Steve Sheinkin's Bomb: The Race to Build --- and Steal --- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon
My submitted review beneath the cut:
At the end of Steve Sheinkin's book BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD AND STEAL THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON is a copy of a letter to President Roosevelt from Albert Einstein. Dated August 2nd, 1939, the letter outlines the potential for Germany to weaponize uranium and the need for a coordinated response from the scientific community. This letter --- composed for Einstein by Leó Szilárd whose work with Enrico Fermi would bring about the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction --- provides the theoretical framework for the Manhattan Project, an initiative involving some of the greatest minds of the century to create the world's first atom bomb.
Steve Sheinkin’s BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD AND STEAL THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON uses the lives of scientists, saboteurs, and spies to tell the story of the first atomic bomb. With material gleaned from archival materials and declassified government reports Sheinkin includes tales of Norweigan saboteurs who helped destroy Hitler’s capability to create nuclear materials, as well as the stories of numerous spies who ferried scientific discoveries --- and sometimes the scientists themselves --- across international borders of a world at war. At first thrilling tales of adventure and intrigue, these seemingly separate threads eventually narrow down to the atomic bomb and the terrible consequences of creating a weapon of such overwhelmingly destructive powers.
Sheinkin includes key personalities and first person accounts of the creation, deployment and aftermath of the atomic bombs. Among these one of the most charismatic of the movement J. Robert Oppenheimer emerges as a tragic figure. A physicist at University Berkeley he was handpicked by General Leslie Grove to recruit scientists and coordinate scientific efforts. Oppenheimer goes from absent-minded professor to genius mastermind before he is broken by the weight of his conscience and by the vote of no-confidence by his country. Always under suspicion for his one-time connection with Communism, Oppenheimer’s outspoken opposition to using the powerful weapon he was instrumental in creating eventually led to congress to strip his security clearance, removing him from the role of researcher and advisor to the U.S. government forever.
BOMB is filled with striking moments and images. Even readers familiar with the topic will be impressed by the breadth and depth of Sheinkin’s research and how much information he manages to condense into a this small book. Simple diagrams help explain the nuclear fission process and the different methods the Manhattan Project came up with to weaponize the energy potential of the split atom. For the first time, with the aid of pictures of simple explanations, I was able to understand that they developed not one bomb, but two bombs utilizing different trigger methods and different core materials. Likewise, the outrageous communist hunts of the era seem saner in the context of how Soviets --- then allies in the war --- were able to access nuclear secrets.
But perhaps the most striking aspect of BOMB is the way it subtly begs one central question: why? Knowing the risks they took to create it, and the devastating destruction that would result, why did scientists do this research? Why did spies give away the secrets? How could someone choose to use such a terrible weapon? What is to be done now that the secret is unlocked and we must live with the consequences?
Sheinkin does not answer these questions directly, but gives us many explanations, sometimes from the people who had to make the decisions for themselves. Many of the scientists involved in the project were excited by the challenge of nuclear research, at the same time believing Hitler to be an imminent threat.
“For me, Hitler was the personification of evil, and the primary justification for the atomic bomb work,” said physicist Emilio Segrè. “Now that the bomb could not be used against the Nazis, doubts arose. Those doubts, even if they do not appear in official reports, were discussed in many private discussions.” (p166)
Physicist Ted Hall who didn’t reveal until the 1990s his involvement in giving nuclear secrets to the Soviets justified his decisions --- for which he was never prosecuted --- by saying, “An American monopoly would be dangerous and should be prevented.” (p 135) His actions helped contribute to the Cold War and the philosophy of mutually assured destruction… that one country could not unleash their weaponry without putting their own nation, or even the whole world at risk.
