A Primer on the Manhattan Project
Four books that capture the drama and struggles of Robert Oppenheimer and the building of the first atomic bomb.
AMERICAN PROMETHEUS: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (2005), BY KAI BIRD AND MARTIN J. SHERWIN
Winner of a Pulitzer Prize, this compelling biography of Oppenheimer is based on more than 25 years of scholarship and renders a full, unforgettable portrait of the scientist, from early promise to public defenestration.
109 EAST PALACE: ROBERT OPPENHEIMER AND THE SECRET CITY OF LOS ALAMOS (2005), BY JENNET CONANT
An engaging and very readable depiction of Oppenheimer and the 3,000 people sequestered at Los Alamos from the granddaughter of a key scientific adviser on the Manhattan Project. (Her essay on Oppenheimer is available here.)
IN THE MATTER OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER: THE SECURITY CLEARANCE HEARING (2001), EDITED BY RICHARD POLENBERG
An invaluable reprint of the 1954 edition of the hearing transcripts, updated with context and new information that reveal the unjust process of Oppenheimer’s security-clearance revocation.
THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB (1986), BY RICHARD RHODES
A definitive, sweeping history that traces the development of the atomic bomb, from the scientific discoveries of the early 20th century to its testing at Los Alamos and detonation over Hiroshima in 1945.
Will Hearst is the editor and publisher of Alta Journal, which he founded in 2017. He is the board chair of Hearst, one of the nation’s largest diversified media and information companies. Hearst is a grandson of company founder William Randolph Hearst.
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