Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, disturbing and yet strangely optimistic
Review: This is a highly detailed history of how the atomic bomb came to be. The characters are fleshed out and made to be real people. However I found the accounts of Hiroshima survivors almost unbearably difficult to read. Yet in the end I felt an strange optimism that one day we will unite as a planet, shed our petty differences and never again use this aweful weapon of total death.
Rating:
Summary: The discoveries which led to the invention of the A-bomb
Review: No matter what your feelings about the use of the A-bomb, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, is hard to put down. Although a history book, it documents the chain of discoveries in nuclear physics and chemistry which led to the atomic bomb. Rhodes presents the nuclear and chemical background material clearly and coherently. Science-phobics will find the theory and explanations very clear. He shows how the Great Discoverers in Science made the Great Discoveries, from Rutherford to Fermi, Curie to Bethe; and shows the human effects of the A-bomb.
Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps the greatest book I've ever read
Review: This is a book that will inspire you; it will make you think about the glory and the disgrace of being homo sapiens; it will make you a better human being. In a world that is bruised with superficial images from the entertainment industry, this book takes you back to the things that matter.You should also read "The ascent of man" by Jacob Bronowski.
Rating:
Summary: How DID he do it?? Comprehensive and engrossing
Review: One of the most effective books I have read - ever. I continuously asked two questions, 'How did one man write this book', and 'What other books can I read after one as great as this.' A new award should be created for a author this talented.
Rating:
Summary: One-Stop Shopping for Info About the Atomic Bomb
Review: I used this book to research a paper during college, and I found it indispensable. For an English major wanting to know about the nuclear physics AND historical context AND people involved AND biological, moral, and political implications of the atomic bomb, the book delivered in an insightful and understandable way. If you are interested in the subject at all, you need to have this book.
Rating:
Summary: A truly complete accounting of the making of the bomb
Review: Richard Rhodes does a great job of bringing this story to life. There are parts that can be difficult to understand, but the author does a good job in making them as palatable as possible. I recommend this book to anyone interested in nuclear physics or WWII.
Rating: 
Summary: More about physics than The Bomb
Review: A more appropriate title for this book would be "The History of the Physics behind the Making of the Atomic Bomb." For the casual reader, Rhodes places too much emphasis on physics, at the expense of the interesting history of The Atom Bomb itself. For example, Klaus Fuchs, the scientist who spied for the Russians, is only mentioned four times, and only once is his role as spy mentioned--this in only one or two sentences. However, the coverage of the Dresden Bombing is superb; the coverage of the Hiroshima bombing, by including an extensive list of eye-witness accounts, is moving but somehow not as informative. This book is a valuable reference for serious scholars; an often insipid science lesson for laymen.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: The Making of the Atomic Bomb is a profound work, with lucid descriptions of the theoretical discoveries and technological breakthroughs in chemistry and physics leading to the development of the bomb. Rhodes illuminates the characters behind the discoveries so that not only the events but also the motivations are clear. The book is imbued with thought-provoking paradigms on the development of war, politics, philosophy, historical inevitability and human fallibility. The research is masterful, and the reader feels privy to an omniscient view of events and conversations that penetrates far beyond what one can find in mere journalistic reporting. Only occasionally the book seems to lose a little momentum and the details feel heavy, but more often the drama compels one to keep turning the pages. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A compelling dramatic doctorate on the making of "The Bomb."
Review: Richard Rhodes should have received a doctorate for his work in writing this complete history of why and how the "bomb" was built. His research and documentation, expertly crafted to blend with the drama and suspense of the task, left no stone unturned. The enormous amount of technical information that was needed to explain in finite detail all the particuliars, was written so that the reader, although not fully able to understand the science, still enjoyed the description. From the first thought of splitting the atom, to "Trinity" and "Hiroshima," Rhodes describes in detail, anything and anyone remotely connected to his thesis on the "bomb." I view "The Making of the ATOMIC BOMB" the bible on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: THE story of the last great turning point in history
Review: This book is a concise, well written story of what is perhaps one of the most important times in the history of the human race since the development of fire.
| 
