What do you think?
Rate this book
Los Alamos & the Development of the Atomic Bomb
Former administrator of the Bradbury Science Museum of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Several pages of photographs. 110p. Index.
109 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1995
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 14, 2018
Book 22 of Nuclear Studies:
I’m not 100% sure of the reasons behind the low reviews of this book on Goodreads because I didn’t find this book to be bad. This is a very short read and it has a very specific focus.
My personal copy is marked as having been purchased at the Los Alamos Historical Society Museum Bookshop (certainly a place going on my vacation wishlist). It makes sense as to why this book was being sold there because the book focuses on Los Alamos itself. An entire chapter is dedicated to the location of the laboratories and how it was converted from a boys’ school into a history-making town. The book concludes with the Trinity test and then describes the creation of the Los Alamos Bradbury Museum. For its focus on the location, it doesn’t skimp on technical details. I found it to have more detail in places than previous books that I’ve read on this subject.
For what it’s worth, the writing style isn’t anything to write home about. It’s straightforward, factual, and written in a simplistic style, presumably for anyone of any reading level to pick up and understand. It’s by no means a long read either. I was unsure as to the point behind the sentence-long summary of each chapter placed as a subheader to the chapter title, but ignored this for the most part. I was certainly most disappointed by the complete lack of sources cited.
Not essential reading, but if one were curious about the Los Alamos location, this book is easy enough to pick up and peruse.
I’m not 100% sure of the reasons behind the low reviews of this book on Goodreads because I didn’t find this book to be bad. This is a very short read and it has a very specific focus.
My personal copy is marked as having been purchased at the Los Alamos Historical Society Museum Bookshop (certainly a place going on my vacation wishlist). It makes sense as to why this book was being sold there because the book focuses on Los Alamos itself. An entire chapter is dedicated to the location of the laboratories and how it was converted from a boys’ school into a history-making town. The book concludes with the Trinity test and then describes the creation of the Los Alamos Bradbury Museum. For its focus on the location, it doesn’t skimp on technical details. I found it to have more detail in places than previous books that I’ve read on this subject.
For what it’s worth, the writing style isn’t anything to write home about. It’s straightforward, factual, and written in a simplistic style, presumably for anyone of any reading level to pick up and understand. It’s by no means a long read either. I was unsure as to the point behind the sentence-long summary of each chapter placed as a subheader to the chapter title, but ignored this for the most part. I was certainly most disappointed by the complete lack of sources cited.
Not essential reading, but if one were curious about the Los Alamos location, this book is easy enough to pick up and peruse.
May 12, 2026
Short chapters, clear explanations about the development of Los Alamos and the atomic bomb.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews