It is a formidable task to attempt to assess the Manhatten Engineer District Project with its climax of two years at Los Alamos culminating in the atom bomb being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For what point of view could possibly encapsulate the whole meaning of Los Alamos, and what time-history perspective should one hold? When viewing this era and its consequences, two points emerge very clearly. Firstly, that it represents a turning point in academic/government relations and, secondly, that nuclear weapons have turned and plunged the world into a permanent cold war situation where 'peace' is an uneasy alliance of fear and mistrust.
This volume does not give a scientific analysis of how the bomb was made, neither does it offer an apology for nuclear weapons nor a glorification of them. Instead, it tells about the experiences of some of the people who lived at Los Alamos during those frenzied years. Through these 10 reminiscences, the reader is shown a side of Los Alamos that has never been recounted so affectionately. Written without undue sentimentality, the stories unfold the secret lives, morale and nationalism of the Los Alamos people, their fears and hopes, and reveals their emotions and thinking encountered from the heights of their professional successes right down to the humdrum of their daily lives. The reminiscences, of course, do not tell the full story of Los Alamos, but the intensity and consequences of the need for secrecy during this period, and the need for building the bomb before the Germans, are exposed as central threads whether the descriptions are of schooling for the children, housing problems, security procedures, or any of the other events which are told so vividly. Each contribution has its own charming flavour and many personal anecdotes are told with stimulating naughtiness, such as ways of eluding the letter censors by inventing codes, safe-cracking, breaking bounds, transporting delicate equipment over rough mountainous roads, etc. All the contributors discuss their relationships with other scientists and the army so that the reader is left in no doubt what Los Alamos was really like.
The collection also contains a chapter on how the site was selected and another gives a resume of the development of Los Alamos during the first 25 years after the war. These reminiscences then, viewed either singularly or together, give a real impression of Los Alamos during an era which, in retrospect, is regarded by the people involved as a time of personal richness.
This volume does not give a scientific analysis of how the bomb was made, neither does it offer an apology for nuclear weapons nor a glorification of them. Instead, it tells about the experiences of some of the people who lived at Los Alamos during those frenzied years. Through these 10 reminiscences, the reader is shown a side of Los Alamos that has never been recounted so affectionately. Written without undue sentimentality, the stories unfold the secret lives, morale and nationalism of the Los Alamos people, their fears and hopes, and reveals their emotions and thinking encountered from the heights of their professional successes right down to the humdrum of their daily lives. The reminiscences, of course, do not tell the full story of Los Alamos, but the intensity and consequences of the need for secrecy during this period, and the need for building the bomb before the Germans, are exposed as central threads whether the descriptions are of schooling for the children, housing problems, security procedures, or any of the other events which are told so vividly. Each contribution has its own charming flavour and many personal anecdotes are told with stimulating naughtiness, such as ways of eluding the letter censors by inventing codes, safe-cracking, breaking bounds, transporting delicate equipment over rough mountainous roads, etc. All the contributors discuss their relationships with other scientists and the army so that the reader is left in no doubt what Los Alamos was really like.
The collection also contains a chapter on how the site was selected and another gives a resume of the development of Los Alamos during the first 25 years after the war. These reminiscences then, viewed either singularly or together, give a real impression of Los Alamos during an era which, in retrospect, is regarded by the people involved as a time of personal richness.
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