Volume 34, Number 17 · November 5, 1987
Making It
By Rudolf Peierls
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
by Richard Rhodes
Simon and Schuster, 886 pp., $22.95
Many books have been written about the history of nuclear weapons, and they have become more detailed as more information, previously inaccessible, is made available. But Richard Rhodes's book seems unique, not only for its length of 886 pages (788 without the notes), but for his unusually broad interpretation of what is relevant background material. No person is mentioned without a paragraph or so about his physical appearance and the essentials of his biography. These characterizations, though terse, give a lively picture of the person, and for all those whom I have known, an accurate one, with very few lapses (Heisenberg did not have red hair). For the leading actors in the story there are more detailed profiles. The one of Niels Bohr goes back to his grandfather.
Review, 3533 words
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