Perhaps the most difficult decision was made by President Truman when he decided to use the bombs on Japan, effectively ending the war. Since that time there has been a great deal of controversy about this decision: the only time when nuclear bombs have actually been used in war. After an 82 day battle for the island of Okinawa took the lives of 12,000 American soldiers, the U.S. military was preparing to invade Japan. When General George Marshall told Truman this invasion was likely to result in a quarter of a million casualties, Truman decided to use the bombs. “It was a question of saving hundreds of thousands of American lives,” he said. “I couldn’t worry about what history would say about my personal morality. I made the only decision I ever knew how to make. I did what I thought was right.” (p. 189)
I believe the best non-fiction books are not merely educational, but instill something extra in their reader: the ability to start asking questions about what they’re reading and whether it has resonance in their own lives. Though a timeline and a ‘rogues gallery’ of key players would be helpful additions to BOMB, Sheinkin’s book achieves what other non-fiction titles do not. In writing a book about the development of the atomic bomb, Sheinkin takes on some of the biggest moral quandries of our time. In the epilogue Sheinkin acknowledges the difficulties of addressing such a big topic. “In the end, this is a difficult story to sum up,” he writes. “The making of the atomic bomb is one of history’s most amazing examples of teamwork and genius and poise under pressure. But it’s also the story of how humans created a weapon capable of wiping our species off the planet. It’s a story with no end in sight… And like it or not you’re in it.” (p236)
But I prefer to invoke Oppenheimer’s speech upon his resignation from the Manhattan Project October 16, 1945. Presented with a commendation from the government and the staff of Las Alamos he said, “It is my hope that in years to come we may look at this scroll, and all it signifies, with pride… Today that pride must be tempered with a profound concern… If atomic bombs are to be added as new weapons to the arsenals of a warring world, or to the arsenals of nations preparing for war, then the time will come when mankind will cruse the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima…. The peoples of this world must unite or they will perish.” (p 215)
What awes me most in reading BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD AND STEAL THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON is not the terrible destruction wrought by the world’s most brilliant minds, but the fact that it has not been used in warfare, again. Despite the conflict our world has seen since 1945, humanity has been united in its decision not to deploy nuclear weapons. It is my hope that the sights Sheinkin describes in his book --- whether the brilliant light and colors of a nuclear explosion, or the horror and devastation that follows --- will never be seen, again.
For readers who interested in BOMB I recommend the following titles and resources:
* The Dark Game: True Spy Stories by Paul Janeczko - numerous thrilling real-life spy stories
* Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss - an illustrated biography of Marie & Pierre Curie and the discovery and applications of radium.
* The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages - A fictional title about the children of scientists at Las Alamos. The sequel White Sands, Red Menace is also excellent.
* Tamar by Mal Peet - A fictional account of British spies and Dutch resistance groups during the Hunger Winter of 1944.
* Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - A fictional account of two female pilots serving in the British Air Transport Authority who are caught up in espionage.
* The Nuclear Files - an online project by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation containing timelines, archival documents, and a variety of educational materials about the history, development, and ongoing issues related to atomic weapons and energy: http://www.nuclearfiles.org
* The Truman Library - The Truman presidential library makes a wide variety of documents relating to Truman’s presidency --- and his decision to drop the bomb --- available on line: http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/index.php
The review as it appears on Teenreads:
http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/bomb-the-race-to-build-and-steal-the-worlds-most-dangerous-weapon
At the end of Steve Sheinkin's book BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD AND STEAL THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON is a copy of a letter to President Roosevelt from Albert Einstein. Dated August 2nd, 1939, the letter outlines the potential for Germany to weaponize uranium and the need for a coordinated response from the scientific community. This letter --- composed for Einstein by Leó Szilárd whose work with Enrico Fermi would bring about the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction --- provides the theoretical framework for the Manhattan Project, an initiative involving some of the greatest minds of the century to create the world's first atom bomb.
Steve Sheinkin’s BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD AND STEAL THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON uses the lives of scientists, saboteurs, and spies to tell the story of the first atomic bomb. With material gleaned from archival materials and declassified government reports Sheinkin includes tales of Norweigan saboteurs who helped destroy Hitler’s capability to create nuclear materials, as well as the stories of numerous spies who ferried scientific discoveries --- and sometimes the scientists themselves --- across international borders of a world at war. At first thrilling tales of adventure and intrigue, these seemingly separate threads eventually narrow down to the atomic bomb and the terrible consequences of creating a weapon of such overwhelmingly destructive powers.
Sheinkin includes key personalities and first person accounts of the creation, deployment and aftermath of the atomic bombs. Among these one of the most charismatic of the movement J. Robert Oppenheimer emerges as a tragic figure. A physicist at University Berkeley he was handpicked by General Leslie Grove to recruit scientists and coordinate scientific efforts. Oppenheimer goes from absent-minded professor to genius mastermind before he is broken by the weight of his conscience and by the vote of no-confidence by his country. Always under suspicion for his one-time connection with Communism, Oppenheimer’s outspoken opposition to using the powerful weapon he was instrumental in creating eventually led to congress to strip his security clearance, removing him from the role of researcher and advisor to the U.S. government forever.
BOMB is filled with striking moments and images. Even readers familiar with the topic will be impressed by the breadth and depth of Sheinkin’s research and how much information he manages to condense into a this small book. Simple diagrams help explain the nuclear fission process and the different methods the Manhattan Project came up with to weaponize the energy potential of the split atom. For the first time, with the aid of pictures of simple explanations, I was able to understand that they developed not one bomb, but two bombs utilizing different trigger methods and different core materials. Likewise, the outrageous communist hunts of the era seem saner in the context of how Soviets --- then allies in the war --- were able to access nuclear secrets.
