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The cover of The Making of the Atomic Bomb

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Richard Rhodes, 1986

See how scientific discovery became an industrial weapon, why its use was never inevitable, and how the atomic bomb transformed sovereignty, war, and human survival.

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12 parts, about 36 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Argues that discovering fission was likely but building and using this bomb was a series of choices, not destiny
  • Walks you through the physics and the factories step by step, so chain reactions, isotopes and implosion finally make sense
  • Carries the story from laboratory benches to survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, keeping the human cost beside the triumph

Who it is for

  • Science readers who want nuclear physics explained through history
  • Students weighing the decision to bomb Japan
  • People following today's debates on nuclear weapons

What the summary covers

  1. Discovery was not destiny2 min
  2. A chain reaction imagined before it could be built3 min
  3. From slow neutrons to fission4 min
  4. Refugee warnings become state policy5 min
  5. A controlled fire under Chicago2 min
  6. Factories, laboratories, and design failure5 min
  7. Bohr's alternative to secret sovereignty2 min
  8. War had already crossed the civilian threshold2 min
  9. A new president enters a divided process3 min
  10. Trinity removes one uncertainty3 min
  11. Hiroshima: the weapon becomes human experience3 min
  12. Nagasaki, Soviet entry, and surrender2 min

Recommended by

  • Luis W. AlvarezNobel laureate in physics
    A great book. Mr. Rhodes has done a beautiful job, and I don't see how anyone can ever top it.
  • Eugene P. WignerNobel laureate in physics
    I hope the book will find a wide readership.
  • Emilio SegrèNobel laureate in physics
    I found The Making of the Atomic Bomb well written, interesting and one of the best in the great family of books on the subject.
  • Glenn T. SeaborgNobel laureate in chemistry
    Mr. Rhodes gives careful attention to the role which chemists played in developing the bomb
  • I. I. RabiNobel laureate in physics
    The Making of the Atomic Bomb is an epic worthy of Milton

About the author

  • Richard RhodesAmerican historian, journalist and author of fiction and nonfiction
    • Born in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1937 (born July 4, 1937)
    • His mother died by suicide in 1938; he and his older brother were raised by their father, a railroad boilermaker
    • Yale University on a full scholarship, graduated with honors in 1959
    • His only science training before the book was one Yale course; he found the early nuclear physics papers clearly written
    • Grants from the Ford, Guggenheim, MacArthur and Alfred P. Sloan foundations
    • Visiting scholar at Harvard, MIT and Stanford
    • Author of 23 books by the time of the Wikipedia entry

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