Download or read book The Manhattan Project written by Jeff A. Hughes and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. A vast state within a state, the Manhattan Project employed 130,000 people and cost the United States and its allies 2 billion dollars, but its contribution to science as a prestigious investment was invaluable. After the bombs were dropped, states began allocating unprecedented funds for scientific research, leading to the establishment of many of twentieth century's major research institutions. Yet the union of science, industry, and the military did not start with the development of the atomic bomb; World War II only deepened the relationship. This absorbing history revisits the interactions among science, the national interest, and public and private funding that was initiated in World War I and flourished in WWII. It then follows the Manhattan Project from inception to dissolution, describing the primary influences that helped execute the world's first successful plan for nuclear research and tracing the lineages of modern national nuclear agencies back to their source.

Download or read book The Making of the Atomic Bomb written by Richard Rhodes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-09-18 with total page 890 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award** The definitive history of nuclear weapons—from the turn-of-the-century discovery of nuclear energy to J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project—this epic work details the science, the people, and the sociopolitical realities that led to the development of the atomic bomb. This sweeping account begins in the 19th century, with the discovery of nuclear fission, and continues to World War Two and the Americans’ race to beat Hitler’s Nazis. That competition launched the Manhattan Project and the nearly overnight construction of a vast military-industrial complex that culminated in the fateful dropping of the first bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Reading like a character-driven suspense novel, the book introduces the players in this saga of physics, politics, and human psychology—from FDR and Einstein to the visionary scientists who pioneered quantum theory and the application of thermonuclear fission, including Planck, Szilard, Bohr, Oppenheimer, Fermi, Teller, Meitner, von Neumann, and Lawrence. From nuclear power’s earliest foreshadowing in the work of H.G. Wells to the bright glare of Trinity at Alamogordo and the arms race of the Cold War, this dread invention forever changed the course of human history, and The Making of The Atomic Bomb provides a panoramic backdrop for that story. Richard Rhodes’s ability to craft compelling biographical portraits is matched only by his rigorous scholarship. Told in rich human, political, and scientific detail that any reader can follow, The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a thought-provoking and masterful work.

Download or read book The Atom Bomb Project written by Dale Anderson and published by Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP. This book was released on 2004-12-15 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the work of the Manhattan Project to develop and test an atomic bomb, as well as the decision to use it during World War II.

Download or read book The Manhattan Project written by Francis George Gosling and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 75 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the origins and development of the American atomic bomb program during WWII. Begins with the scientific developments of the pre-war years. Details the role of the U.S. government in conducting a secret, nationwide enterprise that took science from the laboratory and into combat with an entirely new type of weapon. Concludes with a discussion of the immediate postwar period, the debate over the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, and the founding of the Atomic Energy Commission. Chapters: the Einstein letter; physics background, 1919-1939; early government support; the atomic bomb and American strategy; and the Manhattan district in peacetime. Illustrated.

Download or read book The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II written by Herbert Feis and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-08 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the decision to use the atomic bomb. Libraries and scholars will find it a necessary adjunct to their other studies by Pulitzer-Prize author Herbert Feis on World War II. Originally published in 1966. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Download or read book The History and Science of the Manhattan Project written by Bruce Cameron Reed and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-02-19 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The development of atomic bombs under the auspices of the U.S. Army’s Manhattan Project during World War II is considered to be the outstanding news story of the twentieth century. In this book, a physicist and expert on the history of the Project presents a comprehensive overview of this momentous achievement. The first three chapters cover the history of nuclear physics from the discovery of radioactivity to the discovery of fission, and would be ideal for instructors of a sophomore-level “Modern Physics” course. Student-level exercises at the ends of the chapters are accompanied by answers. Chapter 7 covers the physics of first-generation fission weapons at a similar level, again accompanied by exercises and answers. For the interested layman and for non-science students and instructors, the book includes extensive qualitative material on the history, organization, implementation, and results of the Manhattan Project and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing missions. The reader also learns about the legacy of the Project as reflected in the current world stockpiles of nuclear weapons. This second edition contains important revisions and additions, including a new chapter on the German atomic bomb program and new sections on British and Canadian contributions to the Manhattan project and on feed materials. Several other sections have been expanded; reader feedback has been helpful in introducing minor corrections and improved explanations; and, last but not least, the second edition includes a detailed index.

Download or read book The Physics of the Manhattan Project written by Bruce Cameron Reed and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-08-20 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The development of nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project is one of the most significant scientific events of the twentieth century. This revised and updated 3rd edition explores the challenges that faced the scientists and engineers of the Manhattan Project. It gives a clear introduction to fission weapons at the level of an upper-year undergraduate physics student by examining the details of nuclear reactions, their energy release, analytic and numerical models of the fission process, how critical masses can be estimated, how fissile materials are produced, and what factors complicate bomb design. An extensive list of references and a number of exercises for self-study are included. Links are given to several freely-available spread sheets which users can use to run many of the calculations for themselves.

