The making of the atomic bomb

Description

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

First Sentence

In London, where Southampton Row passes Russell Square, across from the British Museum in Bloomsbury, Leo Szilard waited irritably one gray Depression morning for the stoplight to change.

Description

Traces the development of the atomic bomb from Leo Szilard's concept through the drama of the race to build a workable device to the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima.

Subjects

Other Editions

• The making of the atomic bombSimon & Schuster Paperbacks2012-01-01
• The making of the atomic bombHardcoverSimon & Schuster1986-01-01
• The making of the atomic bombSimon & Schuster1988-01-01
• The making of the atomic bombPenguin1988-01-01
• The making of the atomic bombPenguin1988-01-01
• The Making of the Atomic BombPaperbackSimon & Schuster1995-08-01