The Manhattan Project: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb by Its Creators, Eyewitnesses and Historians: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb in the Words of Its Creators, Eyewitnesses, and Historians

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by Susan Williams In the 1940s, the brightest minds of the United States and Nazi Germany raced to West Africa with a single mission: to secure the essential ingredient of the atomic bomb — and to make sure nobody saw them doing it Bernstein, Barton J. (1990). "An Analysis of 'Two Cultures': Writing about the Making and the Using of the Atomic Bombs". The Public Historian. 12 (2): 83–107. doi: 10.2307/3378693. JSTOR 3378693. The People. Rhodes introduces about 500 characters, but follows in essential detail the 50-70 scientists and military brass and politicians whose names are forever linked to the history of the atomic bomb. The construction of the A-bomb is as much the ultimate conflagration of personal fear and desire of Jewish and expat German scientists, as it is a story about physics. This overlay of humanity perfectly balances what would otherwise be a tough scientific read. Knowing that he'd need the right man to run the operation, he hired Oppenheimer, who was a man born to wealthy Jewish parents and used to high society, to assemble the scientific team. Kunetka explores how these two men interacted and balanced the demands of their positions while working to develop the first atomic bomb.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a history book rare in its excellence, marvelously combining the elements of narrative history, rigorous scholarship (including author interviews), and technical writing. Even if you were terrible in physics – and I was beyond terrible, as my high school physics teacher would mournfully agree – you will be able to understand the science behind this most controversial of all inventions. Lise Meitner and Irène Joliot-Curie (daughter of Marie Curie), who laid the groundwork for the Manhattan Project from Europe The second third of the book describes how scientists came to the realization that fission is possible, using a chain reaction with neutrons. This portion of the book also describes the darkening of Europe due to the rise of the Nazis. Some of the book was devoted to the rise of Antisemitism in Germany, and the resultant flight of Jewish scientists out of the continent. This phase of the book is important, as it helps explain the number of Jewish scientists who worked on the atomic bomb.The fireball," writes Leona Marshall Libby, "expanded to three miles in diameter. Observers, all evacuated to 40 miles or more away, saw millions of gallons of [atoll] lagoon water, turned to steam, appear as a giant bubble. When the steam had evaporated, they saw that the island of Elugelab, where the bomb [building] had been, had vanished, vaporized also. In its place, a crater 1/2 mile deep and 2 miles wide had been torn in the reef." Amelia was the wife of the Austrian physicist Eugene Wigner. Wigner had emigrated to the United States and eventually found a teaching job at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He and Amelia met, and shortly thereafter, were married. Then she got ill. As told to Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Wigner recalled: The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a history book written by the American journalist and historian Richard Rhodes, first published by Simon & Schuster in 1987. The book won multiple awards, including Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. The narrative covers people and events from early 20th century discoveries leading to the science of nuclear fission, through the Manhattan Project and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were many people involved in this project. The books that we’re about to review include many names, events, secrets, and much more that may surprise you. The story is a broad one with many versions told by different people. However, this project wasn’t a secret for long and there is so much to discover about it after the time that has passed. Why Was the Manhattan Project Called That?

The historian of science Lawrence Badash writes positively about the book, but notes Rhodes' descriptions of sketchy biographies unconvincing: "'human interest' material of questionable accuracy becomes psycho-babble", though he notes that "the book is accurate and the characters are well drawn". He concludes that "Altogether Rhodes has produced the most readable, exciting and just book to date that covers both the bomb and the preceding four decades". [4] But at Hiroshima and Nagasaki the "city of the dead" is finally transformed from a metaphor into a literal reality.” There's some fantastic profiles of truly great scientists in this book and it's not one of those pop science or psuedo science books where every person is some quirky character described by a few flippant physical characteristics. I probably learned the most about Fermi from this book; he is an absolute giant. I came across Robert Wilson's take on Fermi in another book.Bohr is featured heavily in the first third of this book, which traces a clear and clean history of physics, that somehow not only avoids being soporific, but is actually quite fascinating. Bohr's contributions to atomic research included the Bohr model of the atom, the liquid-drop model of the nucleus, and identification of Uranium 235, which are all things I now vaguely understand thanks to Rhodes’s explanatory abilities. I did notice Rhodes really had a fetish with Szilard and that seemingly translated into his next book Dark Sun about the Hydrogen bomb. There's no doubt Szilard was also a giant in this period but he was slightly more auxiliary when it came to these atomic bombs. I wonder if maybe the attention lathered on Szilard would have been better focused on some of the other dozen scientists who had such big contributions but perhaps Szilard's ego demands the attention.

Rhodes does an excellent job highlighting the various scientific advancements that finally led to the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb. For a historical context to explain the urgency felt by the participants, he explains the history of the Jewish people in Europe and the rise of Hitler in Germany. Adding on is the fear that Germany would develop the bomb first and later that Japan would refuse to surrender, producing a constant pressure to continue.

What's New

The neutron, a particle with nearly the same mass as the positively charged proton that until 1932 was the sole certain component of the atomic nucleus, had no electric charge, which meant it could pass through the surrounding electrical barrier and enter into the nucleus. The neutron would open the atomic nucleus to examination. It might even be a way to force the nucleus to give up some of its enormous energy.”