Uranium Wars: The Scientific Rivalry that Created the Nuclear Age

by Amir D. Aczel

Uranium, a nondescript element when found in nature, in the past century has become more sought after than gold. Its nucleus is so heavy that it is highly unstable and radioactive. If broken apart, it unleashes the tremendous power within the atom―the most controversial type of energy ever discovered. Set against the darkening shadow of World War II, Amir D. Aczel's suspenseful account tells the story of the fierce competition among the day's top scientists to harness nuclear power. The intensely driven Marie Curie identified radioactivity. The University of Berlin team of Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner--he an upright, politically conservative German chemist and she a soft-spoken Austrian Jewish theoretical physicist--achieved the most spectacular discoveries in fission. Curie's daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, raced against Meitner and Hahn to break the secret of the splitting of the atom. As the war raged, Niels Bohr, a founder of modern physics, had a dramatic meeting with Werner Heisenberg, the German physicist in charge of the Nazi project to beat the Allies to the bomb. And finally, in 1942, Enrico Fermi, a prodigy from Rome who had fled the war to the United States, unleashed the first nuclear chain reaction in a racquetball court at the University of Chicago. At a time when the world is again confronted with the perils of nuclear armament, Amir D. Aczel's absorbing story of a rivalry that changed the course of history is as thrilling and suspenseful as it is scientifically revelatory and newsworthy.

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, Physics, Audiobook, History Of Science

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Amir Aczel was an Israeli-born American author of popular science and mathematics books. He was a lecturer in mathematics and history of mathematics.

He studied at the University of California, Berkeley. Getting graduating with a BA in mathematics in 1975, received a Master of Science in 1976 and several years later accomplished his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Oregon. He died in Nîmes, France in 2015.

Reviews

[Michael Gerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book that is good about the science and the history of the uranium nucleus and radioactivity, but poor on the history of the decision to use the atomic bomb to end the Second World War. The author's dubious citing that Imperial Japan was ready to surrender before the US' use of the atom bomb flies in the face of the fact that the Japanese militarists intended to fight to the last man, woman, and child, sacrificing the entire Japanese populace with such callous disregard for life, rather than surrender and lead peaceful lives. It was only after the use of the Bomb that the Emperor himself came to his sense of whack and finally decided to do the right thing for probably the only time in his life - to surrender.

The redeeming part of the book is how the power of the uranium nucleus and radiation can be used for peaceful use such as energy and medicine. Despite nuclear-related accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, the careful use of nuclear energy (which does not produce carbon dioxide that causes global warming)) is a cleaner alternative to dirty fossil fuels.

[Koray · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...Bilim hemen göze çarpmayan kurnazca biçimler kullanarak ilerler. Doğa sırlarını yavaşça açığa vurur ve gizemlerini sadece kabul görmüş inanış ve yanlış kanılardan kendilerini özgürleştirebilen açık fikirlilere gösterir. Sınır tanımaz bir hayal gücünün de faydası olur buna. Newton görünmeyen bir kuvvetin farkına vardı. Einstein ondan iki yüzyıl sonra 'derin düşünce deneyleri' gerçekleştirerek, zamanın kendisinin, insanların çok eski zamanlardan beri varsaydıkları gibi sabit olmadığı tuhaf ve enfes gerçeğine ulaştı. Kalıpları kıran bir dahiden başka kim böylesi mantığa aykırı doğruları hayal edebilirdi?..."
"...Uranyum gezegenimizin her yerinde bulunur. Kayaların ve deniz suyunun çok küçük bir yüzdesini oluşturur. Uranyumdan kaynaklanan ışıma dünyamızın derinliklerinde yer alan kayaların içerisinde ısı enerjisi oluşmasını sağlar ve böylelikle gezegenimizin çekirdeği sıcak kalır; bu yüzden gezegenimizin jeolojik olarak etkin olmasını 'kısmen' uranyuma borçluyuz diyebiliriz.
Uranyum güzel renklere sahip çok sayıda doğal bileşiğe hayat vermektedir. Açık sarı, korlaşmış portakal rengi, florasan yeşili, koyu kırmızı ve siyah... Doğal yolla oluşmuş en ağır elementtir. Atom numarası 92'dir..."
"...1938'in sonunda bir gün Otto Hahn garip bilgiler elde ettiği haberini Meitner'e ulaştırdı. Uranyumun nötron yağmuruna tutulması baryum oluşumuna yol açmıştı. Bu tepkimenin sonucunda nasıl baryum (56) ve lantan (57) oluşabilirdi? Meitner'in yanıtı bu yüzyılda nükleer fizik alanındaki en önemli gelişme olacaktı..."
"...Ağır sudaki hidrojen alışıldık hidrojen değildir, daha ağır bir izotop olan ve çekirdeğinde ek nötronlar bulunan deteryumdur..."
"...Almanlar Heigerlock Kilisesinin altında gizli bir nükleer reaktör inşa etmişlerdi. Atom bombasıyla aralarında duran engel sadece zaman, bütçe ve işgücüydü. Tüm dünyanın şansına gereken bu üç şeyi asla edinemediler. Heisenberg şöyle demişti: ' İlerletmek için elimden geleni yaptığım tüm ağır su çalışması bir patlayıcı üretemedi'..."