Download or read book Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project 1939 1945 written by Paul Lawrence Rose and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No one better represents the plight and the conduct of German intellectuals under Hitler than Werner Heisenberg, whose task it was to build an atomic bomb for Nazi Germany. The controversy surrounding Heisenberg still rages, because of the nature of his work and the regime for which it was undertaken. What precisely did Heisenberg know about the physics of the atomic bomb? How deep was his loyalty to the German government during the Third Reich? Assuming that he had been able to build a bomb, would he have been willing? These questions, the moral and the scientific, are answered by Paul Lawrence Rose with greater accuracy and breadth of documentation than any other historian has yet achieved. Digging deep into the archival record among formerly secret technical reports, Rose establishes that Heisenberg never overcame certain misconceptions about nuclear fission, and as a result the German leaders never pushed for atomic weapons. In fact, Heisenberg never had to face the moral problem of whether he should design a bomb for the Nazi regime. Only when he and his colleagues were interned in England and heard about Hiroshima did Heisenberg realize that his calculations were wrong. He began at once to construct an image of himself as a "pure" scientist who could have built a bomb but chose to work on reactor design instead. This was fiction, as Rose demonstrates: in reality, Heisenberg blindly supported and justified the cause of German victory. The question of why he did, and why he misrepresented himself afterwards, is answered through Rose's subtle analysis of German mentality and the scientists' problems of delusion and self-delusion. This fascinating study is a profound effort to understand one of the twentieth century's great enigmas.

Download or read book Atomic Bomb The Story of the Manhattan Project written by Bruce Cameron Reed and published by Morgan & Claypool Publishers. This book was released on 2015-06-01 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume, prepared by an acknowledged expert on the Manhattan Project, gives a concise, fast-paced account of all major aspects of the project at a level accessible to an undergraduate college or advanced high-school student familiar with some basic concepts of energy, atomic structure, and isotopes. The text describes the underlying scientific discoveries that made nuclear weapons possible, how the project was organized, the daunting challenges faced and overcome in obtaining fissile uranium and plutonium, and in designing workable bombs, the dramatic Trinity test carried out in the desert of southern New Mexico in July 1945, and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Download or read book The Manhattan Project written by Cynthia C. Kelly and published by Black Dog & Leventhal. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 650 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the seventy-fifth anniversary of the first atomic bomb, discover new reflections on the Manhattan Project from President Barack Obama, hibakusha (survivors), and the modern-day mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The creation of the atomic bomb during World War II, codenamed the Manhattan Project, was one of the most significant and clandestine scientific undertakings of the 20th century. It forever changed the nature of war and cast a shadow over civilization. Born out of a small research program that began in 1939, the Manhattan Project would eventually employ nearly 600,000 people and cost about $2 billon ($28.5 billion in 2020) -- all while operating under a shroud of complete secrecy. On the 75th anniversary of this profoundly crucial moment in history, this newest edition of The Manhattan Project is updated with writings and reflections from the past decade and a half. This groundbreaking collection of essays, articles, documents, and excerpts from histories, biographies, plays, novels, letters, and oral histories remains the most comprehensive collection of primary source material of the atomic bomb.

Download or read book Manhattan Project The Untold Story of the Making of the Atomic Bomb written by Stephane Groueff and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2023-12-13 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Groueff, a Paris-Match reporter, was sponsored by The Reader’s Digest to write this prodigious account of the multiple efforts which went into the creation of the first atomic bomb between 1942 and 1945. The book is a history of the men involved, mainly; and Groves, the military commander, is obviously the author’s hero. Reading like the account of a hurdle race, the book charges into a discussion of a problem, then ‘finds’ and describes the man who bested it. Thus are described the building of Oak Ridge, Fermi’s atomic pile, the electromagnetic process, the crises over the barrier and the valves for the gaseous diffusion process, the last-minute decisions concerning the implosion process with plutonium. Groueff does convey well a scene of fantastic activity, where different solutions to one problem were worked on simultaneously, where industrial equipment came before scientific results were known, where the ‘impossible’ was achieved — in time. The material is fascinating, and the scientific information is well presented... [an] excellent overall view of a monumental project.” — Kirkus “Groueff has for the first time given due recognition to some of the minor figures, particularly engineers and technicians, and has preserved in his pages much information that would otherwise perish with the participants or lie forever buried in the archives.” — Kendall Birr, The American Historical Review “Groueff... covers the Manhattan Project from its beginning in 1942 to the bombing of Hiroshima... [he] concentrates on the engineering and industrial effort that went into producing the first atomic weapons... The result is a popular but responsible account, episodic in structure, rich in detail and human interest... for the first time a book aimed at the mass market gives engineers and industrialists their due. It is a great story of the almost incredibly complex task of translating theory into industrial and military reality.” — Oscar E. Anderson, Jr., Science “So intriguing in fact and in style is the text of the narrative of this book that, once begun, it cannot be put down until the end... In these pages the names and roles of some of the world’s greatest scientists and engineers unfold in thrilling parade, with Dr. Vannevar Bush the leader. These men of vast knowledge and ability unite with the commercial managers and their companies mobilized by the hundreds for the construction and operation of the many facilities involved.” — Leo A. Codd, Ordnance “Excellent... maintains a high degree of exciting suspense.” — Washington Star “A fascinating account of a stupendous effort.” — Chicago Tribune

