The First War of Physics: The Secret History of the Atomic Bomb, 1939-1949

From Publishers Weekly Science journalist Baggott addresses a subject he describes as both personal and intellectual. How did the nuclear bomb, this dreadful instrument of fear, come to be created? Specifically, how did some of the world's great physicists contribute to a process that would recalibrate what it means to be inhuman? His answers combine published sources and recently declassified British, American, and Soviet archival material. He seeks the answers in the period from the discovery of nuclear fission in 1939, through the efforts by the combatants to develop nuclear weapons, to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the early cold war arms race. Through these years, the author follows the great physicists, from Otto Frisch to Werner Heisenberg and Edward Teller. They realized early on the terrible power they could unleash, and FDR was warned of German efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Baggott concludes that the confluence of the discovery of nuclear fission with the leadup to war made the atom bomb inevitable, and the scientists were drawn inexorably into its development. Baggott's assertion that events confronted scientists with [d]ecisions for which they were poorly prepared is anticlimactic but all too accurate. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist *Starred Review* Tasked by the army in 1942 with assembling a new research team, Robert Oppenheimer soon learned that few scientists wanted to join the military. But, as Baggott makes forcefully clear, the reluctant soldiers that Oppenheimer recruited for the Manhattan Project finally coalesced into the most lethal fighting force in history. To illuminate their problematic military prowess, Baggott unfolds a tale in two interwoven narrative strands. Along one strand, readers see physicists as intellectual explorers, plumbing the tantalizing mysteries of the atom. But along the second strand, readers watch these same scientists acting out unscripted personal and political roles that expose their often-flawed humanity, not their impressive expertise. Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, for instance, terminate a long-standing personal relationship when they follow different flags. Perhaps of even more compelling interest, however, is the stunning contrast between the physicists who loyally serve their elected leaders by discovering atomic secrets and the perfidious physicists who betray their country by transmitting these secrets to Soviet leaders already maneuvering for advantage in the postwar world. As readers will recognize while pondering a conclusion outlining the global implications of the 2002 Moscow Treaty on nuclear disarmament, we still live in the shadow of the events chronicled so vividly here. --Bryce Christensen Starred Review. As readers will recognize while pondering a conclusion outlining the global implications of the 2002 Moscow Treat on nuclear disarmament, we still live in the shadow of the events chronicled so vividly here. ( Booklist )[A]n excellent introduction to a vast and complicated topic. (Michael Dobbs - The New York Times )I never read such a good, comprehensive account as Jim Baggott's. Highly recommended. (A. N. Wilson, author of London: A History )This is a very good book. I particularly like the way Baggott has been able to weave the science, 'grand-scale' politics and espionage together into one compelling narrative. (Mark Walker, author of German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power )World War II changed many things and not the least among them was the relationship of science to the military. Readers interested in this important historic transformation will find Jim Baggott's engaging history replete with drama and insight. (Martin J. Sherwin, co-author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer , winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Biography ) Jim Baggott is an award-winning science writer. A former academic chemist, he maintains a broad interest in science, philosophy, and history, and writes on these subjects for New Scientist and other journals. His books have been widely acclaimed and include A Beginner's Guide to Reality (Pegasus, 2006), The First War of Physics (Pegasus, 2010), The Meaning of Quantum Physics (Oxford, 1992), and Beyond Measure Modern Physics, Philosophy, and the Meaning of Quantum Theory (Oxford, 2004). He lives in England. Read more