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Hidden in Plain Sight 8: How to Make an Atomic Bomb
This book tells the fascinating story of the development of the atomic bomb, and contains detailed (but legal) instructions on how to build an atomic bomb. It's a great way to learn about nuclear physics!
- GenresScience
181 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 4, 2017
184 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Andrew H. Thomas
14 books10 followersDr. Andrew H. Thomas studied physics in the James Clerk Maxwell Building in Edinburgh University, and received his doctorate from Swansea University in 1992.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 21, 2017
Odd little book
"Hidden in Plain Sight 8" is a somewhat strange departure from Dr. Thomas's other books in this series, which delve into the fundamental mysteries of reality. You can complete the book in a couple of sittings because it's short, easy to read and well-written. The appendix goes into the mathematics of differential equations used to determine the critical mass in some detail, which is fine for technical wonks like myself, but it may be a bit intimidating to a general audience.
The Kindle version contains numerous links that immediately take you to interesting Internet video clips and web sites. I think that was a very nice touch. The book is technically accurate and is based on easy to obtain declassified material. It gives an fascinating historical account of the discovery of nuclear fission and the development of atomic energy, including a number of vintage photographs.
I think the author could have included a few other details, however. For example, Germany also attempted to make an atomic weapon during WWII. Did they give up because their scientists calculated the wrong value for the critical mass? Or were there other reasons for their failure like internal sabotage? Another detail that should have been included involves the operation of nuclear reactors like Fermi's famous "pile" on the squash court in Chicago discussed in the book. It turns out that about 1% of the neutrons in a reactor core are "delayed neutrons" meaning they are emitted by the decay of daughter products of fission. As the name implies, delayed neutrons are released seconds or minutes after the fission that produced the daughter products, thereby increasing the time constant for supercriticality. Without this time delay, a reactor would be uncontrollable, becoming what is termed "prompt critical" with a time constant on the order of milliseconds. There have been a number of prompt-critical accidents involving reactors, including the famous Chernobyl accident.
This is a very interesting and well-researched book. I learned quite a few details from it, such as the fact that the projectile in the original gun-type uranium bomb was hollow. Dr. Thomas also revealed a very important design safety feature that prevents stolen nuclear weapons from being detonated unless exact hidden timing sequences are applied, That information certainly helps me sleep at night. This was a good read and well worth the price. I'd definitely recommend the Kindle version. Unlike some other Kindle books, this one clearly displays the formulas. Five stars.
"Hidden in Plain Sight 8" is a somewhat strange departure from Dr. Thomas's other books in this series, which delve into the fundamental mysteries of reality. You can complete the book in a couple of sittings because it's short, easy to read and well-written. The appendix goes into the mathematics of differential equations used to determine the critical mass in some detail, which is fine for technical wonks like myself, but it may be a bit intimidating to a general audience.
The Kindle version contains numerous links that immediately take you to interesting Internet video clips and web sites. I think that was a very nice touch. The book is technically accurate and is based on easy to obtain declassified material. It gives an fascinating historical account of the discovery of nuclear fission and the development of atomic energy, including a number of vintage photographs.
I think the author could have included a few other details, however. For example, Germany also attempted to make an atomic weapon during WWII. Did they give up because their scientists calculated the wrong value for the critical mass? Or were there other reasons for their failure like internal sabotage? Another detail that should have been included involves the operation of nuclear reactors like Fermi's famous "pile" on the squash court in Chicago discussed in the book. It turns out that about 1% of the neutrons in a reactor core are "delayed neutrons" meaning they are emitted by the decay of daughter products of fission. As the name implies, delayed neutrons are released seconds or minutes after the fission that produced the daughter products, thereby increasing the time constant for supercriticality. Without this time delay, a reactor would be uncontrollable, becoming what is termed "prompt critical" with a time constant on the order of milliseconds. There have been a number of prompt-critical accidents involving reactors, including the famous Chernobyl accident.
This is a very interesting and well-researched book. I learned quite a few details from it, such as the fact that the projectile in the original gun-type uranium bomb was hollow. Dr. Thomas also revealed a very important design safety feature that prevents stolen nuclear weapons from being detonated unless exact hidden timing sequences are applied, That information certainly helps me sleep at night. This was a good read and well worth the price. I'd definitely recommend the Kindle version. Unlike some other Kindle books, this one clearly displays the formulas. Five stars.
