Book Review: The Making of the Atomic Bomb

I read The Making of the Atomic Bomb which was recommended to me by Mike Munie.  I thought it was a great book which somehow explained to me both the history and science of the project in an accessible way.  Here are some thoughts impressions the book left on me:

The huge power of government to turn things on.  The Manhattan Project was initially stalled behind a ineffective committee but soon became a top priority where cost was not an option.  If there was a question of what to do, the answer was often "just do both."  Before reading this book, I did not know that the atomic bombs dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima were actually entirely different designs, both of which were created during the Manhattan Project.  Another scary fact: approximately 130,000 people were employed at the project at its peak - roughly the size of the entire American automobile industry!

Predicting the (sometimes scary) future.  I tend to think that the future is so uncertain that it is impossible to predict what will happen.  It is impressive that some scientists were able to imagine the atomic bomb more than a decade before it was completed.  For example, Leo Szilard thought about a sustaining chain reaction with neutrons in 1933 (before fission was even discovered).  After confirming that neutrons multiplied in nuclear fission in 1939, Szilard and many other scientists realized that a bomb was theoretically possible.  James Chadwick (the discoverer of the neutron) conducted more experiments on the feasibility of the bomb in 1940.  Later, he had this to say: "I did realize how very serious it could be.  And I had then to start taking sleeping pills.  It was the only remedy. I've never stopped since then.  It's 28 years, and I don't think I've missed a single night in all those 28 years."

An Inspiring, Big Goal.  The book emphasizes that having a big, audacious, and clear goal is inspiring.  Working on the project was a pain: scientists couldn't tell their spouses about their work, they would be relocated to the middle of a dessert, and they would live in with barracks-like conditions.  At the same time, being a part of a major undertaking that would win the war was so appealing that most accepted.

Great Leadership.  Leslie Groves and Oppenheimer organized the Manhattan project from the military and scientific side (respectively).  They seem to have universally earned the respect of their peers.  I was especially interested to read about how Groves (who was not a top physicist) immediately earned respect (for example, the scientists were worried they would not have enough ore, but Groves found a source of uranium just 1 day after being assigned the job).

The horrors of war.  The book did a good job of balancing the amazing scientific discoveries and accomplishments of the Manhattan project with the pain of war.  For example, Rhodes argues that bombers were not accurate enough to hit military targets so were instead used to just kill civilians (which was euphemistically called hurting "morale").  The end of the book describes graphically the effects of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  I won't leave any gruesome quotes here, but I hope war never comes to this again.