Overview
- This is the only introductory-level history of the Project prepared by a writer who is a physicist and who has broad knowledge of the relevant scientific details
- Ideal for readers who have no specialized physics background but who want to learn more about how atomic bombs came to be
- Provides a deeper understanding of some of the technical issues involved in developing atomic bombs for those readers who possess high-school physics knowledge
- An ideal text for a college-level “general education” history or science class
- Based on years of research by the author into the physics of nuclear weapons, augmented by familiarity with relevant official archival documentation
- Second edition significantly extended and enhanced
Part of the book series: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics (ULNP)
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
The development of atomic bombs under the auspices of the U.S. Army’s Manhattan Project during World War II is considered to be the outstanding news story of the twentieth century. In this book, a physicist and expert on the history of the Project presents a comprehensive overview of this momentous achievement. The first three chapters cover the history of nuclear physics from the discovery of radioactivity to the discovery of fission, and would be ideal for instructors of a sophomore-level “Modern Physics” course. Student-level exercises at the ends of the chapters are accompanied by answers. Chapter 7 covers the physics of first-generation fission weapons at a similar level, again accompanied by exercises and answers. For the interested layman and for non-science students and instructors, the book includes extensive qualitative material on the history, organization, implementation, and results of the Manhattan Project and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing missions. The reader also learns about the legacy of the Project as reflected in the current world stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
This second edition contains important revisions and additions, including a new chapter on the German atomic bomb program and new sections on British and Canadian contributions to the Manhattan project and on feed materials. Several other sections have been expanded; reader feedback has been helpful in introducing minor corrections and improved explanations; and, last but not least, the second edition includes a detailed index.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
The author holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Waterloo (Canada) and has published over 30 technical and semi-popular-level papers on the Manhattan Project and related nuclear history in publications such as American Journal of Physics, The Physics Teacher, European Journal of Physics, Natural Science, American Scientist, Physics & Society and Physics in Perspective. In 2009 he was made a Fellow of the American Physical Society in recognition of his contributions “ … to the history of both the physics and the development of nuclear weapons in the Manhattan Project.”
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The History and Science of the Manhattan Project
Authors: Bruce Cameron Reed
Series Title: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-58175-9
Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-662-58174-2Published: 01 March 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-662-58175-9Published: 19 February 2019
Series ISSN: 2192-4791
Series E-ISSN: 2192-4805
Edition Number: 2
Number of Pages: XVIII, 538
Number of Illustrations: 163 b/w illustrations, 27 illustrations in colour
Topics: Nuclear Physics, Heavy Ions, Hadrons, History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Nuclear Chemistry