Customer Reviews
A true story of innovation - theory to reality - By: Robert A. Carter, 10 Nov 2008 
This book was recommended as part of an Innovation Management course that I undertook.
If you can see beyond the history, & the politics there are a number of important "real-life" lessonsin innovation theory.
Leo Slizard has the vision of the "chain reaction" before the scientific community fully understand the structure of the atom.
At the core of the story is not only the need to develop "the bomb" but also the complex process technologies that wil allow man to extract Uranium 235 from Uranium ore & to produce Plutonium. For me one of the most interesting parts of the story is the development of the science of "implosion".
I can imagine that there are some distinct business parallels with respect to the discussions between Roosevelt, Truman, Bohr & others over the need to keep the technology secret or to share it with the wider world.
If your a lost soulin the fuzzy world of innovation, why not enjoy a marvellous 800 page rollercoaster ride.
The nuclear arms development bible - By: Phil Gill, 16 Aug 2007 This is book is sincerley the most engaging & well-written non-fiction title I have ever read. Exceptionally well-researched, this book takes you from the beginnings of atomic theory right through every important discovery, culminatingin the development of thermonuclear weapons. The book goes into much detail, but I never found it too 'heavy' at any time. Simply a marvel of literature, Richard Rhodes has really done well here.
This book IS suitable for readers who are not expertsin physics, it breaks things down to make them suitably digestable.
A Blast - By: Dogbertd, 09 Jan 2007 
In 800 brain- & finger-crushing pages Richard Rhodes outlines everything you might ever want to know about the Bomb & some things you won't. You'll start by wondering what HG Wells has to do with Leo Szilard & finish numbed by the description of the suffering of the people of Hiroshima. Along the way there are sometimes tedious side-avenues to be navigated: long sections on those earlier weapons of mass destruction; poison gas attacksin WWI & the firebombing of Hamburg, Dresden & Japan. While these will fill you with horror, they are not really pertinent to the bomb, except to show that Man's ingenuity made WMD long before he understood nuclear physics. Also tedious are the long descriptions of the endless committees governing the Manhattan Project & subsequent use of the Bomb - political history done better elsewhere. The science is sometimes not well explained, but on occasion the work is vividly presented - the successful building & testing of a nuclear pilein Chicago & the terrifying Dragon's Tail experiment are superbly described. All told, probably the best single volume history of the bomb currently available.
A Magnificent Work! - By: Martin Greenwood, 06 Jan 2006 This stunning piece of writing is a must for anyone with even passing interestin science & technology. It pulls together - so vividly & excitingly - the history of the science, the people, the politics, the war, & ultimately the aftermath of a weapon that barely 50 years previously no-one would have dreamt possible. This is the best book of its type that you will find.
Dazzling Light - By: Ellis J. Delmonte, 04 Apr 2005 Hard to add to the best reviews of this astonishing book. I'd normally struggle with an 800 page tome, but this had me riveted from beginning to end. Somehow, Richard Rhodes interweaves science, politics & the good old human egoin this tale of discovery, dedication, achievement & madness.
The sheer scale of the author's research is admirable enough, but the scale of that which he describes is vast. This is,in essence, how hard-won discoveries, often by brilliant individuals, gradually reveal the process of fission chain reaction, & how this knowledge is inevitably usurped by the militaryin a desperate, superhuman mobilisation of resources to create the first atomic bomb.
The book is more than the sum of its parts, which are grand enough. It touches on the human condition & how powerful we can be both as individuals & as dynamic, dedicated groups working towards a common goal. The goal here, terribly, is one of destruction, but the raw power of the bomb is mirroredin the controlled power of the writing & the hope that the author & contributors hold out for the wiser use of their terrifying 'gadget'.
Read it & be awed.
