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 yon Neumann -- stepped from their ivory towers into the limelight.

Richard Rhodes takes us on that journey step by step, minute by minute, and gives us the definitive story of man's most awesome discovery and invention. The Making of the Atomic Bomb has been compared in its sweep and importance to William L. Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. It is at once a narrative tour de force and a document as powerful as its subject.

Amazon.com Review
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 161 reviews)

Science, Politics, People, History, Warfare

Awesome book. This book provides a unique blend of science, politics, people, history, warfare and interpersonal relationships. I am a mathematician with a minor in physics and a former US Air Force officer. I recall most of the names of key players (scientists, military, political) in this book but I never had a concept of how they were all related. This is quite a tome but I just had to sit down and continue reading several times a day. I still cannot believe how Rhodes was able to do the research required for this book and then make it so readable. My high school chemistry teacher took a group of us to hear a lecture by Niels Bohr in the 1950s but I never realized what a genius he was not only in science but in predicting the political consequences of building and using the atomic bomb until I read Rhodes work. The epilogue chapter is a must read and contains many very fundamental and philosophical thoughts that must still be addressed today.
November 27, 2008

Simply amazing.

Richard Rhodes provides the definitive account of the making of the Atomic Bomb. This book covers the characters, the technological dilemmas and all of the politics involved in making the atomic bomb. Starting with the various scientists and their backgrounds Rhodes takes us through the major players and their contributions towards the bomb. The book at times does get a little heavy on the physics but it is worth the detail for putting into context how the scientists came together to develop the bomb. The beginnings of the military industrial academic complex are developed and its crystallization becomes clear through people like Bush and Compton. While daunting at times given the sheer volume of the book it is worth taking your time to understand one of the greatest stories in the 20th century. This is truly the best account and a must read for those who want to understand how the 20th century and beyond was shaped by the work of the Manhattan Project.
November 16, 2008

The making of the atomic bomb

I'm only half way through the book. However, it is making all the physicist that I read about in my science courses come alive. It is a great read.

October 13, 2008

greatest book I've ever read - got me to study physics

This book is exciting to read and technically detailed. It gives a history not only of those involved in the production of the actual bomb, but of the physics and discovery of the atom and its components. No text book from walker or lectures from feynman can compare in how engaging this book makes the science and history. Since I have nothing but approbation for this book, my only complaint is slightly manufactured so as to make this more of a review. I wish that the book went into more details towards the end including maps and diagrams of the enrichment facilities. He may include that with other book and certainly this was long already, but that lack of details towards the end made the reading and experience slighly rushed.
September 26, 2008

Great book if you like history and physics

Great book if you are interested in the subject of science and nuclear physics. The book does a good job of explaining a lot of technical jargon in layman terms and tells a compelling story of the scientists involved. I read this book back in school and fell in love with the side stories and the footnotes in the making of the bomb. The later parts of the book are a bit of a drag and it is easy to get bored. A couple of friends who i recommended this book to did not like it as they felt it was too heavy and they were not really interested in science as much :).
August 20, 2008

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