109 East Palace, Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos  •  Jennet Conant BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2005 •  HARD COVER  • 432 PAGES This lively history of Los Alamos focuses not on the science but on the extraordinary social atmosphere of the place, its secret mission, stunning location and huge personalities. Conant tells the story of Los Alamos from the perspective of both Robert Oppenheimer and his friend and assistant Dorothy McKibbin. The author is the granddaughter of James B. Conant -- Harvard University President and chairman of the National Defense Research Committee during WWII. (SWU191, $26.95)
American Prometheus, The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer  •  Kai Bird  •  Martin Sherwin BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2006 •  PAPER  • 736 PAGES A big, exhaustively researched biography of the all-too-short life of Robert J. Oppenheimer, many years in the making. The authors (a journalist and literature professor) are interested in the full arc of his life. (SCI99, $40.00)
Atomic Spaces, Living on the Manhattan Project  •  Peter Bacon Hales HISTORY •  1999 •  PAPER  • 456 PAGES A detailed study of how American culture grew out of the tensions between ideals of obedience and freedom, efficiency and democracy, brought to light by the dawn of the atomic age. Rather than focusing only on the major events and players in the development of the atomic bomb, Hales describes the everyday workers and small worlds impacted by this work. He concentrates on the three key sites of the Manhattan Project: Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. Hales draws his information from thousands of never-before-studied documents. Nicely presented with 60 photographs. (USW425, $29.00)
The Atomic West  •  Bruce William Hevly  •  John M. Findlay HISTORY •  1998 •  PAPER  • 328 PAGES A series of essays concerning the history and effect of nuclear testing in the American West, as presented at a scholarly conference. (USW291, $25.00)
Brighter than a Thousand Suns, a Personal History of Atomic Scientists  •  Robert Jungk HISTORY •  1970 •  PAPER An early history of the Atomic Age featuring interviews with U.S. and German physicists, famously including Heisenberg. (HSC20, $14.00)
Brotherhood of the Bomb  •  Greg Herken HISTORY •  2002 •  HARD COVER  • 464 PAGES Science pressed into the service of politics is the subject of this new work on the Manhattan Project. Herken delivers a triple biography of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence and Edward Teller, the trio of physicists responsible for creating the atomic bomb. With a focus on their tumultuous relationship, Herken demonstrates how their personalities affected the course of science and history. Herken draws his information from private papers, interviews with Manhattan Project survivors, and recently released documents and coded intercepts obtained from FBI and KGB archives. (USW424, $30.00)
By Bomb's Early Light, American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age  •  Paul S. Boyer HISTORY •  1994 •  PAPER  • 440 PAGES A study of how the atomic bomb changed American society and culture in the 1940s and 50s. Author Paul S. Boyer incorporates numerous sources to illustrate the variety and wealth of public discourse stimulated by the development of the bomb. (HSC16, $27.50)
Critical Assembly, A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943-1945  •  Lillian Hoddeson  •  Paul W. Henriksen  •  Roger A. Meade  •  Catherine L. Westfall SCIENCE •  1993 •  HARD COVER  • 509 PAGES The best technical history of the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, covering from 1943-1945. It's a detailed and comprehensive account, rewarding for those who are willing to make the effort. (HSC23, $168.00)
The Day the Sun Rose Twice: The Story of the Trinity Site Nuclear Explosion, July 16, 1945  •  Ferenc Morton Szasz SCIENCE •  1995 •  PAPER  • 233 PAGES A concise and vividly written history of the Manhattan Project, focusing on the Trinity Site in New Mexico, where the first nuclear detonation occurred. (HSC18, $19.95)
Hiroshima  •  John Hersey HISTORY •  1989 •  PAPER  • 152 PAGES This classic book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, first published in 1946, puts a human face on the unthinkable. Hersey explores the tragedy through interviews with residents, scientists and politicians. (JPN20, $7.50)
In the Shadow of the Bomb  •  Silvan S. Schweber HISTORY •  2000 •  HARD COVER  • 256 PAGES A tale of how Hans Bethe and Robert Oppenheimer, both instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb, struggled with the consequences of their creation, and their role in influencing scientific policy as the cold war heated up. With biographies of both men, and analysis of the role of nuclear weapons in the cold war. Schweber sees Bethe as the hero. (HSC15, $57.50)
The Last Cheater's Waltz, Beauty and Violence in the Desert Southwest  •  Ellen Meloy TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2001 •  PAPER  • 256 PAGES A naturalist's travels through the desert Southwest of her youth, reflecting on native peoples, landscape and ecology. Meloy explores Los Alamos, Trinity National Historic Landmark, and White Sands Missile Range -- including the impact of the laboratory and bomb testing on the environment. (USW292, $17.95)
The Los Alamos Primer, the First Lectures on How to Build an Atomic Bomb  •  Robert Serber  •  Richard Rhodes SCIENCE •  1992 •  HARD COVER  • 98 PAGES A collection of original lecture notes concerning the construction of the atomic bomb from Robert Serber, one of the primary physicists involved in the Manhattan Project. Presented with commentary by Serber himself, written nearly half a century later, this volume may be heavy on the physics, but it is an important document in the history of science and warfare. (HSC17, $39.95)
Los Alamos, A Novel  •  Joseph Kanon MYSTERY •  1998 •  PAPER  • 517 PAGES A thriller set in Los Alamos in the 1940s, telling the story of an Army Intelligence agent who comes to investigate a murder. Real and fictional figures are woven into this page-turning yarn. (USW293, $7.99)
The Making of the Atomic Bomb  •  Richard Rhodes HISTORY •  1995 •  PAPER  • 886 PAGES From the discovery of the nucleus to the making of atomic bomb, this Pulitzer Prize winning book tackles the people, discoveries and places of the Atomic Age in spellbinding detail. Rhodes tells the story of nuclear physics in the first half of the 20th century, wartime work on the bomb, and how the world -- and especially science -- has grappled with the horrific consequences of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A major arc of the book is how a remarkable group of physicists, German and American, were thrust out of the ivory tower and into wartime efforts -- and onto the stage of world history. A remarkable accomplishment. (USW231, $20.00)
Now It Can Be Told, The Story of the Manhattan Project  •  Leslie R. Groves  •  Edward Teller HISTORY •  1983 •  PAPER  • 464 PAGES A history of the Manhattan Project as told by irascible General Leslie R. Groves, the military head of operations at Los Alamos. It's an engaging, personal account of the construction of the atom bomb by one of the major forces behind the scenes. (HSC21, $17.50)
Their Day in the Sun, Women of the Manhattan Project  •  Caroline L. Herzenberg  •  Ruth H. Howes  •  Ellen C. Weaver HISTORY •  1999 •  HARD COVER  • 280 PAGES Through interviews, written records, and photographs of the women, this book recounts the stories of the involvement of physicists, chemists, mathematicians, biologists, and lab technicians in the Manhattan Project. It addresses discrimination, recruitment for the war effort, as well as the attitudes they now hold about their contributions to the project. (USW290, $45.50)