The Manhatten Project's production of the first atomic bomb in time to end the war with Japan in 1945 is an intrinsically fascinating story with a long list of chroniclers. Richard Rhodes rightly earned a Pulitzer Prize for his exhaustive 1986 account, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb." Rhodes brings to life the scientific race and military gamble to win the Second World War, leaving an uncertain legacy for the future. This account stands out for his ability to provide insight into both the technical aspects of building a bomb and the psycological makeup of the men who built it.

Rhodes tackles the story in three parts. The first traces the scientific research prior to the Second World War that made the bomb feasible. The second part recounts the formation of the Manhatten Project and its industrial-scale effort to build a bomb for the Allies faster than its German and Japanese competitors. The final section addresses the military preparations to employ the atomic bomb and the political debate over its use. Throughout, Rhodes keeps the spotlight on the interaction of the many very fascinating people who played important roles in the creation of the bomb, from the intense intellectual rivalries of the scientists to the way Army General Leslie Groves bulldozed his way through wartime red tape and shortages to get the Manhatten Project first cut at the necessary and often exotic resources it needed.

Rhodes does not avoid the implications of the atomic bomb. The sheer ferocity of its destructive capability brought into question its utility in any but the most unlimited military conflict. This theme is more fully explored in Rhodes' two later works on this subject, but interested readers will find much to chew on in this volume.

This book is very highly recommended to students of the history of warfare and those interested in the mechanics of the nuclear weapon.

I am an amateur scholar of the Manhattan Project, its consequences and the weapons programmes of other nations. I have approx. 3 metres of book shelf space devoted these topics. This volume is Rhodes' masterwork, the best, most comprehensive book on the subject. Pief Panofsky thought so, too.

This book makes an excellent basis for a college-level course on the history of the Bomb, or as reading for a course on WWII.

This book is impressive in more ways than its obvious thickness (886 pages). Exhaustively researched and well documented, its narrative is more characteristic of a novel than a scientific history. Notables such as historian Lawrence Badash and physicist Sir Solly Zuckerman praise the work for both its technical accuracy and readability, itself not an insignificant accomplishment and Rhodes was recognized by a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I traces the evolution of nuclear physics by scientists in Europe and describes the cultural climate in which they worked. Part II explains how and why research shifted to the United States and the Manhattan Project. Part III discusses the Trinity test, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the postwar development of the hydrogen bomb. A pervasive theme developed throughout the pages and discussed in an extensive epilogue, is the moral question of the bomb's destructive power.

The evolution of nuclear physics was the initiative of European physicists in Copenhagen, Guttenberg, and Cambridge. Marie Curie discovered radiation in 1898. Ernest Rutherford (considered the father of nuclear physics) in 1910 theorized the energy of the atom was in the nucleus. Neils Bohr explained the structure of the atom in 1922. Otto Hahn split the atom in 1938. The path of discovery wends its way through the politics of the first half of the twentieth century and the appearance of the "total-war machine"(779) when. in WWI, the mass annihilation of armies became possible by gas and the machine gun. As WWII neared, the basic science of the nuclear bomb was understood.

When scientists warned FDR of the danger of the enemy acquiring the atom bomb, the United States embarked on the Manhattan Project, the largest industrial and engineering project ever undertaken in the history of mankind. Meanwhile, on the war front, aerial bombing of cities caused massive civilians casualties. The "total-war machine" now included noncombatants. To force the unconditional surrender of the Japanese Government and avoid the costly toll of lives from invading Japan, Truman authorized the use of the atomic bombs. Two designs were used: Little Boy, a uranium gun design, was dropped on Hiroshima and Fat Man, an implosion bomb, was dropped on Nagasaki. America's nuclear monopoly was short lived. In 1949 the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb, Joe I.

The implications of nuclear weapons as a "total-death machine" (779) are discussed in an extensive epilogue extolling the virtue of Neils Bohr and his idea of an "open world." If nuclear power was available to everyone, Bohr argues, no one would have a monopoly. Consequently there would be no need for an arms race. Others, such as Oppeheimer called for a World Government organization to oversee nuclear power.

While scientists recognized the implications of their destructive work, there was no moral consensus to force the issue during WWII. A collective morality was finally articulated well after the conclusion of the war when scientists argued that the hydrogen bomb was a weapon of genocide.

Rhodes has made a stellar contribution to history by bringing scientific facts, personalities and events together in one highly-readable volume. The tale of the bomb development is traced through sixty years of parallel threads, culminating in the final 2-year effort at Los Alamos. Rhodes has done a fabulous job of writing a book that pulls the reader to the last page.

Everyone should enjoy the tale. Historians should not fear this book: as I recall, the mathematics doesn't go deeper than e=mc2. Techies will find the giants of early 20th-century science to be readily accessible personalities. Mystery buffs will enjoy the telling - investigators follow clues, and small teasers are dropped in the readers' path to presage future events. The curious will find themselves informed.

In short, this book is what a National Book Award winner should be: absorbing, readable and informative.

I thought the book will just update my shaky and disparate knowledge on the subject which I have accumulated since high-school, university and other anecdotal sources - such as TV, newspapers, web, etc.
I was surprised to find myself unable to let this (huge) book down. It is a real page turner!
Rhodes has succeeded in blending the physics, chemistry, bibliography and history in a manner that is accessible to any layperson and he did it in a way that is captivating as well as informative and full of suspense - like a detective story...
HIGHLY recommended !

