I’m still reading about the Manhattan Project. The going is slow. Big books, big timelines. At least, for the speed at which I read.
Rhodes, Making of the Atomic Bomb – I’m 500+ pages in and only up to the early 1940s. That’s a hefty history meatball. That said, it’s a deep dive into the history of science in context with chemistry and quantum/nuclear physics. If you like a hefty but complete book, this one is your jam.
Wellerstein, Restricted Data – I have very much enjoyed the author’s blog of the same name over the years. The author goes deep on the newly created apparatus for keeping the Manhattan Project secret from very nearly the whole world during the war. The pace for this one is a little off, to my preference, so I’ve put this one down for the moment.
Gleick, Genius – Big Richard Feynman fan here. This book does not disappoint as a biography. Gleick is a great writer, writing with detail but without losing pace or going so deep that the thread is easily lost.
Reading in topical clusters has worked really well for me. The books talk to each other. It’s a bit like a Manhattan Project Cinematic Universe when personalities come together in Los Alamos and then disperse as each book follows a different thread of history. Physicists assemble, I suppose!