Download or read book The Physics of the Manhattan Project written by B. Cameron Reed and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-10-05 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The development of nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project is one of the most significant scientific events of the twentieth century. This book, prepared by a gifted teacher of physics, explores the challenges that faced the members of the Manhattan project. In doing so it gives a clear introduction to fission weapons at the level of an upper-level undergraduate physics student. Details of nuclear reactions, their energy release, the fission process, how critical masses can be estimated, how fissile materials are produced, and what factors complicate bomb design are covered. An extensive list of references and a number of problems for self-study are included. Links are given to several spreadsheets with which users can run many of the calculations for themselves.

Download or read book The Prometheus Bomb written by Neil J. Sullivan and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2016-12 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War II, the lives of millions of Americans lay precariously in the hands of a few brilliant scientists who raced to develop the first weapon of mass destruction. Elected officials gave the scientists free rein in the Manhattan Project without understanding the complexities and dangers involved in splitting the atom. The Manhattan Project was the first example of a new type of choice for congressmen, presidents, and other government officials: life and death on a national scale. From that moment, our government began fashioning public policy for issues of scientific development, discoveries, and inventions that could secure or threaten our existence and our future. But those same men and women had no training in such fields, did not understand the ramifications of the research, and relied on incomplete information to form potentially life-changing decisions. Through the story of the Manhattan Project, Neil J. Sullivan asks by what criteria the people in charge at the time made such critical decisions. He also ponders how similar judgments are reached today with similar incomprehension from those at the top as our society dives down the potential rabbit hole of bioengineering, nanotechnology, and scientific developments yet to come.

Download or read book The Manhattan Project written by Al Cimino and published by Arcturus Publishing. This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ramifications of the Manhattan Project are still with us to this day. The atomic bombs that came out of it brought an end to the war in the Pacific, but at a heavy loss of life in Japan and the opening of a Pandora's box that has tested international relations. This book traces the history of the Manhattan Project, from the first glimmerings of the possibility of such a catastrophic weapon to the aftermath of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It profiles the architects of the bomb and how they tried to reconcile their personal feelings with their ambition as scientists. It looks at the role of the politicians and it includes first-hand accounts of those who experienced the effects of the bombings.

Download or read book The Manhattan Project and the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb written by Aaron Barlow and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2019-11-08 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This invaluable resource offers students a comprehensive overview of the Manhattan Project and the decision to drop the atomic bomb, with more than 80 in-depth articles on a variety of topics and dozens of key primary source documents. This book provides everything readers need to know about the Manhattan Project, the U.S. program that led to the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. It begins with a detailed introduction to the project and includes an alphabetical collection of relevant entries on such topics as the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb; Enrico Fermi, creator of the first nuclear reactor; Hiroshima, the target of the first atomic bomb; and Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan Project. Dozens of primary sources include eyewitness accounts, government memos, letters, press releases, and other important documents relevant to the establishment and success of the Manhattan Project. A set of four essays written by prominent scholars address whether the United States was justified in dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. The book also includes a comprehensive chronology that reveals key moments related to the creation of the world's first nuclear weapon as well as a bibliography of resources that points readers toward additional information on the Manhattan Project, nuclear weapons, and World War II.

Download or read book Atomic Spaces written by Peter Bacon Hales and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 1999-04 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Code-named the Manhattan Project, the detailed plans for developing an atomic bomb were impelled by urgency and shrouded in secrecy. This book tells the story of the project's three key sites: Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Download or read book Atomic Doctors written by James L. Nolan and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2020-08-06 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unflinching examination of the moral and professional dilemmas faced by physicians who took part in the Manhattan Project. After his father died, James L. Nolan, Jr., took possession of a box of private family materials. To his surprise, the small secret archive contained a treasure trove of information about his grandfather’s role as a doctor in the Manhattan Project. Dr. Nolan, it turned out, had been a significant figure. A talented ob-gyn radiologist, he cared for the scientists on the project, organized safety and evacuation plans for the Trinity test at Alamogordo, escorted the “Little Boy” bomb from Los Alamos to the Pacific Islands, and was one of the first Americans to enter the irradiated ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Participation on the project challenged Dr. Nolan’s instincts as a healer. He and his medical colleagues were often conflicted, torn between their duty and desire to win the war and their oaths to protect life. Atomic Doctors follows these physicians as they sought to maximize the health and safety of those exposed to nuclear radiation, all the while serving leaders determined to minimize delays and maintain secrecy. Called upon both to guard against the harmful effects of radiation and to downplay its hazards, doctors struggled with the ethics of ending the deadliest of all wars using the most lethal of all weapons. Their work became a very human drama of ideals, co-optation, and complicity. A vital and vivid account of a largely unknown chapter in atomic history, Atomic Doctors is a profound meditation on the moral dilemmas that ordinary people face in extraordinary times.