<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Concise
Review: I read this as a follow up to 'the making of the Atomic Bomb'. It didn't just rehash what I had already read. Lot's of fresh material and interesting insights.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than a thriller
Review: It was shear chance that I came across this book in the library. I have read it twice already and I think I will buy it. Definitely a collectors item for those who are even half as interested as I am in the facts about the bomb and the world war.
Rating:
Summary: Jungk's history is far from Junk.
Review: Often times, books loose a great deal when translated. I haven't read the original German version of this book, but the English version is so captivating that I can't imagine much was lost in the change of language.
If you want to learn more, not only about the scientists who developed the bomb, but the issues surrounding its use and further development you can't to better than this book. It is exceptionally well written, and superbly translated. It's fabulous to have a record so well researched written by someone in a position that is far more objective than an American's would have been at that time.
The book starts you off after World War I in Göttingen, the mecca for scientific thought at the time. The early chapters lay an excellent foundation for the readers understanding of the issues surrounding the development of the atomic bomb.
The account of the research at Los Alamos is very well covered, and Jungk avoids going to deeply into the technical aspects of the research. This makes it accessible to anyone, regardless of their depth of scientific knowledge. (I also recommend Richard Feynman's "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman" for an anecdotal, and more whimsical account of the Los Alamos research.)
The most fascinating part of the book for me was the discussion of the events leading up to the use of the atomic bomb in Japan. I have used this book many times as a source for arguing that the atomic assault on Japan was not necessary. The unique thing that "...Suns" provides is the perspective of the scientist's involved. Instead of only discussing the political aspect, and occasionally mentioning Oppenheimer or Teller, as other texts about the bomb tend to do, Jungk gives the reader clear view of the scientist's perspective on military deployment of an atomic weapon. (The Franck Report is appended.)
Finally, the beginning of the arms race is explored, up through Russia's and the United States' development of hydrogen bombs. No doubt this section would have been more complete had the book been written later. However, I found that reading the book now, with the knowledge of the extent of the cold war and the arms race makes reading the perspective of someone who was witnessing the beginnings of it even more interesting.
One usually does not think of history as something that enthralls so deeply as this book does. It is perhaps the most engaging book I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Jungk's history is far from Junk.
Review: Often times, books loose a great deal when translated. I haven't read the original German version of this book, but the English version is so captivating that I can't imagine much was lost in the change of language.
If you want to learn more, not only about the scientists who developed the bomb, but the issues surrounding its use and further development you can't to better than this book. It is exceptionally well written, and superbly translated. It's fabulous to have a record so well researched written by someone in a position that is far more objective than an American's would have been at that time.
The book starts you off after World War I in Göttingen, the mecca for scientific thought at the time. The early chapters lay an excellent foundation for the readers understanding of the issues surrounding the development of the atomic bomb.
The account of the research at Los Alamos is very well covered, and Jungk avoids going to deeply into the technical aspects of the research. This makes it accessible to anyone, regardless of their depth of scientific knowledge. (I also recommend Richard Feynman's "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman" for an anecdotal, and more whimsical account of the Los Alamos research.)
The most fascinating part of the book for me was the discussion of the events leading up to the use of the atomic bomb in Japan. I have used this book many times as a source for arguing that the atomic assault on Japan was not necessary. The unique thing that "...Suns" provides is the perspective of the scientist's involved. Instead of only discussing the political aspect, and occasionally mentioning Oppenheimer or Teller, as other texts about the bomb tend to do, Jungk gives the reader clear view of the scientist's perspective on military deployment of an atomic weapon. (The Franck Report is appended.)
Finally, the beginning of the arms race is explored, up through Russia's and the United States' development of hydrogen bombs. No doubt this section would have been more complete had the book been written later. However, I found that reading the book now, with the knowledge of the extent of the cold war and the arms race makes reading the perspective of someone who was witnessing the beginnings of it even more interesting.
One usually does not think of history as something that enthralls so deeply as this book does. It is perhaps the most engaging book I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Serious book about science that reads like a thriller
Review: Robert Jungk went to a lot of trouble to interview as many people as possible who'd worked on the A-bomb, and produced this well written history of the Manhatten Project. It's a bit dated, but if I had to recommend three books on this subject, this would be one of them (the others would be Richard Rhode's THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB and Lillian Hoddeson's CRITICAL ASSEMBLY). There's interesting information in here I haven't read anywhere else, and I've read over a dozen books on the Manhatten Project.
Rating:
Summary: Illuminated portrait !
