This is one of those books that has it all: fascinating personalities, fundamental scientific discoveries explained with
utter clarity, and the birth of political issues that are as relevant today as they were 60 years ago. That it is almost certainly the best book on the development of the atomic bomb is in itself remarkable, as the field is already crowded with mediocre efforts. Rhodes makes an entire era - the first half of the 20th Century - come alive in exacting detail.
The book starts with a ruminating Leo Szilard as he wanders the streets of London, with the concept of an atom bomb germinating in his mind. His
personality is so quirky, his propensity to find just the right contact to advance his agenda, make him the ideal vehicle to follow the story of the harnessing of the atom for military purpose. But to offer a full view, Rhodes starts with the Curies and their milieu, when they discovered radiation - a fundamental new form of energy that could not be explained by chemistry - that was the start of the 20C revolution in physics. Not only does this story cover such luminaries as Einstein and Bohr, but it includes many others lesser known, who added their discoveries to the pieces of the puzzle that finally elucidated the structure of the atom. These developments are also brilliantly set in European and American history, where the rise of Nazism renders them frighteningly relevant. In addition, other issues are addressed, such as the reason for the sudden blossoming of several Hungarian geniuses, including Szilard and von Neumann, who left their homeland for the US.
Then Rhodes moves to the practical question of the Bomb's development, which was accomplished predominantly by European scientists in exile and some remarkable Americans as well. Here, you witness Enrico Fermi as he creates the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction in Chicago; the flowering of Oppenheimer's genius for administration; and the efforts that Heisenberg led, and perhaps sabotaged, in Nazi Germany. Each personality is given the depth you would expect in a
historical novel with adventure, such as Bohr's flight from Norway, and the infighting that went on behind the scenes. It is simply a masterpiece of historical reporting.