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

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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

However, there are a few interesting bits that have only come to light in the 25 years since TMOTAB was published, like the stories of the three independent Russian spies within Los Alamos. I also dug the bottom-up perspectives the Atomic Heritage Foundation discovered of factory workers from Oak Ridge and Hanford. This city, which didn’t exist before 1942, ended up with over 75,000 people living there by the end of the war. These included women who were scientists, doctors, administrators, and construction workers who operated behind the scenes to make the atomic bomb a reality. However, many didn't know what they were working on as the government didn't tell them. Most didn't even realize they were doing this to help build an atomic bomb until "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima. As soon as nuclear fission was discovered - only in December of 1938 - nuclear scientists all started frantic research projects, discovering a vast source of energy, new elements, and more potent radioactive sources. With this, the thought of an atomic bomb occurred to everyone - and Leo Szilard convinced the US to launch a secret program to get the bomb before Hitler did. The scientists new that the bomb was inevitable - but thought that governments would use it to end all wars, because they would realize that this could destroy the world.Launched in 1942, the Manhattan Project was a well-funded, secret effort by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada to develop an atomic bomb before the Nazis. The results—the bombs named "Little Boy" and "Fat Man"—were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. Moreover, Wigner’s remark – “we are all doomed” – is thematically appropriate, because this is not simply a book about a scientific achievement, but about the terrible consequences of those achievements. If that is not enough to whet your appetite for this magnificent book, then consider that much of the work performed by these scientists was performed by Jewish scientists in central Europe in the late 1920s and 30s. They lived and worked in the shadow of the growing menace of fascism and National Socialism. Part of their story – and Rhodes’ story – involves amazing acts of heroism, that enabled important contributors to avoid the terrors of the Nazi Death Camps.

There were many people involved in this project. The books that we’re about to review include many names, events, secrets, and much more that may surprise you. The story is a broad one with many versions told by different people. However, this project wasn’t a secret for long and there is so much to discover about it after the time that has passed. Why Was the Manhattan Project Called That? The People. Rhodes introduces about 500 characters, but follows in essential detail the 50-70 scientists and military brass and politicians whose names are forever linked to the history of the atomic bomb. The construction of the A-bomb is as much the ultimate conflagration of personal fear and desire of Jewish and expat German scientists, as it is a story about physics. This overlay of humanity perfectly balances what would otherwise be a tough scientific read.

Bottom line: not recommended for pleasure reading, unless you really like physics, but not a horrible textbook. It is a fascinating book which necessarily ends on a horrible note. The bomb was dropped. At the same time, I wonder, that if it was not dropped, would we have learned how dangerous it was? Bohr was right: having the bomb created an escalating nuclear arms race. But it also has stopped large-scale wars and bids for world domination via military means. We still have wars - but the nuclear arsenal is a deterrent of large wars. But how dangerous is it, achieving peace while sitting on a pile of destruction? The challenge in writing a book on the bomb is trying to find the perfect match between the story and the details. The Manhattan Project: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb in the Words of its Creators, Eyewitnesses, and Historians I can’t summarize this book. Doing so would be equal to reviewing the history of the papacy from Christ to present.

The period of discovery from Rutherford discovering the atomic nucleus to the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki could certainly be put forward as the greatest scientific period in human history. The community and fraternity of scientists across the globe preceding the Great Wars is also heartening and certainly a golden era I imagine all scientists wish we could return to. At first, it was called the Manhattan Engineer District, but it was layered shortened to the name we all know now. We will leave the rest up to the 10 books about the Manhattan Projects that will teach you all you need to know.This book was both my most fascinating and tortuous read in recent memory, it's like trying to take a drink from a firehose.

For many readers, this way of learning about the atomic bomb is much more exciting than many others. The book is filled with many short boxes of texts next to thrilling and simple illustrations, making sure you never get bored and learn at the same time. Jonathan is a real storyteller, and his book is a true graphic novel masterpiece. MM: The editor of this book is head of the Atomic Heritage Foundation, dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Age. This compendium includes writings by and about many of the key figures responsible for the project. 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. The fireball," writes Leona Marshall Libby, "expanded to three miles in diameter. Observers, all evacuated to 40 miles or more away, saw millions of gallons of [atoll] lagoon water, turned to steam, appear as a giant bubble. When the steam had evaporated, they saw that the island of Elugelab, where the bomb [building] had been, had vanished, vaporized also. In its place, a crater 1/2 mile deep and 2 miles wide had been torn in the reef." 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:

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A crew member of his wrote,however,that he could not get those few minutes of horror out of his mind,if he lived a hundred years. The pilot who commanded the mission was Colonel Paul W.Tibbets,a name I remember with distaste.For him,the mission was "impersonal." He proudly named the plane,"The Enola Gay" after his mother. There are thousands of books on the Atomic Bomb, but only one has earned a Pulitzer Prize in History. This book is a collection of primary documents and eyewitness accounts from the earliest warnings of the danger of Germany building the bomb to more recent statements about the continuing threats of nuclear proliferation. What is striking in this collection is that Kelly has "stitched" these together in a way that provides a more or less seamless narrative of the Manhatten Project and its aftermath and yet speaks with a vividness because of the eyewitness character of this narrative. This book tells their story for the first time. Using diaries, interviews, and previously classified documents, Denise Kiernan brings these women to life and reveals their enduring legacy.