This presents a first rate history of the physics, at the layman's level, and the physicists of the early 20th century. Sadly much of the 2nd half of the book is given over to the political implications and the aftermath of bombing Japan. The first is simplistic and ideological, the second is hackneyed.
E.g, Rhodes takes it as revealed wisdom, that the U.S. should have published all the technology developed in the Manhattan project, and thereby avoided the Cold War. There is a (tenuous, to my mind) case to be made for that view, but Rhodes simply puts in the mouths of a couple of physicists as if it requires no further thought. "Our physicists want to share with the Russians, so we'll just give Stalin the bomb. He's not so bad."

THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB(1986) is an epic work, covering the 45 years leading up to the first atomic bombs; and then, more briefly, the 10 years after, with the delivery of the first thermonuclear(hydrogen) bombs.

The author, Richard Rhodes, starts slowly and somewhat cumbersomely, with the early history of the unraveling of the structure of the atom, interspersed with stories of the leading scientists involved in the research. All the great names are there; Rutherford, Bohr, Einstein, Lawrence, Fermi, Szilard... then Oppenheimer, Teller, Ulam, and many others. At times the book becomes absolutely exciting - and if not for the slow beginning, and anachronistic epilogue, this very long work would rate 5 stars.

As for the anachronistic epilogue, Rhodes should take the advice he quotes Teller giving on page 770:

"There is a time for scientists and movie stars and people who have flown the Atlantic to restrain their opinions lest they be taken more seriously than they should be"

What I refer to here is Rhodes end assertion that "scientists" are the preeminent transnational community, and somehow know better than "nation-states", and (in 1986) decisively challenge the power of the nation-state... but the general world science community's "The Sky is Falling" opinionated scenarios of first "New Ice Ages", then "Ozone Holes", finally followed by "Man-Made Catastrophic Global Warming", seem no more than the bleatings of idiots like Sean Penn or Jane Fonda, who simply wish for the fall of the world's greatest democracy(the USA), because they simply take themselves "too seriously".

... and how, may I ask, would Rhode's/Bohr's/Szilard's "Open World Government" lead by "all-knowing scientists" deal with Saddam Hussein, or today's Iran getting "The Bomb"? Openness and pacificity is what CAUSED Hitler and Imperial Japan to gain dominance, and for the bomb to have to be invented in the first place. The UN is a joke, and is just another enterprise that "takes itself too seriously", and wishes for the USA's demise, so it (like Sean Penn and Jane Fonda) can feel more important.

... yet this book (if not the epilogue) is now more relevant than ever - because, if nothing else, it helps explain that Iran IS CAPABLE of achieving the bomb in the next few years - and they have said that they WILL USE IT to destroy you know who.

In a Numerical Analysis class at SDSU in 1982 (in which I received a B+), I saw the mathematical understanding of a fellow student from "Persia" (Iran), who was the quickest thinking person I'd ever seen (and who screwed up the grade curve enough to stop me from getting an A in the class), and it scares me to think that this guy is back in Iran helping Ahmadinejad get THE BOMB.

Read this one. It has that wonderful and rare convergence of a fantastic story, great science, and distinguished writing and storytelling. Richard Rhodes learned a lot for this, then distilled it down, synthesized the information, and made it fascinating. I don't have a single complaint, it's just great. Just read it again for the first time in twenty years. Only "tickling the dragon's tail" came back, which is dropping a slug of U235 thru a hole in another similar mass, an early experiment.

I had been looking for a complete history of the making of the atomic bomb for many years. Imagine my pleasure at discovering this Pulitzer Prize winning tome on the budget rack at my local book store. Most books on this subject focus on only one aspect, the scientists, the science, Groves but this book brilliantly covers all aspects of the making of the bomb. Even more fascinating was the development of the theories and discoveries which led the leading scientists of the day to the understanding that the splitting of the atom and the awesome release of power that this would engender, was even possible. At over 900 pages you might think that this read would be tedious, but it is impossible to put this book down.

It's not what I thought it would be but I'm struggling to come up with a suitable title. "Fusion - Epiphany to Actuality - The Lead-Up to the Atomic Bomb" is about the best I can do. It should have stopped at the first critical mass.

The actual 'Making' happened after the theory/experimentation, which is this book's primary focus. The actual 'making' was what I was primarily interested in learning about - Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, etc., where the gadget was actually 'made'. Incredibly very short-shrift is given to this despite the length of the book.

"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" is remarkable in it's own right. But while we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover I thought we might at least have a reasonable chance at judging the topic by its title. Apparently not.

It's not what I thought it would be but I'm struggling to come up with a suitable title. "Fusion - Epiphany to Actuality - The Lead-Up to the Atomic Bomb" is about the best I can do. It should have stopped at the first critical mass.

The actual 'Making' happened after the theory/experimentation, which is this book's primary focus. The actual 'making' was what I was primarily interested in learning about - Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, etc., where the gadget was actually 'made'. Incredibly very short-shrift is given to this despite the length of the book.

"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" is remarkable in it's own right. But while we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover I thought we might at least have a reasonable chance at judging the topic by its title. Apparently not.

awesome read! though it is many pages long, it is pretty easy to read, and it is very detailed. the pictures in the book do an excellent job showing the damage. the personal accounts of the survivors of the bombs are so moving and really make you think.

