Uranium Wars: The Scientific Rivalry that Created the Nuclear Age (MacSci) by Amir D. Aczel (PDF)

Description

Uranium, a nondescript element when found in nature, in the past century has become more sought after than gold. Its nucleus is so heavy that it is highly unstable and radioactive. If broken apart, it unleashes the tremendous power within the atom―the most controversial type of energy ever discovered. Set against the darkening shadow of World War II, Amir D. Aczel’s suspenseful account tells the story of the fierce competition among the day’s top scientists to harness nuclear power. The intensely driven Marie Curie identified radioactivity. The University of Berlin team of Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner–he an upright, politically conservative German chemist and she a soft-spoken Austrian Jewish theoretical physicist–achieved the most spectacular discoveries in fission. Curie’s daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, raced against Meitner and Hahn to break the secret of the splitting of the atom. As the war raged, Niels Bohr, a founder of modern physics, had a dramatic meeting with Werner Heisenberg, the German physicist in charge of the Nazi project to beat the Allies to the bomb. And finally, in 1942, Enrico Fermi, a prodigy from Rome who had fled the war to the United States, unleashed the first nuclear chain reaction in a racquetball court at the University of Chicago. At a time when the world is again confronted with the perils of nuclear armament, Amir D. Aczel’s absorbing story of a rivalry that changed the course of history is as thrilling and suspenseful as it is scientifically revelatory and newsworthy.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Author and Boston University research fellow Aczel (Fermat’s Last Theorem) shares a scientist’s history of nuclear chemistry in the 20th century, and its eventual application in the form of the atomic bomb. In the first half, Aczel covers figures of early modern science like the Curies in Paris, the Meitner-Hahn group in Berlin, and Italian physicists before they were driven out by the Fascists. (One of WWII’s greatest ironies is that the science Nazis dubbed “Jewish physics” gave the Allies their conquering weapon.) Newly released documents and post-war memoirs also help Azcel chronicle German scientists, like Werner Heisenberg, who participated in the Nazi bomb project. Aczel is at his most intriguing analyzing Truman’s decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima; further declassified U.S. documents reveal that the U.S. knew Japanese ambassadors were making peace offers in Moscow before the bombing, and that the destruction of Hiroshima was also meant to send a message to the Soviets. Using a wealth of new source material, Azcel covers the triumphs and mistakes that come from powerful, cutting-edge science, while sounding a cautionary alarm regarding ongoing global conflicts with terrorists and nations. Review “Combining these themes in a single, brief narrative is a difficult trick but one Aczel pulls off well…[he] writes with colour, lucidity and conviction.”—The Financial Times“The book covers several new developments of interest to atomic aficionados…Mr Aczel’s research is thorough and his conclusions interesting.”—The Economist“Fascinating…the history, especially of the second world war, make this a worthwhile book.”—New Scientist“The combination of clear, in-depth scientific explanation and outstanding research make this book, from the author of Fermat’s Last Theorem, the one you should grab.”–Discover“Aczel ponders the moral conduct of the scientists involved…he has developed rich anecdotes about their personalities and discoveries.”—The Globe and Mail“Endlessly compelling…Aczel is a skilled science writer”—Library Journal“A readable account of how nuclear bombs came to be made, deployed and developed…Aczel brings the story up to date.”–The Times“A fascinating examination of the events, the personalities, and the science that have led to the atomic bomb. A very timely book at an era in which nuclear proliferation has become a real danger.” — Mario Livio, best-selling author of Is God A Mathematician?“Reinforced by Aczel’s intent review of the historical controversy surrounding the 1941 meeting between physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, and of the decision (which Aczel criticizes) to use the new doomsday weapon on Japan, this synthesis of early atomic history strengthens Aczel’s reputation for writing accessible, well received popular works on physics and mathematics.”–Booklist“A concise and cogent review of one of the most exhilarating, yet fearsome, eras in the history of scientific discovery. Aczel sharply profiles the brilliant–and often conflicted–men and women who led us into the nuclear age.” — Marcia Bartusiak, author of Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony“Amir Aczel skillfully and lucidly traces the twists and turns of uranium: a once obscure metal that became, through chance discoveries and a string of intricate decisions, the chief character of one of the central political, military, and scientific developments of the twentieth century. Rarely has the story of nuclear fission been told in so clear and riveting a fashion.” — Michael D. Gordin author of Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War“Uranium Wars is a fascinating story of discovery, intrigue, clash of egos, spying, and international conflict. Aczel tells this amazing story in a racy and accessible style – with authority but lightness-of-touch to hold the reader spell-bound.” –David Clark, author of Newton’s Tyranny About the Author Amir D. Aczel is the bestselling author of Fermat’s Last Theorem, The Riddle of the Compass, and The Mystery of the Aleph, and a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book is a very shallow but capable treatment of the major personalities involved in the development of the atomic bomb.I’ve read many of the books about the development of the bomb and was enjoying this book’s easy-reading stories about some of the major people involved in the development until I got about 75% finished with the book.At that point the author made it very obvious that his real point in writing the book was to criticize the USA for actually dropping the bomb on Japan. He covered this from every angle and made it clear that while he was pretending to be fair what he really wanted to say was that the USA was wrong in dropping the bombs.I’ve personally thought long and hard about this myself and what I find is that most modern people who have this opinion that America was wrong in dropping the bombs are usually never able to transport themselves back in time to that era and remember how things really were.Yes its very easy in 2010 to criticize America for the bombs but I try to think what it would be like if I had lived in 1945 and my 2 sons were getting ready to invade Japan. I think about everything that happened on both sides leading up to August 1945. Why is Japan’s role in getting the bombs dropped on them played down?He makes very obvious that he feels Japan wanted desperately to surrender. I ask this scholar the simple question.. . if Japan wanted to surrender and therefore we not drop the bombs…then Japan could have solved this problem quite quickly but just surrendering. But JAPAN choose to keep killing Americans and we ended it. But of course in 2010 killing Americans is OK and we should understand why Japan did what they did and we should be more sympathetic. I should also note that while the bombs were absolutely horrible I think everyone agrees that ultimately less lives were lost as compared to an all-out invasion of Japan.There are many books out there on the dropping of the bomb especially Richard Rhodes masterpiece. I have a small collection of these books in my library and while all of them mention the debate about the dropping of the bomb, especially Szilard’s efforts, it seems like the main purpose of this book in its last 50-60 pages is to remind us Americans(very subtly of course) that we are a horrible and ruthless people for what we did.

