The Making of the Atomic Bomb

WithanewIntroductionbytheauthor,thetwenty-fifthanniversaryeditionofthePulitzerPrize-winningepicabouthowtheatomicbombcametobe.Inrich,human,political,andscientificdetail,hereisthecompletestoryofthenuclearbomb.Fewgreatdiscoverieshaveevolvedsoswiftly--orhavebeensomisunderstood.FromthetheoreticaldiscussionsofnuclearenergytothebrightglareofTrinitytherewasaspanofhardlymorethantwenty-fiveyears.WhatbeganmerelyasaninterestingspeculativeprobleminphysicsgrewintotheManhattanProject,andthenintotheBombwithfrighteningrapidity,whilescientistsknownonlytotheirpeers--Szilard,Teller,Oppenheimer,Bohr,Meitner,Fermi,Lawrence,andvonNeumann--steppedfromtheirivorytowersintothelimelight.RichardRhodestakesusonthatjourneystep-by-step,minutebyminute,andgivesusthedefinitivestoryofman'smostawesomediscoveryandinvention."TheMakingoftheAtomicBomb"isatonceanarrativetourdeforceandadocumentaspowerfulasitssubject.