[Dallas J. Jaggard · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book, very well formulated and easy to read; and I now know way too much about uranium fission.

[Gabriella Gricius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why Read: Like I’ve mentioned earlier on this blog, I am a sucker for theoretical math and physics books… especially those written by one of my favorite authors, Amir Aczel. Uranium Wars was no exception. For as long as I can remember, nuclear physics has fascinated me (even though I’m absolutely terrible at all things math and physics) and so when I found out that my favorite author along with my favorite topic had decided to pair up - you bet that I got that book a soon as physically possible.

Review: Understanding why nuclear bombs explode isn’t something that’s usually delegated to popular science books. Then again, tracing the steps of the great physicists, chemists and mathematicians who discovered uranium, radioactivity, and how to make it all go boom isn’t either. Amir Aczel though has a way of making the ordinary and boring seems incredibly magical and intriguing. How did they find out what a half-life of an element is, how did we discover what makes up the inside of an element, can our world cope with the knowledge of how the universe work if we only use it to blow our enemies out of existence?

Maybe these things aren’t as ordinary as they appear. Aczel takes things to the next level, regardless of whether you are as fascinated by the theories of how we are made up of minuscule things called electrons as I am. The characters that he creates are famous and not-so-famous scientists who contributed to the journey of uranium as one of our most infamous elements: Marie Curie, Einstein, Oppenheimer and other names that I’ll let you discover as you pour over the past. They are formed by their personal stories and by their scientific discoveries. How does it change someone to realize that they have “become death, destroyer of worlds?” (I’m sure we all know to whom I am referring to here)

The pace of the book seems slow at first… Why should the beginning of a book about nuclear bombs start with scientists discovering uranium in Germany, and noticing that its very presence was doing something to the other elements around it? Each dissimilar history lesson forms a direct line to another and before you realize what’s happened, you understand too clearly how it is that nuclear bombs are now a known and irreversible quantity in our world.

Beyond fact and theory, Aczel also writes with a beautiful precision that is almost haunting and although the story is something that can be told a series of bullet points, it’s the “who” factor that allows him to bring his writing to the surface. I find myself entranced by minor details and amazed at how he brings complex physics to the level of a layman. After reading this, I could give you an easy description of the Heisenberg principle and about why uranium acts in the way that it does (and I’ve never even taken a legitimate college level course).

Perhaps it’s beyond obvious that I may rate this book as the top one this year for me. I’ve read quite a few great books this year and by no means am I finished, but as of now - this books tops my chart by far. I have yet to read something more dynamically written and creatively imagined than Uranium Wars.

