The Making of the Atomic Bomb

by Richard Rhodes

Paperback, 928 pages

English language

Published Aug. 1, 1995 by Simon & Schuster.

ISBN:: 978-0-684-81378-3

(23 reviews)

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]: books.google.com/books/about/The_Making_of_the_Atomic_Bomb.html?id=aSgFMMNQ6G4C

13 editions

Matt Lehrer reviewed The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes

Fascinating path to the nuclear age

5 stars

I could not put this down, I absolutely loved it. It does not celebrate the bomb itself but it does celebrate the process. And the process was fascinating.

Rhodes does a wonderful job of explaining the science that made the bomb possible, the step by step exploration of the atom from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th. It would be worth it just for that.

The leadership examples and the risk taking of so many people involved would also make the book worthwhile.

I could not put this down, I absolutely loved it. It does not celebrate the bomb itself but it does celebrate the process. And the process was fascinating.

The leadership examples and the risk taking of so many people involved would also make the book worthwhile.

But the story is also fantastic. The ways genius manifested and the ways so many of the smartest people of their generation worked together on an enormous project. The fears of those people and the ways they kept such a big secret. The fact that they had one test of one of the two bomb designs before Hiroshima and that the Hiroshima bomb was already on its way across the Pacific before the test was completed. And that the Nagasaki bomb was a very different design, untested.

All fascinating. Some very funny parts. Lots of deep thinking about science and morality.

I highlighted 119 sections if you want to skim. You should put this next on your list, though. One of my all time favorites.

– originally written 2021-06-30

Daryl reviewed The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes

Review of 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Wow. An utterly stunning read that is both illuminating and horrifying in providing a breathtaking level of historical insight and context into the scientific, political, and wartime events (across both wars) that led to the making and dropping of the first atomic bombs.

An absolute brick of a read, clocking in at almost a solid week of full-time reading (30+ hours) but the best thing I've read all year, and fully deserving of its Pulitzer.

Required reading for the 21st century I'd argue.

Kaslov reviewed The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes

Review of 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Incredibly thorough. This book features everything, the science, history of every single discovery and person related to nuclear physics, the politics, the Manhattan project, the dropping of the bomb, testimonies of the people it was dropped on (I compliment the author for adding this in, it makes sure to make the point that this is not just a bigger bomb), and polices after the A-bomb was dropped to the first test of the H-bomb. I have to say this book tested my capacity for retaining so much information, but I somehow succeeded and learned a great deal, but I admit I will have to reread the part about discovery and creation of plutonium... I see what the book Crystal Fire was inspired by, and the same warning I gave in that review still applies (even more so in this book).

ThomD reviewed The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (Touchstone Books)

Review of 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Easily one of the best non-fiction/historical books I've ever read. It took me a long time to finish the book because I'd read a section and then I'd spend some time studying the science behind the material. If you pay attention you should come away with a decent understanding of how (and why) the original bombs worked.

Rhodes doesn't shy away from the human and philosophical aspects of creating the bomb. In particular a fair amount of space is dedicated to the personal struggles of the scientists: they knew exactly what they were building and how their inventions would be used. If was fascinating to learn of the ways they were able to rationalize their choices.

cherold reviewed The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes

Review of 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book begins rather oddly, in that it doesn't bother with scene setting or context or anything. Instead, it just starts with one of the myriad scientists who traipse through the book.

But once it gets started, the book tells the marvelously compelling story of how scientists created the most horrific weapon the world has known.

The book is primarily focused on science. Atomic science is explained pretty well, and it's fairly easy to follow along with the ins and outs of the program. The people involved are described in enough detail to get a sense of how the fitted into the vast enterprise.

The book also attempts to put the destruction itself in perspective. War is terrible, and even before Hiroshima, cities were decimated, civilian men, women, and children horribly killed. But while the author spends time to tell us some of the lowlights of war, he spends a larger section on the aftermath of Hiroshima, page after page of brutal descriptions from survivors that are difficult to read.

He also gets into the politics, shows how the decisions to drop the bomb was made and why some thought it was necessary and some thought it was not. Although he spends far less time on this than on the building of the bomb itself.

At the very end, he spends a few pages giving his take on the bomb, what it means, what should be done, and none of that is especially interesting. But he wrote a very long book on the subject so I'm sure he felt he had something to say about it. But it's just a few pages, so I'll cut him slack on that.

Overall, an excellent history of a momentous project.

Bastian Greshake Tzovaras reviewed The making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes

Review of 'The making of the atomic bomb' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This is a rather long compendium about the history of the atomic bomb, starting off with Planck and Einstein and ending with Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I enjoyed reading most parts, but at times the physics get a bit lengthy for my taste. Unfortunately the style is quite dry for a good part, making it a hard read. Best enjoyed in small doses.