I love World War II history! I've also lived in Richland, Washington, that is Hanford, where the plutonium was produced. Many the time, I've driven out across the Reservation, and seen what this book talks about. I'm also an avid science buff. Richard Rhodes puts it all together. Over and over again, for me, he fills in the blanks. For the first time, I think I can now say, I truly understand atomic energy and how it works. Thank you, Mr. Rhodes! WWII history fan? -- without THIS information, I don't think you have the whole picture. Very inspiring, gut-wrenching, soul-twisting, fascinating, mind-boggling, full of twists and turns, this is a must read. For a guy like me, it was the perfect Christmas gift -- I gave it to myself!!

What makes this book so incredibly exceptional is how Rhodes introduces the reader to each of the key players. You find yourself truly caring about these incredible minds and, as a result, fully understanding and empathizing why these men would pursue such a destructive path. The moment for me that sums it up is just after the first reactor has been tested--the world's first man-made, controlled nuclear chain reaction. As a reader, you anticipate this moment and are cheering with the scientists when the experiment proves successful. Szillard and Fermi are sitting together after the rest of the scientists and military men have left the room and Szillard, the man who fought for most of his adult life to make the dream of a nuclear reaction a reality, says to Fermi: "today will be remembered as one of the blackest in human history." Wow. What a book!

What makes this book so incredibly exceptional is how Rhodes introduces the reader to each of the key players. You find yourself truly caring about these incredible minds and, as a result, fully understanding and empathizing why these men would pursue such a destructive path. The moment for me that sums it up is just after the first reactor has been tested--the world's first man-made, controlled nuclear chain reaction. As a reader, you anticipate this moment and are cheering with the scientists when the experiment proves successful. Szillard and Fermi are sitting together after the rest of the scientists and military men have left the room and Szillard, the man who fought for most of his adult life to make the dream of a nuclear reaction a reality, says to Fermi: "today will be remembered as one of the blackest in human history." Wow. What a book!

Coming in at a hefty 788 pages, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes is not for the faint of heart. And, if you are like me, and your college or high school physics days are over 20 years in the past, you will struggle through parts of this book, particularly in the early stages when Rhodes takes you through the discoveries in sub-atomic research. BUT, the rewards for those that persevere are tremendous. The book lays out in wonderful detail the key personalities, the important developments that made nuclear fission a possibility, and the U.S. wartime effort that brought it all together.
The term "Manhattan Project" has become synonomous with a huge National effort. This book gives that term true meaning as it describes the almost incomprehensibly large U.S. commitment of resources in the pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The scale of the construction at Las Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hansford will amaze the careful reader.
The difficulties of producing fissile materiel--U235 or P239--are particularly useful for those individuals engaged in nuclear counterproliferation efforts.
The author spends a bit of time examining how the atomic bomb would come to reshape world diplomacy and future conflict and how certain individuals attempted to persuade Roosevelt and Truman to use this event to devise a "new world order." In my opinion this aspect, although an interesting & necessary dimension, increasingly seems to detract from the main focus of the book.
There is much to be learned from the leadership of Brigadier General Leslie Groves and Dr. Robert Oppenheimer as they led a team of diverse, eccletic and brilliant scientists along multiple paths to converge on a single objective.
Don't miss the great story of the Allied sabotage of the Norwegian Heavy Water plant--there should be a movie made about this raid!
Highly Recommended.

Coming in at a hefty 788 pages, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes is not for the faint of heart. And, if you are like me, and your college or high school physics days are over 20 years in the past, you will struggle through parts of this book, particularly in the early stages when Rhodes takes you through the discoveries in sub-atomic research. BUT, the rewards for those that persevere are tremendous. The book lays out in wonderful detail the key personalities, the important developments that made nuclear fission a possibility, and the U.S. wartime effort that brought it all together.
The term "Manhattan Project" has become synonomous with a huge National effort. This book gives that term true meaning as it describes the almost incomprehensibly large U.S. commitment of resources in the pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The scale of the construction at Las Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hansford will amaze the careful reader.
The difficulties of producing fissile materiel--U235 or P239--are particularly useful for those individuals engaged in nuclear counterproliferation efforts.
The author spends a bit of time examining how the atomic bomb would come to reshape world diplomacy and future conflict and how certain individuals attempted to persuade Roosevelt and Truman to use this event to devise a "new world order." In my opinion this aspect, although an interesting & necessary dimension, increasingly seems to detract from the main focus of the book.
There is much to be learned from the leadership of Brigadier General Leslie Groves and Dr. Robert Oppenheimer as they led a team of diverse, eccletic and brilliant scientists along multiple paths to converge on a single objective.
Don't miss the great story of the Allied sabotage of the Norwegian Heavy Water plant--there should be a movie made about this raid!
Highly Recommended.

Agree with most reviewers here - this is a case study on writing books about real life and topics of high importance.
However I'd give it 5 stars if it managed to cover similar ground in fewer pages. Some of the political history drags on - and the author is clearly reluctant to be opinionated about political figures. Also, some of the interpretations about characters who were key influences perhaps need to be corroborated by reading other sources.
However an excellent read. Clearly a benchmark for budding journalist-authors.

Agree with most reviewers here - this is a case study on writing books about real life and topics of high importance.
However I'd give it 5 stars if it managed to cover similar ground in fewer pages. Some of the political history drags on - and the author is clearly reluctant to be opinionated about political figures. Also, some of the interpretations about characters who were key influences perhaps need to be corroborated by reading other sources.
However an excellent read. Clearly a benchmark for budding journalist-authors.

