The Making of the Atomic Bomb

by Richard Rhodes · 896 pages

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Richard Rhodes traces the development of nuclear weapons from the discovery of fission through the destruction of Hiroshima. This Pulitzer Prize-winning work combines history of science with political history and human drama, following the physicists who unlocked the atom and the officials who decided how to use their discovery. Rhodes devotes extensive attention to the science itself, making accessible the path from Einstein's equation to the Trinity test. But he also examines the politics: the decision to build the bomb, the competition with Germany, the debates over whether and how to use it. The human dimension is equally present: the ambitions, rivalries, and moral struggles of figures from Leo Szilard to Robert Oppenheimer to Harry Truman. Rhodes conducted extensive interviews and drew on newly available archives to produce a definitive account. The book's length—nearly 900 pages—is necessary to its scope; Rhodes is telling the story of how humans acquired the power to destroy themselves. This is essential reading for understanding the most consequential technological development in history.