Review: This a clear and terrible book. It can be considered as one of the most complete compelling and passionate works about the most chilling decision in the mankind story . the moral and politic story of the atomic scientists or the underground account of what happened among stage sceneries while the atomic finding and the construction of the atomic weapons . An impressing gallery where you will finf the famous and glorious names osuch as Niels Bohr , Oppenheimer , Heisenberg , Rutherford, Enrico Fermi , Szilard , Dirac , Joliot Curie , Kapitza , Otto Hahn , Weizacker their political approach , from Hitler to Roosvelt and Truman .
Jungk presnts us the collective drama of the atomic energy and the responsibility of the scientists who wishing or not they finally finished accepting the tragicg fate and the ethical dilemma .
The fir4st part is an account which reveals how gradually at early 1939 , many of them were frightened about the final consequences of their discovery , but in the other hand the suspect the german scientists could be capable of making the expected weapon under Hitler service .
Then the author explores the work of the German scientists around the atom fission , the intensive and unfinished stages work in U.K. and U.SA. under the Oppenheimer control, Los Alamos review and the famous July 16 , the countless Szilard and Frank efforts for preventing and avoid the use of the Atomic Bomb over Japan absolutely useless as all we know .
This book shows us how the science has created its own world having lost of any moral force to oppose the development of the most destructive weapons .
The moral crossroad of a notable group of men who escaping from a demolisher oppressive nazi regime fell under a new form of destructor power of its own individuality , freedom and conscience
To have an absolute domain of that complex web I recommend to acquire The great decision whose author is Michael Amrine..
A must for any kind of reader , no matter your job is .
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting and easy to read
Review: This book was written nearly 50 years ago in the 1950's, so naturally some of the stories are incomplete with todays hindsight, but I wish I'd read this book 20 years ago. It is extremely well written, and full of fascinating anecdotes. Although I am familiar with many of the characters & stories, there was something new for me in every chapter, for example the insights into Oppenheimer in Germany before WWII. It would be wonderful if a revised version could be published incorporating the story of the Soviet Atom Scientists.
Rating: 
Summary: Historical Revisionism at its worst
Review: While an easy to read book, Jungk presents some false information that depreciates the value of the book. The first is the impression that Von Weisacker and other German scientists attempted to give to the post war world, that they were not really trying to build a bomb, but were merely interested in nuclear power. This is refuted by Jeremy Bernstein, in his book "Hitler's Uranium Club." The historical record shows that there were many memorandums sent to the German Military, by the scientists, about the possibility of producing an atomic bomb. The more serious misstatement however, is about Klaus Fuchs' espionage on the Manhattan Project which was the most damaging espionage committed by any of the atomic spies of that era. Jungk claims that Fuchs decided to spy for the Soviet Union when he learned about plans to bomb Hiroshima. This is so off base that one has to question Jungk's scholarship or motives. Here is why: Fuchs began spying for the Soviets in 1941 in Britain, before Pearl Harbor and before there was even a Manhattan Project. The decision to acutally bomb Hiroshima was made in 1945. None of the scientists know what the targets were. This is such a huge distortion of the facts that it should be mentioned in any review of this book. The book has lots of details but if you buy it, beware of some of the downright distortions of history. A better choice is Richard Rhodes's book, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb".
Rating:
Summary: Historical Revisionism at its worst
Review: While an easy to read book, Jungk presents some false information that depreciates the value of the book. The first is the impression that Von Weisacker and other German scientists attempted to give to the post war world, that they were not really trying to build a bomb, but were merely interested in nuclear power. This is refuted by Jeremy Bernstein, in his book "Hitler's Uranium Club." The historical record shows that there were many memorandums sent to the German Military, by the scientists, about the possibility of producing an atomic bomb. The more serious misstatement however, is about Klaus Fuchs' espionage on the Manhattan Project which was the most damaging espionage committed by any of the atomic spies of that era. Jungk claims that Fuchs decided to spy for the Soviet Union when he learned about plans to bomb Hiroshima. This is so off base that one has to question Jungk's scholarship or motives. Here is why: Fuchs began spying for the Soviets in 1941 in Britain, before Pearl Harbor and before there was even a Manhattan Project. The decision to acutally bomb Hiroshima was made in 1945. None of the scientists know what the targets were. This is such a huge distortion of the facts that it should be mentioned in any review of this book. The book has lots of details but if you buy it, beware of some of the downright distortions of history. A better choice is Richard Rhodes's book, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb".
<< 1 >>
|
