultimately carried the day. The two bombs dropped on August 6 and 9, 1945, were triggered in significantly different way. In one case the bomb was detonated by the force of conventional implosion, while the second employed a "radioactive bullet" fired into nuclear fuel. From a technological standpoint, the odds against all three of America's first atomic bombs successfully detonating [Trinity, Hiroshima, Nagasaki] were staggering. But atomic development has always been much more than technology. Rhodes notes the discomfiture of the scientific community at the time, particularly after Germany was emasculated as a potential nuclear power. He is neither an advocate nor a prohibitionist on the matter of nuclear weaponry, but his seamless narrative and his photos from the bomb sites give the reader a stark crash course into what a dangerous business this is. He carries his story into the 1950's and the successful testing of hydrogen bombs, exponentially more powerful than anything detonated in the 1940's. The inclusion of philosopher Polanyi into this work is exceptionally fitting, because it is hard to conceive of any other branch of science which raises more ethical questions. Nothing in astronomy, biology or mathematics comes close to the potential life altering implications of atomic science. Rhodes' impartial positioning in this history has the effect of frightening off no reader of any political or military persuasion. That he is a consummate man of letters whose style is arresting and compelling carries the reader through the painstaking intricacies of the atomic process. I am an older reader who remembers the school house atomic bomb air raid drills. As I watch the generations behind me, I wonder if many people in their 20's or 30's understand the nature and destruction of nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are not the equivalent of a Chernobyl or a crippled Japanese power plant. They are instant life altering instruments whose impact is global and extending for millennia. I can think of no danger--including global warming--more critical than a citizenry that underestimates the impact of the atomic situation in the present day. I can think of no better conscious-raising than turning to Richard Rhodes.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Deep Look at a Project That Changed History
*by T***Z on July 13, 2017*

An incredibly comprehensive look at the Manhattan Project, but also much more: we learn the state of physics research from the late 19th century onwards, meet the experimentalists and theorists across Europe and America (and to a lesser degree, Japan) tackling understanding of the atom, watch the slow migration of this knowledge from the scientific community into politics and military, and understand the rationalizations that freed those involved to create the most destructive device ever seen. The story arcs from a small group of collegial scientists haphazardly devising experiments probing the atom to a multi-billion dollar industrial enterprise. The reader is reminded how slowly information travelled in the pre-internet era; researchers eagerly await journals to hear about progress abroad. As the science becomes more complex and rigorous, it’s also harder to follow. Even though the technical details are at a relatively high level, I eventually found myself skimming through these passages; I couldn’t understand each breakthrough deeply enough to justify intensive reading. Likewise, the wider world also mostly ignored atomic research until World War 2 was in full swing, but the scientists were very aware of politics. The horrors of chemical warfare in the first World War were driven by scientific innovation, with a German researcher saying: “a scientist belongs to the world in times of peace but to his country in times of war”. Mustard gas attacks were cruel, but the author’s extensive descriptions of injuries from conventional weaponry prevent the reader from making simplistic judgments about right and wrong in war. It sometimes seems like the bomb won’t be developed at all. Despite accelerating research progress, it took a long time before government fully committed to funding. Efforts like the development of radar sucked up resources because they were more readily understandable and less risky. Even after the project gains full steam, the president and other top leadership seemly oddly unaware of the implications of the weapon. Ironically, Nazi discrimination against Jews forced many prominent minds to migrate from Germany to the USA, handicapping the regime’s ability to compete in the nuclear race. Politics fueled the motivation of many scientists, but in very different ways: some simply wanted to defeat the German war machine while others idealistically hoped to build a weapon that would end all war. There’s an extensive cast of characters in the book, but the closest to a lead is Leo Szilard, the Hungarian physicist who first conceived of the nuclear chain reaction. He convinced Einstein to lobby President Roosevelt to fund development of the weapon and later became politically active when control of the technology was moved from the researchers to the military. Other scientists move in and out of the story, with Fermi, Bohr, and Oppenheimer playing particularly large roles. There are many interesting subplots following the friendships and rivalries of scientists, Fermi’s eager Americanization, competition for Nobel prizes, etc. The completion of the bomb is quickly followed by the euphoria of a successful test, and then detonation at Hiroshima. The operation is run soberly and with precision. Page after page describing the aftermath follow. I have read about the effects of the bomb before, but the author is rightly unrelenting providing extensive gruesome details. As if speaking for the reader, the author quotes a 5 year old Japanese girl “The more you hear the sadder the stories get”. This is a long book and certainly not quick-reading; I definitely can’t recommend it to everyone. I learned a lot and was reminded of other cases of technology slowly moving from an idea into mainstream application. The project shaped the modern world, and success is ultimately sobering and depressing.

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