February 2, 2021
What an excellent book!
I didn't think that i would enjoy this book as it didn't follow the same theme as the other book s in the series. However, i was very mistaken. I thought this book was brilliant, it had plenty of scientific explanations of how the uranium (and later plutonium) nucleus is split to create nuclear energy and why. How the critical mass is calculated with a very good annex explaining it (however i didn't like that he used Wolfram Alpha), and why the critical mass is what it is. He then goes on to explain the hidden atomic city of Oak Ridge and the various jobs and personalities involved.
Overall a very, very good book and i very much enjoyed it! looking forwards to reading the rest of them.
I didn't think that i would enjoy this book as it didn't follow the same theme as the other book s in the series. However, i was very mistaken. I thought this book was brilliant, it had plenty of scientific explanations of how the uranium (and later plutonium) nucleus is split to create nuclear energy and why. How the critical mass is calculated with a very good annex explaining it (however i didn't like that he used Wolfram Alpha), and why the critical mass is what it is. He then goes on to explain the hidden atomic city of Oak Ridge and the various jobs and personalities involved.
Overall a very, very good book and i very much enjoyed it! looking forwards to reading the rest of them.
October 9, 2017
Brilliant (as always)
An excellent and a very entertained account of the making of the atomic bomb. It works almost like a recipe plus history, good humor, and illustrations, i.e., videos, drawings, links, and photographs, that in the total sum gives you the idea that for a moment at least you knew how to build a little piece of sun in your garage.
This book is highly recommended with all the rest of the serie. I have read four of them and all are five star class.
Try ir. You'll not be dissapointed at all.
An excellent and a very entertained account of the making of the atomic bomb. It works almost like a recipe plus history, good humor, and illustrations, i.e., videos, drawings, links, and photographs, that in the total sum gives you the idea that for a moment at least you knew how to build a little piece of sun in your garage.
This book is highly recommended with all the rest of the serie. I have read four of them and all are five star class.
Try ir. You'll not be dissapointed at all.
September 5, 2017
Thomas provides excellent insight into the world of nuclear physics. He approaches the topic by building a framework of understanding for those who may be a bit less familiar with the subject. Through witty commentary, interesting facts, and great story telling, Thomas walks us through the discovery of the atomic bomb.
December 11, 2017
Not Mr Thomas' best book, but quite a eye-opener.
It's a well-researched book with many links to videos added for clarity. It gives a great historical view of the first atomic bomb bringing together many sources. I especially enjoyed the story of the Calutron Girls! The writing bogs down at times which is very unusual for Mr Thomas, but the book is well worth the read.
It's a well-researched book with many links to videos added for clarity. It gives a great historical view of the first atomic bomb bringing together many sources. I especially enjoyed the story of the Calutron Girls! The writing bogs down at times which is very unusual for Mr Thomas, but the book is well worth the read.
September 28, 2017
The explanation of how the atoms are manipulated to do what we need is very interesting. He shows and explains all the interactions of different elements and particles in the process. Really interesting.
November 15, 2017
The bomb revealed.
Whatever you know about rhe atomic bomb is about to be clarified beyond anything you knew before reading this book. An exciting adventure of how a nuclear reaction occurs.
Whatever you know about rhe atomic bomb is about to be clarified beyond anything you knew before reading this book. An exciting adventure of how a nuclear reaction occurs.
September 11, 2017
Informative and quick. Well worth the price.
August 16, 2021
Easy read well done sir
This was fun to read and not to technical at all, glad I found it! I suggest it to anyone else who is curious about nuclear bombs!
This was fun to read and not to technical at all, glad I found it! I suggest it to anyone else who is curious about nuclear bombs!
May 31, 2024
You can buy this book on Amazon, and it will tell you e.g. how to calculate critical masses (which is a public knowledge, but step-by-step derivation is kind of important), and much more. Ironically, it skips many details on atomic bomb construction, but it gives a lot of useful links to gain this knowledge — and most importantly, it describes the core idea of how PAL (Permissive Action Links) work! You will not find this knowledge in any other book — this is a brilliant idea, and it is fantastic how it is still accessible unclassified.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews