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Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
51–60 of 80 posts
Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
that's very grandiose and all, but this story is true. During the Fukishima aftermath here in the USA, a series of talks was called at UC Berkeley with the public invited. One of the talks was given by an actual nuclear weapons designer, who rarely stands in public for obvious reasons. A large, confident bearded man, he "commanded" the podium with ever more tales, speaking like that paragraph above.. Someone challeng…
Can someone explain the punchline here? I'm probably just slow but I can't put it together.
the complex chains of armed and explosive weapons parts are supposed to be completely under control but a simple thermometer is somehow out of control and (mildly) harming everyone in the room <- obvious contradiction to "every mechanical weapon is always under control"
Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
#53Both Oppenheimer and Teller made numerous visits to Israel. Oppenheimer admitted he helped them make fast breeder reactors to produce plutonium for fission bombs and Teller admitted he helped them make fusion/hydrogen bombs.
Why is this information not included in modern coverage of Oppenheimer and Teller? Why were they given a slap on the wrist when other "Atomic spies" were fried in the electric chair for sharing nuclear secrets with the Soviet Union?
Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb is deservedly regarded as a classic, but Dark Sun doesn't live up to the same standard [1]. For people interested in the technical history of the H-bomb, Anne Fitzpatrick's PhD thesis Igniting the Light Elements: The Los Alamos Thermonuclear Weapon Project, 1942-1952 is as good a single-document source as I've ever read: https://www.osti.gov/biblio/10596 [1] Some reasons for the…
"The Making" covers half a century of scientific advancement, from the age of steam to the nuclear weapons. And it was at the end the "heroic age" in physics. It's hard _not_ to make it read like an epic tale. "Dark Sun" is in contrast about a fairly small technological advancement, and it focuses more on politics. It's just too hard to make it similarly compelling.
I read the book decades ago.
He describes the moment Leo Szilard is crossing a street in the rain and suddenly envisions the nuclear chain reaction. Reading it I felt like the entire Earth must have shuddered at that moment and in that instant the destruction of the human race was suddenly laid out for Szilard.
I confess I did not know who Szilard was at that time.
Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
#55This book is fantastic. I’d also recommend Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip Thorne to learn more about Oppenheimer’s scientific accomplishments.
Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The Making" covers half a century of scientific advancement, from the age of steam to the nuclear weapons. And it was at the end the "heroic age" in physics. It's hard _not_ to make it read like an epic tale. "Dark Sun" is in contrast about a fairly small technological advancement, and it focuses more on politics. It's just too hard to make it similarly compelling.
I read the book decades ago. He describes the moment Leo Szilard is crossing a street in the rain and suddenly envisions the nuclear chain reaction. Reading it I felt like the entire Earth must have shuddered at that moment and in that instant the destruction of the human race was suddenly laid out for Szilard. I confess I did not know who Szilard was at that time.
Also in Robert Jungk's book "brighter than a thousand suns" which predates Rhodes by decades
Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ya, that was the most memorable part of Dark Sun. IIRC the State department confronted the Soviet ambassador about the routine exfiltration of boxes and boxes of US R&D documents, and the response was something like "We're losing 10,000 people a day in this war. This is how you be our ally.".
The same today with the war on Ukraine. Spending citize' s lives is a great way to prop up a failed regime.
Yup. If Russian soldiers stop dying then Putin falls out of a window.
Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
#58Does anybody know if this book (or the movie) covers Oppenheimers attempt to murder his teacher with a cyanide laced apple? I don't care to invest time in a biography that whitewashes the man.
Both, yes
Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. The person whom the alleged noxious apple was left for was his tutor. Children have tutors. Adults far more rarely.
You can't rewrite history just because you don't know what a word means. A tutor is a teacher at a university.
You're absolutely right. I was wrong here.
The real point I should've addressed is not this tangential one but that the fact of the omission doesn't reduce the value of Rhode's telling of story of the atomic bomb at all. This HN post's existence is due to the book covering Oppenheimer which is currently a hot topic but the book is so much more than that.
Re: Richard Rhodes wrote a classic book about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb
#60Reading that book inspired me to watch the documentary Trinity and Beyond(https://youtu.be/p4yXfrYSmuA) a fascinating Shatner-narrated dive into the cold war era of nuclear testing and proliferation.
Only documentary I've ever bought the soundtrack to.