One of the best books I've read in a long time. Rhodes covers not just the historical side of the story, but lucidly explains the science behind the nuclear physics and the development of nuclear weapons. One soon sees that when many scientists said that keeping the discovery of nuclear fission secret was futile- because any thinking physicist would quickly arrive at the conclusion that a bomb was feasible- they were right. (Indeed, the first person to theorize about the possibility of thermonuclear weapons, i.e. the hydrogen bomb, was a Japanese military official!) I learned far more than I expected, and found the science, and the scientists, at least as interesting as the events themselves. Well-written and highly worth reading. I also recommend its companion volume, Dark Sun, about the development of the hydrogen bomb, and the Soviet weapons program.

One of the best books I've read in a long time. Rhodes covers not just the historical side of the story, but lucidly explains the science behind the nuclear physics and the development of nuclear weapons. One soon sees that when many scientists said that keeping the discovery of nuclear fission secret was futile- because any thinking physicist would quickly arrive at the conclusion that a bomb was feasible- they were right. (Indeed, the first person to theorize about the possibility of thermonuclear weapons, i.e. the hydrogen bomb, was a Japanese military official!) I learned far more than I expected, and found the science, and the scientists, at least as interesting as the events themselves. Well-written and highly worth reading. I also recommend its companion volume, Dark Sun, about the development of the hydrogen bomb, and the Soviet weapons program.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first (and hopefully the last) cities to be nuked. In particular, the eye-witness accounts of ground-zero Hiroshima at the end of this book were probably the most horrific things I have ever read, so wrenching that I don't want to give you an example (though I thought it was important to read). Scarier still are nuclear bombs available today that are 1000 times as potent as 'Little Boy'.

The book will probably be too technical and detailed for most people, though gracefully orchestrated. Even after dusting off my ancient college quantum mechanics, I couldn't keep up, but contented myself with the general technical flow of the Bomb's creation. I got to know icons such as Fermi, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Rutherford, Compton, and others, who had laws, principals, and 'effects' named after them in the text books I read in college on sub-atomics. They were remarkable set of people, extremely intelligent, and extremely human. Richard Rhodes does an excellent job of drawing the characters through the extensive technical and personal documentation he had access to. (It's always amazed me how much personal information becomes public for famous people.)

The book also brought to light the moral question of bombing civilians and cities. A lot of it went on even before the Bomb was dropped. In fact, 58 Japanese cities with a lot of flammable, wooden houses had been carpet-bombed before Hiroshima. They were actually running out of sites to bomb!

The thinking that went into the Bomb and the reasoning that went into why they dropped it were highly interesting and highly disturbing.

This is a great book, entirely worthy of its Pulitzer Prize.

I have little to add to the many excellent reviews of this great book, except to say that, with many mediocre books getting four and five stars, a rating of "only" five stars for a work of this magnitude is woefully inadequate. Buy it, read it, enjoy it, learn from it.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first (and hopefully the last) cities to be nuked. In particular, the eye-witness accounts of ground-zero Hiroshima at the end of this book were probably the most horrific things I have ever read, so wrenching that I don't want to give you an example (though I thought it was important to read). Scarier still are nuclear bombs available today that are 1000 times as potent as 'Little Boy'.

The book will probably be too technical and detailed for most people, though gracefully orchestrated. Even after dusting off my ancient college quantum mechanics, I couldn't keep up, but contented myself with the general technical flow of the Bomb's creation. I got to know icons such as Fermi, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Rutherford, Compton, and others, who had laws, principals, and 'effects' named after them in the text books I read in college on sub-atomics. They were remarkable set of people, extremely intelligent, and extremely human. Richard Rhodes does an excellent job of drawing the characters through the extensive technical and personal documentation he had access to. (It's always amazed me how much personal information becomes public for famous people.)

The book also brought to light the moral question of bombing civilians and cities. A lot of it went on even before the Bomb was dropped. In fact, 58 Japanese cities with a lot of flammable, wooden houses had been carpet-bombed before Hiroshima. They were actually running out of sites to bomb!

The thinking that went into the Bomb and the reasoning that went into why they dropped it were highly interesting and highly disturbing.

This is a great book, entirely worthy of its Pulitzer Prize.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first (and hopefully the last) cities to be nuked. In particular, the eye-witness accounts of ground-zero Hiroshima at the end of this book were probably the most horrific things I have ever read, so wrenching that I don't want to give you an example (though I thought it was important to read). Scarier still are nuclear bombs available today that are 1000 times as potent as 'Little Boy'.

The book will be too technical for most people, though gracefully and efficiently presented. Even after dusting off my ancient college quantum mechanics, I couldn't keep up, but contented myself with the general technical flow of the Bomb's creation. I got to know icons such as Fermi, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Rutherford, Compton, and others, who had laws, principals, and 'effects' named after them in the text books I read. They were remarkable set of people, extremely intelligent, and extremely human. Richard Rhodes does an excellent job of drawing the characters through the extensive technical and personal documentation he had access to. (It's always amazed me how much personal information becomes public for famous people.)

The book also brought to light the moral question of bombing civilians and cities. A lot of it went on even before the Bomb was dropped. In fact, 58 Japanese cities had been carpet-bombed before Hiroshima. They were actually running out of sites to bomb!

The thinking that went into the bomb and the reasoning that went into why they dropped were highly interesting and highly disturbing.

This is a great book, entirely worthy of its Pulitzer Prize.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first (and hopefully the last) cities to be nuked. In particular, the eye-witness accounts of ground-zero Hiroshima at the end of this book were probably the most horrific things I have ever read, so wrenching that I don't want to give you an example (though I thought it was important to read). Scarier still are nuclear bombs available today that are 1000 times as potent as 'Little Boy'.

The book will probably be too technical and detailed for most people, though gracefully orchestrated. Even after dusting off my ancient college quantum mechanics, I couldn't keep up, but contented myself with the general technical flow of the Bomb's creation. I got to know icons such as Fermi, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Rutherford, Compton, and others, who had laws, principals, and 'effects' named after them in the text books I read. They were remarkable set of people, extremely intelligent, and extremely human. Richard Rhodes does an excellent job of drawing the characters through the extensive technical and personal documentation he had access to. (It's always amazed me how much personal information becomes public for famous people.)

The book also brought to light the moral question of bombing civilians and cities. A lot of it went on even before the Bomb was dropped. In fact, 58 Japanese cities with a lot of flammable, wooden houses had been carpet-bombed before Hiroshima. They were actually running out of sites to bomb!

The thinking that went into the bomb and the reasoning that went into why they dropped were highly interesting and highly disturbing.

This is a great book, entirely worthy of its Pulitzer Prize.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first (and hopefully the last) cities to be nuked. In particular, the eye-witness accounts of Hiroshima at the end of this book were probably the most horrific things I have ever read, so wrenching that I don't want to give you an example. Scarier still are nuclear bombs available today that are 1000 times as potent as 'Little Boy'.

The book will be too technical for most people. Even after dusting off my ancient college quantum mechanics, I couldn't keep up, but contented myself with the general technical flow of the Bomb's creation. I got to know icons such as Fermi, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Teller and others, who had laws, equations, and 'effects' named after them in the text books I read. They were remarkable set of people, extremely intelligent, and extremely human. Richard Rhodes does an excellent job of drawing the characters through the extensive technical and personal documentation he had access to. (It's always amazed me how much personal information becomes public for famous people.)

The book also brought to light the moral question of bombing civilians and cities. A lot of it went on even before the Bomb was dropped. In fact, 58 Japanese cities had been carpet-bombed before Hiroshima. They were actually running out of sites to bomb!

The thinking that went into the bomb and the reasoning that went into why they dropped were highly interesting and highly disturbing.

This is a great book, entirely worthy of its Pulitzer Prize.

It is hard to imagine how much effort likely went into the research and development for this book. Though its size may seem daunting at first glance, the story is gripping enough to make it read like butter. Fully entertaining for both the layperson and the scientist.

Marina Kushner
Author
The Truth About Caffeine: How Companies That Promote It Deceive Us and What We Can Do about It

It's a work of literature, it's a work of history, it's a work of engineering; Richard Rhodes wraps everything into one superb narrative. From Rutherford's canny experiments rigged with chewing gum and string, to Ernest Lawrence lighting a cigarette off an atomic test, nothing is beyond the author's grasp. This is a work of physics in action, the business end. From the very top, Mr. Rhodes' book details the decisions made by FDR and Truman, and goes right on down the chain of command to General Groves, the powerhouse behind the Pentagon's construction who was given stewardship over a bunch of fractious geeks who were attempting to unleash the power of the sun.

Every conceivable type of personality is represented in "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", the ebullient and lovable Dick Feynman, the prickly genius Ed Teller, and the not-so-lovable Klaus Fuchs, executed for spying. One book covers it all, and remarkably, is followed by another excellent work, "Dark Sun" the making of the hydrogen bomb.

I have read (struggled through!) the first 300 pages of this book and am sorry I started it. If your only intent in life was to read minute scientific details of every snippet of conversation, experiment, inner thought, etc., by physicists and other scientists, discussions from the day radium was first studied on through discovering matter, energy, splitting the atom, etc., etc., this is the 300 pages (actually 270)you need to read, which are guaranteed to put you to sleep time and again. I now see that reviews advise you to skip the first 300 pages - why didn't the book cover say that? From the reviews I had read prior to starting the book, I surely thought this book would not only give me all I needed to know about the development of the atomic bomb in an exciting and interesting manner, but from the blurbs about the book, it looked like it would be a fabulous read. However, the first 300 pages have been so disappointing I doubt if the rest of the book will be able to rescue the disappointment of the first 300 pages. If any reader has had the enjoyment of reading "The Manhattan Project", by Stephane Groueff, which in 382 pages of non-stop, action packed story-telling, portrayed in a better way what I thought "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" would do even better, then they know what I am talking about. This is a dull book and from leafing through the remainder of the book, it pretty clearly is not ever going to capture the essence of the atomic bomb story as well as "The Manhatten Project" I can only think of one description to tell what my opinion on "The Makinig of the Atomic Bomb" is and that is "not as advertized"!

Some comments about the atomic bomb story. One has to wonder how, with a group of scientists, who were so afraid that if they published some of their early findings it might get back to the Nazi's and then after they went to all the trouble of doing the impossible task of discovering how to make an atomic bomb, then most of them then got cold feet and didn't even want to use it, when as things turned out, it was necessary, it is a wonder they had the gumption to accomplish this task. What a bunch of wimps!

Secondly, even today, after being aware of the entire impossible task of building the bomb, the factories, the many thousands of people who were involved in it, one has to wonder, if you compare the kind of politically correct world, especially in the United States we have now, how was it possible to have kept all the secrets all the years during the development of the bomb? Nowadays, I fear the secret would have been blasted within a few months by one of our more liberal newspapers the way they have been doing on our war on terror. So much for keepinig a secret.

I have read (struggled through!) the first 300 pages of this book and am sorry I started it. If your only intent in life was to read minute scientific details of every snippet of conversation, experiment, inner thought, etc., by physicists and other scientists, discussions from the day radium was first studied on through discovering matter, energy, splitting the atom, etc., etc., this is the 300 pages (actually 270)you need to read, which are guaranteed to put you to sleep time and again. I now see that reviews advise you to skip the first 300 pages - why didn't the book cover say that? From the reviews I had read prior to starting the book, I surely thought this book would not only give me all I needed to know about the development of the atomic bomb in an exciting and interesting manner, but from the blurbs about the book, it looked like it would be a fabulous read. However, the first 300 pages have been so disappointing I doubt if the rest of the book will be able to rescue the disappointment of the first 300 pages. If any reader has had the enjoyment of reading "The Manhattan Project", by Stephane Groueff, which in 382 pages of non-stop, action packed story-telling, portrayed in a better way what I thought "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" would do even better, then they know what I am talking about. This is a dull book and from leafing through the remainder of the book, it pretty clearly is not ever going to capture the essence of the atomic bomb story as well as "The Manhatten Project" I can only think of one description to tell what my opinion on "The Makinig of the Atomic Bomb" is and that is "not as advertized"!

Some comments about the atomic bomb story. One has to wonder how, with a group of scientists, who were so afraid that if they published some of their early findings it might get back to the Nazi's and then after they went to all the trouble of doing the impossible task of discovering how to make an atomic bomb, then most of them then got cold feet and didn't even want to use it, when as things turned out, it was necessary, it is a wonder they had the gumption to accomplish this task. What a bunch of wimps!

Secondly, even today, after being aware of the entire impossible task of building the bomb, the factories, the many thousands of people who were involved in it, one has to wonder, if you compare the kind of politically correct world, especially in the United States we have now, how was it possible to have kept all the secrets all the years during the development of the bomb? Nowadays, I fear the secret would have been blasted within a few months by one of our more liberal newspapers the way they have been doing on our war on terror. So much for keepinig a secret.

Great book. Very thorough history on not just "the gadget", but, also of the lives of the great men and women who made it. I would also recommend "The Dark Sun" by same author. Great job Richard!

To me, the amazing thing about this book is that Rhodes is able to show the human side of the effort to build the bomb. He introduces all the key players such as Einstein, Groves, Oppenheimer, and many others. He shows the conflicts between these very intellegent, but headstrong scientists.

Rhodes also shows the reader just how big of a technological struggle it was to build the bomb before the Germans could do it. Making it even more challenging is the fact that much of the work had to be done in total secret. I really got a kick about the account of the amount of silver used to build the machines that enriched the uranium.

Anyway, whatever your thought about the morality of the bomb, Rhodes does a fantastic job of showing the technological and personality management challenges that had to be overcome to make the bomb. It's a fairly long book, but you'll be glad that you read it.

After going to Sante Fe,New Mexico in May. My Husband got interested in the Making of the Aomic Bomb. So,My kids and I gave this book to their dad for Father's Day. He really loves it. Give information he never knew. Our 9 years old son loves it also.

"The Making of the Atomic Bomb," by Richard Rhodes is the most captivating book that I have ever read. It covers in intense detail, every aspect of the development of the atomic bomb, including the rise and fall of J. Robert Oppenheimer. On July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer witnessed the first explosion of an atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert. "We knew the world would not be the same," he said. "In 1953, at the height of U.S. anticommunist feeling, Oppenheimer was accused of having communist sympathies, and his security clearance was taken away." "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," is a chilling account of the developments in Theoretical Physics that led up to the "Manhattan Project," which was the top secret period in American History that led to the development of the atomic bomb. This is a very long book, but such a significant read, that it is difficult to put it down. While fascinated with the Physics of the project and the brilliant minds that worked against time to produce the first atomic bomb, after reading the book I felt saddened that it was necessary to do what these scientists did. It is a shame that circumstances made it necessary for such brilliance to be used on such a dark endeavor and to have opened a Pandora's box that can never be closed again. "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," is truly the most compelling, and chilling book that I have ever read. The dark side of humanity is brought to the forefront in this riveting book, and while Rhodes doesn't go into details about the rights or wrong about the developments of the atomic bomb, he certainly deserves the awards that he has received for writing one of the most outstanding historical books of all time. A masterpiece for all time.

This remarkably detailed book delves into the trials and tribulations of the scientists who made the atomic bomb happen. While the book can read rather slow, the details contained therein are incredibly enlightening for anyone interested in how scientists unleashed natures' greatest power. The many stories that Rhodes tells here give you some sense as to the rush, the excitement, and the horror shared by those who were involved in the Manhattan Project.

This book is an excellent overview of the history and the tension behind the building of the bomb. Richard Rhodes put a tremendous amount of effort into compiling a historical and scientific account of the bomb project. This includes very intriguing biographical accounts of many of the key scientists in the project before and after it was realized a bomb might just be feasible. He pulls no punches and lets the reader decide whether the bomb project was a good, bad, or 'bound to happen sooner or later' idea. He clearly states the scientific reasoning and keeps from boring the reader with unnecessary details while capturing the heart of the project. He doesn't try to hide the facts behind nationalism but he also doesn't point unnecessary fingers at anyone. War is war and you cannot change it. The final chapters on the death and destruction of the Japanese cities are a must read for anyone interested in this topic. I wish every one of my physics students could read this book. For that matter, I wish every political party around the world would take a deeper look into not only this book but others before they consider arming themselves with these weapons.

In "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," Richard Rhodes does something remarkable; he combines philosophy of science, history of science, political history, and biographical sketches to produce a book that holds the reader like a well-written novel. He does this without short-changing any of the elements listed above. He moves gracefully, seamlessly from a biographical sketch, say, of Lord Rutherford, to a discussion of the nature of scientific inquiry, to a description of basic nuclear physics, to a description of the plight of Jewish scientists in Europe in the 1930s. By the time we get to the actual atomic bomb project, we have a solid grasp of the scientific and technical challenges faced by the bomb designers, and we also feel that we know these people not just as scientific and cultural icons, but as living, breathing, passionate men and women. We feel Enrico Fermi's elation as he approaches success at sustaining a nuclear chain reaction, Lisa Meitner's quiet satisfaction when she works out the mechanics of uranium fission, and the crushing chagrin of the Joliot-Curies when they realize they saw nuclear fission before Otto Hahn did but didn't recognize it for what it was.

The political history is every bit as fascinating as the scientific and technical material. Even knowing how the story turns out, I found myself on the edge of my seat wondering whether the bomb project was going to get off the ground or whether it would be buried by bureaucratic inertia. Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves make an extraordinary odd couple, genius paired with uncommon competence to get a collection of intellectual giants to work together under harsh conditions in the middle of nowhere as a team. Their legacy was terrible, but one can't help but admire the intellectual and organizational achievement that was the atomic bomb. As countries today pursue nuclear ambitions, they employ mere technical competence that can't hide the squalid nature of that pursuit. That first bomb blast, though, achieves a degree of terrible grandeur. It wasn't just the beginning of an arms race and an inspiration to third world acquisition of WMD, but the culmination of our first modern attempts to understand the nature of matter, energy, and the universe.

This book is excellent. It's long, but it ends too soon. After you finish it, try Rhodes' "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb." It's a very different book, but a fine companion to this one.

In "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," Richard Rhodes does something remarkable; he combines philosophy of science, history of science, political history, and biographical sketches to produce a book that holds the reader like a well-written novel. He does this without short-changing any of the elements listed above. He moves gracefully, seamlessly from a biographical sketch, say, of Lord Rutherford, to a discussion of the nature of scientific inquiry, to a description of basic nuclear physics, to a description of the plight of Jewish scientists in Europe in the 1930s. By the time we get to the actual atomic bomb project, we have a solid grasp of the scientific and technical challenges faced by the bomb designers, and we also feel that we know these people not just as scientific and cultural icons, but as living, breathing, passionate men and women. We feel Enrico Fermi's elation as he approaches success at sustaining a nuclear chain reaction, Lisa Meitner's quiet satisfaction when she works out the mechanics of uranium fission, and the crushing chagrin of the Joliot-Curies when they realize they saw nuclear fission before Otto Hahn did but didn't recognize it for what it was.

The political history is every bit as fascinating as the scientific and technical material. Even knowing how the story turns out, I found myself on the edge of my seat wondering whether the bomb project was going to get off the ground or whether it would be buried by bureaucratic inertia. Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves make an extraordinary odd couple, genius paired with uncommon competence to get a collection of intellectual giants to work together under harsh conditions in the middle of nowhere as a team. Their legacy was terrible, but one can't help but admire the intellectual and organizational achievement that was the atomic bomb. As countries today pursue nuclear ambitions, they employ mere technical competence that can't hide the squalid nature of that pursuit. That first bomb blast, though, achieves a degree of terrible grandeur. It wasn't just the beginning of an arms race and an inspiration to third world acquisition of WMD, but the culmination of our first modern attempts to understand the nature of matter, energy, and the universe.

This book is excellent. It's long, but it ends too soon. After you finish it, try Rhodes' "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb." It's a very different book, but a fine companion to this one.

There's not much you can say about this book except that if this is not the greatest nonfiction book of the twentieth century, it is certainly very close.

Rhodes' reseach is topnotch as he weaves together the science, politics, and engineering necessary to achieve the completion of a weapon that forever changed history.

This is not an easy book to read and it is certainly not a fast read beach book. It's the kind of book in which you read a few paragraphs and then go back and look for something you read earlier in the book for it all to make sense. But, it is a book that is very rewarding if you see it through.

Well written and researched, Rhodes captures the ambivalent atmosphere surrounding the making of the atomic bomb. A triumph of science, an atrocity, the making of some men and the obliteration of others - we do ourselves a service to understand the bomb and the circumstances in which it was created. This book is an essential part of the story.

Well written and researched, Rhodes captures the ambivalent atmosphere surrounding the making of the atomic bomb. A triumph of science, an atrocity, the making of some men and the obliteration of others - we do ourselves a service to understand the bomb and the circumstances in which it was created. This book is an essential part of the story.

This book provides a comprehensive history of the people, places, institutions and events that went into the making of the atomic bomb. This story is told in chronological fashion, and covers the period of Europe pre WW1 to the period after its use in Japan to end WW2. In the process, this book shows how scientists from around the West slowly put together the laws, theories and technology upon which nuclear physics rested, and how political events (WW2) would provide the impetus for the US government to implement this science into a weapon; or three of them actually.

The book describes the various characters involved, including scientists, politicians, and civic leaders. The book shows how they got along (or did not) with each other, how they each contributed to the bomb's development, and how they viewed their work later on in life during the experience of the Cold War. The book also shows how different institutions came about; such as the various US National Labs, in the work on the bomb.

Overall this book is quite complete. Anything and everything one could possibly want to know about the who, what, where, when, how or why of making the atomic bomb is found in this book, or in one of its references. As such this work is quite daunting, and quite boring in many places. Various side stories were included that had no relation to the bomb and its history; such as which scientist was sleeping with the other scientist's wife; or which politician had dinner with which physicist on what day.... Still, this book will go down as the Bible on the atomic bomb's history, and is worthy of any historian's bookshelf.

