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    Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
    Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
    Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

    Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb

    Written by Richard Rhodes

    Narrated by Richard Rhodes

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Here, for the first time, in a brilliant, panoramic portrait by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, is the definitive, often shocking story of the politics and the science behind the development of the hydrogen bomb and the birth of the Cold War.

    Based on secret files in the United States and the former Soviet Union, this monumental work of history discloses how and why the United States decided to create the bomb that would dominate world politics for more than forty years.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateSep 1, 1995
    ISBN9780743545808
    Author

    Richard Rhodes

    Richard Rhodes is the author of numerous books and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He graduated from Yale University and has received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Appearing as host and correspondent for documentaries on public television’s Frontline and American Experience series, he has also been a visiting scholar at Harvard and MIT and is an affiliate of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Visit his website RichardRhodes.com.

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    Reviews for Dark Sun

    4.5/5

    45 ratings17 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Richard Rhodes describes the theoretical origins of the bomb, the lab experiments, the building of the prototype, the test at Alamagordo, the training of the B-29 crews assigned to deliver the first two combat bombs and the missions themselves. There's much more. Rhodes, gifted with sharp psychological insight and a novelist's ability to convey character, reveals the personalities and emotional dynamics among the scientists and others responsible for conceiving, engineering, testing and ultimately dropping the apocalyptic devices on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition he describes the struggle in Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan to make the first bomb, as well as the political and military events that led inexorably to the destruction of the Japanese cities. This is a beautifully written book (Rhodes has written a separate book on the craft of writing) that anyone interested in science or history would enjoy.
    • 5/5
      It puts the making of the bomb in the political context of the time.
    • 4/5
      This is so intense. I recently started reading this and I can tell that it will take me awhile to work my way through it, but the level that the author takes in setting the background for the bomb is pretty incredible. I grew up with a father who taught organic chemistry and took many science courses in college before majoring in English. Bohr and Rutherford were historical names in my textbooks and they were names carved on the buildings at the college I attended. The advances that scientists made in the last 150 years were truly amazing. Where are we going?Finished it, terrific book, epilogue seemed all over the place, but liked reading it anyway.
    • 5/5
      One of the top 5 non-fiction books ever. 5+ stars. Highest rating.
    • 5/5
      The Making of the Atomic BombRichard RhodesOct 2, 2010 8:03 PMThis is a comprehensive narrative history of the development of nuclear physics in the 20th century, culminating in the realization that a chain reaction could lead to an explosive device, and then the history of the incredible efforts needed to isolate the fissionable material, and build the devices. It is fast paced, extremely interesting, filled with anecdote and strong characters. I read it compulsively, and I think it is the best contemporary history book I have read. The prose is polished: “Nuclear fission and thermonuclear fusion are not acts of Parliament, they are levers embedded deeply in the physical world, discovered because it was possible to discover them, beyond the power of men to patent or hold” The pace, and the excitement, at the ground zero of the Trinity test, are compelling, and the stories of Hiroshima victims are pitiful. I admired Niels Bohr, and more so Henry Stimson (Secretary of War in FDR’s cabinet) as the most honorable and insightful men of the story. Leo Szilard was the anti-hero, and Robert Oppenheimer the hero of the final efforts to make the bomb. Was it the right thing to do, and the right thing to bomb Japan, are issues that remain unresolved.
    • 2/5
      I found this to be a completely disappointing history of the development of the atomic bomb. It's clear that Rhodes aims for a monumental, epic masterpiece, something on par with the horrible power and technical beauty of its topic. But in his efforts Rhodes throws us everything he's got, from the time of day when some scientist performed an experiment (and the number of grams of barium he used) to speculation on whether Roosevelt might have laughed at some observation or not. So a work of synthesis this isn't. Which would not be too bad, except for the stylistic nightmare of Rhodes writing, corny and melodramatic, all over the 800 pages of the text. Which, again, would be salvageable if only the book offered insightful analysis on the major players, on their impulses, decisions, and consequences, on war and peace, on science and curiosity, on hubris and nature. But it doesn't. Rhodes' analysis is superficial, simplistic, fluff. The total sum is a rambling mess that does its subject and the reader a disservice.
    • 5/5
      A long history worth reading. Richard Rhodes introduces us to dozens of physicists, generals, politicians and business leaders. All corroborate in what could be one of the greatest monumental scientific and engineering feats ever accomplished.Neils Bohr is a key figure as he early on sees that the power unleashed will change the course of mankind and pushes for the secrets of atomic power to be openly shared worldwide.for anyone interested in history, science and WW II this is a masterpiece.
    • 5/5
      The Making of the Atomic Bomb is perhaps the finest history book I’ve ever read. It's more than just a treatise on Hiroshima, Oppenheimer, and the Manhattan Project. It’s a richly detailed epic, exploring in in-depth detail the history of atomic physics, the personalities of the scientists behind the bomb, the complex political and military issues surrounding its development and use, and the historic and social events that shaped its creation.At it’s center is a complex human story, told without sermonizing and sensationalism. The research undertaken by Rhodes is incredible, and the bibliography lists hundreds of sources. While Rhodes prose might be excessively detailed in places, it’s still a stunning work that needs to be read by anyone seriously interested in history.
    • 5/5
      Excellent review of the conception, making and aftermath of the creation of the atomic bomb. Extremely well written, develops the characters well and gives a thorough beckground of the physics and politics.
    • 3/5
      This book is considered the classic on the bomb - I even recently saw it listed as one of the top science books of all time - an assessment I do no agree with. Considering its substantial girth, it is a highly readable account of the Manhattan project. Substantial in its scope, it provides equal detail on the scientific, political, and "human interest" aspects of the bomb project. However, Rhodes is a writer - a Hallmark card writer even- rather than a historian or a scientist, and it shows, particularly in the lack of a critical assessment on many key decisions.
    • 5/5
      The definitive account.
    • 3/5
      The Making of the Atomic Bomb won a Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In other words, people liked it. A lot. I can also tell you it is a thick read. Over 800 pages long (and the pictures don't count). I got through the first 50 and called it quits. No regrets.If I had been able to devote more time to The Making of an Atomic Bomb I would have found it to be a portrait of personalities ranging from scientists (Einstein) to political leaders (Roosevelt). I would have found it to be a commentary on the state of world economics (The Great Depression) and warfare (World War II). I would have found it to be scientific and philosophical, psychological and historical. All those things.
    • 5/5
      Rightly deserved to be listed as one of the greatest nonfiction works, in English, of the 20th century. Compelling and thoughtful. Reads like a novel.
    • 4/5
      A sad coda to The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