But perhaps the most striking aspect of BOMB is the way it subtly begs one central question: why? Knowing the risks they took to create it, and the devastating destruction that would result, why did scientists do this research? Why did spies give away the secrets? How could someone choose to use such a terrible weapon? What is to be done now that the secret is unlocked and we must live with the consequences?
Sheinkin does not answer these questions directly, but gives us many explanations, sometimes from the people who had to make the decisions for themselves. Many of the scientists involved in the project were excited by the challenge of nuclear research, at the same time believing Hitler to be an imminent threat.
“For me, Hitler was the personification of evil, and the primary justification for the atomic bomb work,” said physicist Emilio Segrè. “Now that the bomb could not be used against the Nazis, doubts arose. Those doubts, even if they do not appear in official reports, were discussed in many private discussions.” (p166)
Physicist Ted Hall who didn’t reveal until the 1990s his involvement in giving nuclear secrets to the Soviets justified his decisions --- for which he was never prosecuted --- by saying, “An American monopoly would be dangerous and should be prevented.” (p 135) His actions helped contribute to the Cold War and the philosophy of mutually assured destruction… that one country could not unleash their weaponry without putting their own nation, or even the whole world at risk.
Perhaps the most difficult decision was made by President Truman when he decided to use the bombs on Japan, effectively ending the war. Since that time there has been a great deal of controversy about this decision: the only time when nuclear bombs have actually been used in war. After an 82 day battle for the island of Okinawa took the lives of 12,000 American soldiers, the U.S. military was preparing to invade Japan. When General George Marshall told Truman this invasion was likely to result in a quarter of a million casualties, Truman decided to use the bombs. “It was a question of saving hundreds of thousands of American lives,” he said. “I couldn’t worry about what history would say about my personal morality. I made the only decision I ever knew how to make. I did what I thought was right.” (p. 189)
I believe the best non-fiction books are not merely educational, but instill something extra in their reader: the ability to start asking questions about what they’re reading and whether it has resonance in their own lives. Though a timeline and a ‘rogues gallery’ of key players would be helpful additions to BOMB, Sheinkin’s book achieves what other non-fiction titles do not. In writing a book about the development of the atomic bomb, Sheinkin takes on some of the biggest moral quandries of our time. In the epilogue Sheinkin acknowledges the difficulties of addressing such a big topic. “In the end, this is a difficult story to sum up,” he writes. “The making of the atomic bomb is one of history’s most amazing examples of teamwork and genius and poise under pressure. But it’s also the story of how humans created a weapon capable of wiping our species off the planet. It’s a story with no end in sight… And like it or not you’re in it.” (p236)
But I prefer to invoke Oppenheimer’s speech upon his resignation from the Manhattan Project October 16, 1945. Presented with a commendation from the government and the staff of Las Alamos he said, “It is my hope that in years to come we may look at this scroll, and all it signifies, with pride… Today that pride must be tempered with a profound concern… If atomic bombs are to be added as new weapons to the arsenals of a warring world, or to the arsenals of nations preparing for war, then the time will come when mankind will cruse the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima…. The peoples of this world must unite or they will perish.” (p 215)
What awes me most in reading BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD AND STEAL THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON is not the terrible destruction wrought by the world’s most brilliant minds, but the fact that it has not been used in warfare, again. Despite the conflict our world has seen since 1945, humanity has been united in its decision not to deploy nuclear weapons. It is my hope that the sights Sheinkin describes in his book --- whether the brilliant light and colors of a nuclear explosion, or the horror and devastation that follows --- will never be seen, again.
For readers who interested in BOMB I recommend the following titles and resources:
* The Dark Game: True Spy Stories by Paul Janeczko - numerous thrilling real-life spy stories
* Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss - an illustrated biography of Marie & Pierre Curie and the discovery and applications of radium.
* The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages - A fictional title about the children of scientists at Las Alamos. The sequel White Sands, Red Menace is also excellent.
* Tamar by Mal Peet - A fictional account of British spies and Dutch resistance groups during the Hunger Winter of 1944.
* Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - A fictional account of two female pilots serving in the British Air Transport Authority who are caught up in espionage.
* The Nuclear Files - an online project by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation containing timelines, archival documents, and a variety of educational materials about the history, development, and ongoing issues related to atomic weapons and energy: http://www.nuclearfiles.org
* The Truman Library - The Truman presidential library makes a wide variety of documents relating to Truman’s presidency --- and his decision to drop the bomb --- available on line: http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/index.php
The review as it appears on Teenreads:
http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/bomb-the-race-to-build-and-steal-the-worlds-most-dangerous-weapon