This book weaves the physics, the nuts and bolts, and the stories of the people that led to the making of the atomic bomb. If the author had actually written three separate books each would be hard to put down, especially the one on the evolution of ideas in physics and chemistry. The inclusion of the stories of the personalities diluted the book. On the other hand, I can see how the literati would confer the Pulitzer Prize to it. It is a total, comprehensive, incredibly detailed, authoritative and magisterial work. It obviously took extraordinary scholarship to bring it to fruition. I am on my third reading of it. It's tough, and not a pleasure to read, but paradoxically I have to admit each reading is worth the effort. The making of the atomic bomb was a tremendous undertaking; I mean of course, the book.

This book weaves the physics, the nuts and bolts, and the stories of the people that led to the making of the atomic bomb. If the author had actually written three separate books each would be hard to put down, especially the one on the evolution of ideas in physics and chemistry. The inclusion of the stories of the personalities diluted the book. On the other hand, I can see how the literati would confer the Pulitzer Prize to it. It is a total, comprehensive, incredibly detailed, authoritative and magisterial work. It obviously took extraordinary scholarship to bring it to fruition. I am on my third reading of it. It's tough, and not a pleasure to read, but paradoxically I have to admit each reading is worth the effort. The making of the atomic bomb was a tremendous undertaking; I mean of course, the book.

There are few more celebrated works of history written in the twentieth century than "The Making of the Atomic Bomb." Richard Rhodes' magisterial epic on the discovery of atomic energy and the race to harness its power before Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan did the same was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and ranks #37 on the Modern Library's list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the century. The book's flattering endorsements read like a "Who's Who" of literary and scientific greats.

Rhodes' masterpiece is a sterling example of a special genre of non-fiction: the story of great projects. Other notable examples would include Walter MacDougal's history of the Apollo moon mission ("...The Heavens and the Earth"), David Haward Bain's chronicle of the making of the transcontinental railroad ("Empire Express") and David McCollough's marvelous stories of the building of the Panama Canal ("Path Between the Seas") and the Brooklyn Bridge ("Great Bridge"). If you enjoyed any of these, you're certain to love "The Making of the Atomic Bomb."

Rhodes divides the story into three unequal parts. The first, covering roughly one third of the book, is a basic history of nuclear physics from the early and critical discoveries of atomic structure made by Ernest Rutherford in the late nineteenth century to the discovery of fission in the final days before the Second World War. Rhodes stresses the unprecedented speed at which major discoveries were made and strong sense of camaraderie and collegiality amongst the network of physicists who made them. Although they carried different passports and represented diverse institutions, they considered themselves a community of science devoted to openness and the betterment of mankind. Such notions were viewed with great suspicion by political leaders as the war clouds of the late 1930s began to gather and would be destroyed for all time with the advent of global conflict and then the superpower arms race. Rhodes does an admirable job taking the reader step-by-step through each significant discovery and explaining how each successful experiment influenced the next. Nevertheless, this section is quite dense and humanities majors (like me) will have trouble following all the nuances of the experiments, but will be able to get the gist of it all.

The second section, which represents half of the book, focuses on the efforts undertaken to get the US to commit to the atomic bomb project and the unprecedented effort undertaken to achieve that objective. Rhodes tells much more than just the story of Los Alamos and Robert Oppenheimer. He devotes equal energy to describing the critical experiments in harnessing a chain-reaction led by Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago; the development of the Oak Ridge facilities for U235 separation; the construction of the Hanford, Oregon plants for the production of plutonium; the efforts of the 509th air wing based in Utah to configure a new B-29 to carry the unwieldy bombs; and the military and civilian efforts to select a suitable target for "the gadget." Rhodes tells the complete story, but no one looms larger in the amazing tale than Oppenheimer. The physicist was a quirky and pugnacious figure - even his greatest admirers concede as much - and his left-leaning politics made him suspect to national security officials from the very beginning. But, as Rhodes writes it, the Manhattan Project was of Oppenheimer's masterpiece and no one was more responsible for its ultimate success than him.

The final and shortest section covers the political and military actions leading to the use of the bomb, a detailed account of the bombing run of the Enola Gay, and the effects of the atomic blast in Hiroshima. The most memorable part of this section is the lengthy exerts of first-hand accounts from Hiroshima from a broad spectrum of citizens: little boys and girls, soldiers, a priest, mothers, students, etc. Rhodes juxtaposes scenes of celebration at Los Alamos after the news with the nauseating remembrances of those who were there. (To add some perspective, he does the same thing with the toasts and feasts of the Japanese submarine crew celebrating the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the horrifying ordeal of the thousands of US sailors adrift for days in shark-invested waters.)

Clearly one of the great historical works of our time, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" is highly recommended to anyone.

Was looking for a technical history of the atomic-bomb. Boy did I ever find it.

The absolute most detailed and in depth history of the atomic bomb.

Simply a mind-blowing book.

Terrific writing, engrossing story, and youll learn alot about science and not even care. Why dont they write school books like this? More importantly, why arent all your books this good, Richard?

Terrific writing, engrossing story, and youll learn alot about science and not even care. Why dont they write school books like this? More importantly, why arent all your books this good, Richard?

Hardly anything more positive can be added to the "spotlight reviews." For a book of scientific history this is remarkable: it reads like a thriller. It is difficult to put down, to stop turning the page.