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

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The challenge in writing a book on the bomb is trying to find the perfect match between the story and the details.

Drawing on extensive archival research, author Jennet Conant, one of Oppenheimer's first recruits, brings this fascinating chapter in history to life. But no one knew just how terrible this new weapon was. Some scientists had an idea (particularly Bohr and Szilard) but preventing the use of it after completion was too late - politically, the US had to use it; and only after using it, and only after some time, did everyone understand what vast terror they unleashed. Jonathan’s book on the Manhattan Project is a unique one, sharing the original story of how things went down and featuring some exciting graphic illustrations to make sure readers imagine this historical event much better. The Ultimate Graphic History Novel

About the Author

Conant had little patience with critics of the use of the bomb against Japan. Although their influence was slight, he worried about the consequences if they undermined public support for Truman's decision. One harmful result might be that the chances for arms control would be diminished. Conant believed that only if the American people clearly doemonstrated their willingness to use their atomic arsenal would hte Soviet Union be amenable to nuclear arms control agreements. Further, he feared that questions about the use of the bomb would influence teachers and students in the future in ways that distorted history. 'You may be inclined to dismiss all this talk (criticizing the use of the bomb) as representing only a small minority of the population, which I think it does,' Conant told a friend in September 1946. 'However, this type of sentimentalism, for so I regard it, is bound to have a great deal of influence on the next generation. The type of person who goes in to teaching, particularly school teaching, will be influenced a great deal by this type of argument." The information in this book contains a collection of writings, documents, statistics, and more that were written down during the Manhattan Project. Like most of the other books on this topic, the author starts at the beginning, in 1939. This is the year of the birth of the Manhattan Project. Cynthia tells the story chronologically and explains how the project eventually reached to employ around 130.000 people. Information That Was Once Secret The book is very TMI about everything and everybody. The other factor is that the events he covers have largely faded from memory. I think it’s safe to say that it would not get published today.

Biographies of many important people and their accomplishments were discussed at great length: Ernest Rutherford (early atomic model), Marie Curie (radioactivity), Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg (quantum mechanics and electrons), Enrico Fermi (neutron bombardment, nuclear chain reactions, and atomic fission), J. Robert Oppenheimer (the theoretical physicist who put it all together at Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico and the Manhattan Project), and many others who all contributed to the field of nuclear energy, theoretical physics, and quantum theory. Even the psychological profiles of these individuals was discussed: With such profound insights into the philosophy of science available, it is a shame that the author chose instead to grasp at lofty sentiments about the nature of war and weapons of mass destruction. Of course, in a book about the atom bomb, such discussions are obligatory, and it's logical for this to be the focus of the philosophical discussions in the book. But the position that the author chose to argue - specifically, Bohr's conviction that the surest guarantee of peace in a post-nuclear world would have been for the USA to share its knowledge with Russia - is frankly nonsensical, and in historical hindsight, mistaken. This book was both my most fascinating and tortuous read in recent memory, it's like trying to take a drink from a firehose. This collection goes from the straightforward style to some of the more comprehensive writings on physics to get a good range of opinions and thoughts. You will find information such as Einstein's letter to President Roosevelt about the possibility of how these weapons of mass destruction could destroy the world. The information on the soviet spies who infiltrated the project and were able to have their atomic bomb soon after the war.The challenge in writing a book on the bomb is not a dearth of material, but the volumes of books already on the subject. There are biographies on many of the key figures involved in making the bomb. There are histories that talk about specific stories or events that occurred during the story. Scientific manuals talking about the technical aspect of making the bomb alone could fill a small library. This does not include the studies discussing the affects after the bomb was dropped. Magisterial is a word that I don't often find cause to use with the books I read. Here it is completely apt but then so is the word exhausting.

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