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Comment by cactusfrog | Hacker News Reader

One of the best books I’ve ever read is The Making of the Atomic Bomb Book by Richard Rhodes. If you want an extremely in-depth history of the science and people behind Manhattan project, I would highly recommend reading it.

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Seconded. I tell people it's several books in one, all of which are brilliantly executed:

- Biographies of the preeminent scientists of the 20th century

- A history of late 19th and early 20th century physics and chemistry. Much more technical than many history books, which is a drawback for some audiences, but probably an attraction for a lot of people here.

- A history of World War I and World War II

- A history of the engineering and operation of the Manhattan Project

Highly, highly recommended for this audience.

One caveat: I tried the audiobook and couldn't stand the narrator. Your mileage may vary, but I recommend reading it.

Don’t forget the very last chapter: a gruesome moment by moment portrayal of the effects of the atomic bomb on the people of Hiroshima.

> Biographies of the preeminent scientists of the 20th century

This was the only parts of the book I skimmed over / skipped. While interesting, many of them go back to their parents and childhood upbringing which, again are interesting, but being more interested in the science/engineering I would skip ahead until their story was more relevant.

Learned about that book from HN, so thanks HN. Of late, I've been reading The Alchemy of Air which revolves around Haber-Bosch process and it's been a delight so far. Highly recommend if you love a mix of non-fiction, history & science.

> The Making of the Atomic Bomb Book by Richard Rhodes

A good book.

May I also recommend the In Our Time episode on the Manhattan Project.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00108h1

(The Richard Rhodes book is on the recommended reading list for this episode, listed on the linked website; as are other very good books on the Manhattan Project worth a read).

If you want a book that is more technical and really gives a sense of what the scope of the project was, I'd highly recommend The Los Alamos Primer by Serber which was the intro lecture given to scientists when they would arrive. Serber did a great job of annotating the lecture to explain in more accessible detail each section. A quick read, and well worth it.

I read and enjoyed The Making of the Atomic Bomb and Dark Sun, but another book by Rhodes made me question his veracity. <https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4413437417>

100% agree. Also, if you liked that, try his follow on, "Dark Sun", focusing on the fusion bomb development after the war. There is probably a much greater focus on politics, especially involving Teller.

He was definitely trying to impart more of a lesson with Dark Sun

The first half of this book is kind of a slog, focusing on the minutiae of the Soviet's espionage effort. Which, to be fair, was the basis for the Soviet's rapid development of fission and fusion weapons. I just wasn't expecting a (rather boring) spy book. The 2nd half is much more interesting as they get into the truly genius science and engineering of the hydrogen bomb. And boy, Teller really does come off as a complete jerk who wasted a lot of time on his preferred Super design.

Soviets also benefited a lot from German scientists pulled from post-WW2 Germany in their own version of a Paperclip-like program. Recommended reading: Forgotten Creators by Todd Rider. Free and online, over 4,000 pages including references and important appendices, so one has to navigate to the chapter / section of interest.

https://riderinstitute.org/revolutionary-innovation/

This is the same Todd Rider whose PhD work at MIT (advised by the late Lawrence Lidsky) showed aneutronic fusion was unlikely to be workable. Lidsky had previously argued DT fusion wasn't going to cut it because of inherently low volumetric power density and had argued aneutronic fusion should be pursued. Between those two approaches lies lower neutronicity D-3He fusion, which may be fusion's only real hope. Helion has the lead in pursuing this approach, with a design focusing on highly efficient energy recirculation that feels informed by Rider's analysis.

His analysis of German fusion advances during WW2 is very much present in his work.

Dark Sun is not bad, but it is definitely overshadowed by Rhodes' magnum opus.

I recommend Igniting the Light Elements for people who want a keystone piece about the early thermonuclear. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/10596 - it's an extensive Thesis on the history of early thermonuclear period. Also one of the last comprehensive looks before classification fully obscures the plurality of the programs.

Thanks for posting that reference. I came to do the same after finding that thesis while searching for another book I remember reading. The book covered Wheeler's (I think it was Wheeler) work simulating the first thermonuclear device on borrowed IBM calculating machines in the basement of some place in NYC (I think it was a commercial organization), basically beginning the HPC industry. Anyway, the Fitzpatrick thesis begins asking why it took so long for thermonuclear devices to be developed. I haven't yet had time to read to the conclusion, but presumably "not fast enough computers" is the answer.

Update, I tracked down the book. The guy was Ford, who worked for Wheeler: https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/68/7/46/415213/Bui...

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