      The more you learn about this awful weapon, the more seriously we must take the notion of deeply limiting the number of them that there are.
    • 4/5
      The pace of development of nuclear physics and the atomic bomb was amazing. It was as if Benjamin Franklin experimented with electricity and then 50 years later the entire US power grid was built.Not only did this book tell an amazing story of discovery, but he told about the scientists who developed all this new stuff. You have to have a very different turn of mind to come up with the innovations they did. The ability to think in mathematics and not want to visualize things that really can't be. I also think a lot of these men( and a few women) were like my oldest son. They had social quirks, mental obsessions and felt most at home in the lab. But again, they had to work out the energies and mechanics of the nucleus of an atom using SLIDE RULES! If you don't know what a slide rule is, ask someone who used a lot of math, like an engineer, older than 55. Imagine life before calculators. Imagine doing calculus before calculators. Imagine dealing with numbers like the charge of an electron and the weight of a proton before calculators. I am in awe of just the calculations needed to accomplish what these people did.Then there is the beauty and simplicity of physics. When it is right, you can tell. Most of physics is simple and plain: E=MC2, Three Laws of Thermodynamics, gravity's inverse square rule. It makes me think that all the complicated particle physics that is going on now is missing something. It is like the weird epicycles people invented to explain the motion of the skies before they would admit it was the Earth moving and not the Sun. There are a lot of weird theories around right now that don't have the harmony and simplicity of Einstein or Newton. They probably aren't right. I think in the next 50 years there will be another jump, because too much doesn't work as physics should when it is truly describing the universe.On a related, but separate note, physicists who claim to be atheists are liars. A lot of physics just is. It doesn't have a reason that has been found yet. If they don't believe in God, they aren't looking at ultimate causes enough.The second half of the book, when they were actively making a bomb, not just exploring the properties of uranium had a completely different tone. The bomb was inherent in uranium, like electricity is inherent in lightening and magnets. It was only a matter of time. But it was still difficult. The author is also conflicted. The book was written in the eighties; before Communist Russia collapsed. During the time when all liberals thought Reagan was driving the world to destruction and everyone expected a nuclear holocaust to end the world before 2000. So now, 20 years later, the Cold War isn't quite the awful terror filled period some thought it was. I completely disagree with the author's thoughts, echoing ideas of Robert Oppenheimer and Niels Bohr, that sharing nuclear technology with the Russians would have eliminated an arms race. We see now in a more open time, some countries will be secretive and try for the weapon. As long as secrecy could be seen possibly develop an advantage some country would try it. The open science and world government some scientists thought would be the only way to avoid an arms race was a pipe dream. The arms race would have happened without US paranoia. Mostly because Russia had enough paranoia for any other ten nations.It is interesting how these historical books are affected by the current political climate. I think this would be a different book if it had been written now. The basic facts are the same, but the interpretation of what is important is different.
    • 4/5
      The history science is wonderful and Rhodes writing provides a very personal look at the players, starting in the mid-late 19th century. However, he loses his objectivity at times with a strong and unexplained general antiwar message. Not that being antiwar is a negative, however both history and science should be objectively presented to be at their best. For what is presented as history and a history of science to lose its objectivity early is too bad in an otherwise very enjoyable read. Maybe Rhodes should have written the story in two books instead of one.
    • 5/5
      The grand, encyclopedic, epic story of the atomic bomb program. Starts from WWI and continues until after the end of WWII. Includes short biographies of all of the major figures of the program, as well as a firm outline of the political situation which surrounded them. Harrowing detail of when the bomb itself was dropped, and what the creators thought during the while ordeal. Brilliant blend of history and science.