⭐Having enjoyed Fermat’s Enigma (by Simon Singh) and mistakenly thinking I had read Aczel’s Fermat’s Last Theorem instead, I decided to ignore the negative reviews that Uranium Wars had begun to collect on Amazon.com. Big mistake. After a chapter or two only my morbid curiosity about what the author must have been trying to accomplish kept me reading to the bitter end of this strange little book. Not only does it seem to have been directed at a readership of early teenagers, its numerous technical inaccuracies and simplistic writing style make it read as though it was written by a very young and inexperienced author, and a rather sloppy one at that.Readers are informed that U-235 constitutes only 0.7% of naturally occurring uranium nearly every time the subject of isotope separation comes up. On page 89, after alpha particles, protons and neutrons already have been discussed several times, we are told that “alpha rays are heavy particles–they consist of four little particles…” (On the other hand Aczel seems to assume that readers are already familiar with the principles of quantum mechanics and fails to discuss wave-particle duality.) Competition between early investigators always has to be described as “fierce.” The list of insults to the intelligence of adults, even those with no background knowledge of science, goes on and on. And then on page 174 the author finds it necessary to tell us that observers of the Trinity nuclear test saw the flash before they heard the noise and felt the shock wave because “light, and radiation, travels so much faster than sound and air.”Not only do the extraordinary superficiality and numerous factual errors in Uranium Wars disqualify this book as a source of information about the interesting and timely subject of nuclear energy and weapons; the author’s style makes it dull reading to boot. Don’t make the same mistake that I did.

⭐And that was back in the days when the first bomb was built.So reading about Uranium and wars and how the product is managed is a very interesting subject.

⭐Uranium Wars was an excellent read – I couldnt hardly put this book down. Dr Aczel does a superb job of tracking the history of nuclear development without losing the very important scientific knowledge that went with it.

⭐Summary of well known facts of the Manhattan project that resulted in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.The author presents his personal view of the events that is different from the US ‘official’ view. It is interesting to readabout the patent hold for an atom bomb by Mr. Szilard from Hungary, but he actually was not a member of the Manhattan group.Two stars, a controversial book.

⭐According to tha author, this book was a spin-off of his research work on the history of development of nuclear weapon financed by AIP (American Institute of Physics).I found this book extremely well written presenting the history of development of atomic bomb, describing vividly the contibutions of the scientists involved in the development.The author is careful explaining the technical terms as well as profiles of scientists appeared in the text at the beginning of the book.This certainly helps the raeders with no scientific background to be able to follow the main text of the book without difficulty.This book came to my attention when I made order at Amazon.uk for a book1) Command the Morning by Pearl S. Buckwhich I got to know through a book review on a Japanese newspaper for its Japanese-translated version.As I always perfer to read any book in originally-written language if possible, I managed to find the Pearl Buck book on Amazon.uk.Actually, it is my habit to order several books in similar category at once to Amazon aiming at reducing proportion of delivery cost in single purchase.In this particular case of purchasing the cited book authored by Amir D. Aczel, I purchased the following books and am very satisfied with all.2) Forschen -Suche und Sucht- “Eine Biographie von Walter Noddack und Ida Noddack-Tacke” by Hans G. Tilgner,3) Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project -A Study of German Cultur- by Paul L. Rose

⭐having read extensively on this subject I was expecting another in-depth read but it was far too lightweight to learn anything new – not a book I would recommend to serious students of the subject.

⭐A piece of history very well told

⭐やはり日本人であるので，原爆の開発の歴史について，勉強したいと思っていました。本書は新聞の書評で知りましたが，いずれも評判がよく，とりあえず，原書で読んでみました（日本語版も出ています）。19世紀以降，原子の中身が研究され，20世紀に入ってから飛躍的に進歩します。その帰結が原子爆弾であったのは悲しいことで，平和利用のはずの原子力発電は戦後になってから開発されました。ドイツの鉱山で不思議な金属が発見され，それがウランであることが確認されるのが18世紀末のことでした。それから，特にこの鉱物の利用方法もなく，にわかに注目されるようになるのが100年ほど経って，ベクレルによる放射線の発見でした。翌年にはキュリー夫妻によりラジウムとポロニウムが発見され，研究が進んでいきます。その後，ウラン鉱物に中性子をぶつけるとどうなるかと言う実験が始まり，ハーンによる核分裂が確認されます。ハーンはこの功績でノーベル賞を受賞していますね。しかし，ハーンは化学者であり，実際に核分裂であることを理論的に解析したのは同僚のリーゼ・マイトナーでした。核分裂の発見は彼女の方が功績が大きいと思うのですが，なぜか彼女はノーベル賞を受賞していません。また，同じ実験をしていた，イレーヌ・キュリー（マリー・キュリーの娘）達はハーンらの発見を聞いて，泣いて悔しがったということです。陰にいたのはイタリアのフェルミです。彼は前年，93番目の原子を発見したと言うことでノーベル賞を受賞しています。原子核に中性子をぶつけたら大きくなるとフェルミのみならず普通の人はそう考えた時代で，無理もありませんでした。実際には分裂してバリウムやストロンチウムなど，小さな原子核の物質が出てくるのですが。ノーベル賞委員会は前年にこのような授賞をしているので，マイトナーの功績は認めたくなかったのか，女性差別だったのか，詳しいことは闇の中です。しかし，これらの科学者達はパンドラの箱を開けてしまいました….。特に，フェルミはマンハッタン計画に積極的に関与し，世界初の原子炉を開発し，原爆開発の嚆矢となりました。本書はマンハッタン計画についても詳しく記述し，原爆開発までの過程がよくわかります。さて，本書の評価についてはなにより，著者が公正に歴史を評価し，原爆開発を批判していることで，冒頭の場面が広島への原爆投下であり，被害者の立場になって記述を進めているのはとても好感が持てます。また，そもそも「日本への原爆投下は必要だったのか」という疑問を最初から提示しつつ，その結論を出しています。著者は，日本は原爆投下がなくても敗北するのは明らかな状況であり，原爆投下は必要なかったと書いています。むしろ，日本に原爆を投下したことにより戦後，核兵器が拡散し，核開発競争が激化して核の恐怖が現実のものとなった，と批判しています。こういった内容の本が英語で書かれたことをうれしく思いました。ただ，惜しいのは図版が少なく，そもそも原子の周期律表くらいはつけてほしいと思います。また，原爆についても，プルトニウム型とウラン型では構造が大きく異なるのですが，そういった図版はありません。また，フェルミがシカゴ大学に作った世界初の原子炉も写真はあっても図がないので，どのような構造だったのか，よくわかりません。と言う次第で☆1個，減点です。

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