The Making of the Atomic Bomb
The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a contemporary history book written by the American journalist and historian Richard Rhodes, first published by Simon & Schuster in 1987. It won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction,[1] the National Book Award for Nonfiction,[2] and a National Book Critics Circle Award.[3] The narrative covers people and events from early 20th century discoveries leading to the science of nuclear fission, the Manhattan Project, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
 | |
| Author | Richard Rhodes |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Subject | Manhattan Project |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 1986 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) |
| Pages | 886 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 0-671-44133-7 |
| OCLC | 231117096 |
| 623.4/5119/09 19 | |
| LC Class | QC773 .R46 1986 |
| Followed by | Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb |
Praised both by historians and former Los Alamos weapon engineers and scientists, the book is considered a general authority on early nuclear weapons history, as well as the development of modern physics in general, during the first half of the 20th century. I. I. Rabi, a Nobel laureate and one of the prime participants in the dawn of the atomic age, called it "an epic worthy of Milton. Nowhere else have I seen the whole story put down with such elegance and gusto and in such revealing detail and simple language which carries the reader through wonderful and profound scientific discoveries and their application."[4]
References
- "The 1988 Pulitzer Prize Winner in General Nonfiction". The Pulitzer Prizes | Columbia University. n.d. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
For a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).
- "The Making of the Atomic Bomb | Winner, National Book Awards 1987 for Nonfiction". National Book Foundation. n.d. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
- "1987 Winners & Finalists". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- The book's entry on Amazon.com uses the quotation in "Editorial Reviews".
Further reading
- Broad, William J. (February 8, 1987). "The Men Who Made the Sun Rise". 7. The New York Times (Late City Final ed.). New York. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- "Reviewed Work: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes". The Wilson Quarterly. 11 (3): 149–150. Summer 1987. ISSN 0363-3276. JSTOR 40257714. OCLC 743409751.
- "Reviewed Work: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes". Social Studies of Science. 20 (3): 565–566. August 1990. doi:10.1177/030631290020003009. JSTOR 285000. S2CID 220880171.
- Hacker, Barton C. (June 1990). "Reviewed Work: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes". The American Historical Review. 95 (3): 935–936. doi:10.2307/2164503. JSTOR 2164503.
- Collins, Angelo (1988). "Reviewed Work: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes". The American Biology Teacher. 50 (8): 532. doi:10.2307/4448825. JSTOR 4448825.
- Bunn, Matthew (May 1988). "The Bomb's Brilliant History". Arms Control Today. 18 (4): 29–30. JSTOR 23623906.
- Gruber, Carol S. (May 22, 1987). "Reviewed Work: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes". Science. 236 (4804): 974–975. doi:10.1126/science.236.4804.974. JSTOR 1699656. PMID 17812757.
- Hughes, Sally Smith (1988). "Reviewed Work: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes". The Oral History Review. 16 (1): 187–189. doi:10.1093/ohr/16.1.187. JSTOR 3674840.
- Wang, Zuoyue (October 1989). "Reviewed Work: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes". Technology and Culture. 30 (4): 1078–1081. doi:10.2307/3106232. JSTOR 3106232.
- Bernstein, Barton J. (1990). "An Analysis of 'Two Cultures': Writing about the Making and the Using of the Atomic Bombs". The Public Historian. 12 (2): 83–107. doi:10.2307/3378693. JSTOR 3378693.