Rating: 
Summary: Mother of the XX century science books.
Review: History and science in one. Biography of the best scientists in this century. Physics of the bomb and the nuclear age. Newspaper of those times. It is a great reference book.
Rating:
Summary: THE definitive book on the subject
Review: Rhoads meticulously covers all roads travelled in the development of the atomic bomb. It's a long book, it can be technical at times, but it is beautifully researched and written. However, I wouldn't recommend it to someone casually interested in the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Tremendous.
Review: Through this work one gains insight into the exponential difference in intelligence between a person of intelligence and a true genius: genius trancends the knowledge that came before in small steps. The scientists in this book made huge leaps forward, which I never appreciated before. The scope of their minds is dizzying, almost paralyzing.
Rating:
Summary: An inspiring history of discovery
Review: Rhodes' history of the scientists that designed the first atomic bomb reads like a thriller - from the discovery of the atom to electron to neutron to building piles of uranium and graphite. The reader races with the scientists in a fight against bureaucracy, time, and nature's secrets. By far his best work; Dark Sun is disappointing - the quest is replaced by a depressing Cold War fear.
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Summary: One of the best books I have read in years.
Review: couldn't put it down. A great adventure story, all the more remarkable as this is a true story. It is not just about nuclear physics which is extremely well covered in this book, but also about the lives (and loves) and the remarkable discoveries of these extremely intelligent but otherwise 'normal' men and women (the book makes them human for us all), who have the same hopes and fears as you and me. It has it all, as a great epic should have. Suspense, thrills, war, love, discovery and so on. A great book to send as a gift to someone.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book. A story about real history
Review: This was one of the textbooks we used in "The History of the Atomic Bomb" course I took at the Univ of Texas. Fantastic book, I've recomended to many others, and they've all loved it. Rhodes makes you feal as though you are there, transported back in time and working right along these great scientists.
Rating:
Summary: A phenomenal work
Review: This book is much more than a treatment
of the Manhattan project; it is a larger treatment
of the story of physics in the early 20th
century, and the making and use of the atomic
bomb.
Physics of the early 20th century is one of
the greatest episodes in the history of mankind,
and this book is the best single place to read
about it.
Rating:
Summary: Reflections from a Glittering Jewel
Review: We respect a written work for many reasons:
style, wit, accuracy, information, its ability to captivate us and transport us to a new world. How then can we judge one book that does even more than that?
This important book by Richard Rhodes is a model of scientific history. The tracing of thought and experiment in nuclear chemistry and physics is flawless. It stands on its own as a landmark in the history of science
.
And yet there is in addition the small, compelling biographies of some of the most original thinkers of the 20th century: Szilard, Rutherford, Bohr, Fermi, Oppenheimer. Rhodes goes beyond them as individuals to show how they all worked together, the power of their collaboration.
And still, this is only the subtext of the work, the foundation on which Rhodes builds a story of tension, risk, and above all horrible power. This is the only description of the power of nuclear weapons that compels, the awful, painful, detailed recounting of "the end of the world".
One who wishes to be a citizen of this century should do nothing more before reading this book
Rating:
Summary: Greatest account of one of sciences greatests endeavors.
Review: "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" is the most accurate, intriguing, engrossing account of the most important scientifc endeavor in human history. This reads better than any Tom Clancy novel, is at least on par with Homer, and teaches more than any physics text book to anyone that reads it. If only most fiction was as good as this non-fiction. Rhodes' ability to take highly complex and complicated scientific matters and relate them in a way in which in the most scientifically-challenged person can understand an d appreciate is amazing. He should have recieved a Double Pulitzer for his efforts. Even more interesting are the stories about the people involved. This is an incredible history of some of the most gifted, and sometimes troubled, minds in human history. A must for anyone with any interest in science at any level
Rating:
Summary: Informative, suspensful and very entertaining
Review: Entertaining, informative and supenseful even when the ending is well known.
A wonderful story that could be used as a text book. The research was wonderful..
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