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Comment by philipkglass | Hacker News Reader

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_...

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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.

"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.

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.

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