Secret history of the atomic bomb
The core of this book consists of the detailed steps, from the early theoretical formulations that suggested the possibility of a weapon, through the early research and the first pilot processes (some of which cost millions and were utterly worthless), to the mounting tempo of accomplished objectives and the building certainty confirmed on that day in New Mexico when Trinity, the first detonation of an atomic device, confronted mankind with the Faustian reality of atomic energy. Because of the compartmentalization of the research and construction for reasons of security, most of the scientists who worked on the various aspects of the program never saw the effort as a whole. This book is both a valuable record of atomic weapons technology and its birth and a basic text for those who are concerned with the uses of atomic energy
Book, 1977
Dial Press/James Wade,New York, 1977