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Comment by sklargh | Hacker News Reader

I recommend Rhodes’ “Making of” and Dark Sun with American Prometheus and the Los Alamos Primer for people seeking a thorough initial introduction to the Manhattan Project and little bit of postscript.

Indulging myself a bit here. Essentially all elements of modern society have at least a tangential relationship with Los Alamos.

The symmetry between a nuclear detonation and what happened intellectually and culturally before and after the Manhattan Project is striking. An immense compression followed by a massive release of energy. In the bomb’s case that was an explosives and physics package that led to a good yield. In the Manhattan Project more broadly it was a remarkable concentration of human capability that impacted almost every element of hard science and culture.

Something worth learning about.

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Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb is deservedly regarded as a classic, but Dark Sun doesn't live up to the same standard [1]. For people interested in the technical history of the H-bomb, Anne Fitzpatrick's PhD thesis Igniting the Light Elements: The Los Alamos Thermonuclear Weapon Project, 1942-1952 is as good a single-document source as I've ever read:

https://www.osti.gov/biblio/10596

[1] Some reasons for the difference discussed here: https://old.reddit.com/r/nuclearweapons/comments/wr2pav/why_...

"The Making" covers half a century of scientific advancement, from the age of steam to the nuclear weapons. And it was at the end the "heroic age" in physics. It's hard _not_ to make it read like an epic tale.

"Dark Sun" is in contrast about a fairly small technological advancement, and it focuses more on politics. It's just too hard to make it similarly compelling.

I read the book decades ago.

He describes the moment Leo Szilard is crossing a street in the rain and suddenly envisions the nuclear chain reaction. Reading it I felt like the entire Earth must have shuddered at that moment and in that instant the destruction of the human race was suddenly laid out for Szilard.

I confess I did not know who Szilard was at that time.

Also in Robert Jungk's book "brighter than a thousand suns" which predates Rhodes by decades

this crossing the street of leo szilard is also imprinted in my memory reading the book. aparently near british museum, bloomsbury. once i crossed the lights there too and recalled it.

In addition, he also wrote a collection of science fiction stories “the voice of the dolphins”. I’ll need to get it from the attic and see if I still like them. I thought they were pretty good but that was a long time ago. Thanks for making me think of him, again.

Same feeling. "Dark Sun" feels very much like the grinding of an axe. But yes, "Making Of" is an absolute classic. Not just if you care about the field, but if you care about good science writing at all.

I agree, Dark Sun and Rhodes' other recent books are OK, but Dark Sun is not a good read. It's almost as if he had some notes left over and turned them into a book in a hurry.

Dark Sun is not written as well, but it is really illuminating. The discussion of the Russian bomb efforts is fascinating and important. Also, Teller's role was told very honestly. I was told by colleagues at Los Alamos that when Teller would visit, some people wouldn't even shake his hand.

that's very grandiose and all, but this story is true. During the Fukishima aftermath here in the USA, a series of talks was called at UC Berkeley with the public invited. One of the talks was given by an actual nuclear weapons designer, who rarely stands in public for obvious reasons. A large, confident bearded man, he "commanded" the podium with ever more tales, speaking like that paragraph above.. Someone challenged him in some polite and meaningful way in a question, and just as he was starting to reply, people were getting uncomfortable due to the excessive air conditioning in the room -- it was hot outside but apparently the air conditioner was ON with a sensor not in the room? Someone went to check on the air conditioning exactly when the guy said "The USA has NEVER FAILED to achieve a stated objective in nuclear deterrance" or something similar, when the guy from the audience checking the thermostat said helplessly "its stuck ON, there is nothing I can do!"

it was so appropriate, had to repeat that here.. true.. and what a WEIRD collection of humanity were in the audience. Those old physics people and their kin, plus paranoids and vegans.. the lot.

Priceless. Thanks for sharing.

Can someone explain the punchline here? I'm probably just slow but I can't put it together.

I suspect the point is that we're trapped with the knowledge. You can't opt out of nuclear weapons.

Me neither

the complex chains of armed and explosive weapons parts are supposed to be completely under control but a simple thermometer is somehow out of control and (mildly) harming everyone in the room <- obvious contradiction to "every mechanical weapon is always under control"

Eric Schlosser's Command and Control is a nice historical view of the nuclear defense establishment, and describes a particularly terrible missile site failure.

Yeah for those who wish to go deeper Stumpf’s Minuteman and Titan histories are good resources as well. There is also the Effects of Nuclear Weapons.

Not much happened " intellectually and culturally" after the said event!! Modern science was started with the likes of Galileo and Copernicus, was crystallized at the time of Newton and some great improvements happened in the 19th century and very early decades of the 20th. I think the impact of the steam engine and the discovery/development of vaccines in the 18th century are much more impactful than anything humans did after the Manhattan project, apart, maybe, from artificial fertilizers (Oh that was developed before the great war). Planes, cars, sliced bread all came before!!! There is only one exception, computers but these haven't done much to add to mankind happiness. They replaced fax machines and are trying to replace phones helped spread pornography and rage, but so far their effect on humanity is marginal compared to the steam engine or even sliced bread.

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