[Fernando del Alamo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Las guerras del uranio" es el título de este libro en castellano. En él, explica la historia que va desde el descubrimiento de los Rayos X, los Curie y la cuántica hasta la guerra fría. La verdad es que es una introducción bastante buena si no conoces detalles del Proyecto Manhattan. Da detalles que no había leído en otros libros como una minibiografía de Fermi nastante buena, una explicación de las minas de Joachimsthal y una discusión que me ha gustado mucho sobre el lanzamiento de las bombas atómicas sobre Japón. Sin entrar mucho en la primera, establece la pregunta si la segunda, la de Nagasaki, fue realmente necesaria. De una a otra apenas pasaron tres días, ¿no podrían haber esperado a que las autoridades japonesas vieran el desastre de Hiroshima?

Recomendado para todos los públicos.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book details the history and scientific breakthroughs that eventually led up to the nuclear arms race while at the same time breaking down the chemistry/physics that makes the atomic and hydrogen bombs so powerful. This aspect of the book was the most interesting and enlightening to me.


giving this book away, so documenting a few interesting paragraphs:

"The neurons and protons sit together inside the nucleus and are held together by the strong force--something that Meitner and Frisch viewed as acting like the surface tension of a drop of water. But as the weight and size of the nucleus grows as we approach uranium, the repulsive force inside the nucleus becomes large, and almost intolerable. When we reach the size of the uranium nucleus, the instability attains a level at which the nucleus is so large that the cohesive forces holding it together are weak by comparison.
The uranium nucleus is a kind of wobbly drop, as Lisa Meitner imagined it. It is so unstable that when it is hit by yet another neutron (it has so many of them already!), the impact and absorption of the neutron overwhelms the holding force within the uranium nucleus and the nucleus simply breaks in half. When this happens, some small amount of mass is transformed into energy, as dictated by Einstein's famous formula, E=mc2. Since c, the speed of light, is a large number, and squaring it makes it much larger still, we see that a small loss of mass can lead to a (relatively) huge release of energy. The question that scientists would later ask is: Can this reaction--the fission of uranium--be sustained so it will happen to a large number of atoms (or rather, nucmei) of uranium?"

pg. 184-- "But how can the United States talk about morality around the world, when practically within a few days of having this weapon, the first thing we did was to throw it on the civilians."

pg.189 "The US government had been meticulously planning the nuclear attack on Japanese cities for at least a year before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place. 'The decision made in Washington was that all the targets used for the atomic bomb were placed on a reserve about a year or more in advance,' recalled Ramsey, 'The air force and navy were forbidden to bomb those targets during the war so that they wouldn't be already overbombed.' The US wanted to 'save' certain Japanese cities specifically for the hellish destruction that could only be caused by an atom bomb. The original list of cities included Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto, and Kokura. As it turned out, Secretary of War Henry Stimson had a special feeling for the historic city of Kyoto, which included original old temples and a shogun's palace, and he removed Kyoto from the list of potentially doomed cities."

pg. 191 "Opposing this viewpoint, we have the expressed belief that a demonstration would have 'wiped out the element of surprise.' But one wonders why anyone possessing such immensely powerful weapons, while the other side is about to be defeated or surrender any minute, needs an 'element of surprise.'"

pg. 194 "It lends support to the assessment that politics vis-a-vis the Russians played a major role in America's ultimate decisions to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

pg. 197 "To try and save face in defeat, the Japanese rejected the demand for 'unconditional surrender '.....one wonders why the US did not work to make it easier for the Japanese to come to terms and end the conflict, instead of continuing with plans for an atomic attack on Japan."

pg. 198 "The communication lends further support to the understanding that Japan wanted to end the war and was looking to negotiate the terms of peace agreement. The Russians did not comply with the Japanese emperor's request and, in fact, would declare war on Japan after Hiroshima in a self-interested move designed to secure some of the spoils of war."

"In an intercepted July 18 message from Ambassador Sato to Foreign Minister Togo, decoded by Magic, Sato suggested that the Japanese government agree to an unconditional surrender as long as the Imperial House of Japan was preserved. This shows how desperate some Japanese officials were to end hostilities and come to a peace agreement."

[katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one in my pile of books I bought about nuclear policy, etc and then never read. Finally got to this one and it was fantastic. Aczel is a wonderful science writer, really good at explaining complicated scientific topics to lay people, but also without being condescending or simplistic.

The most incredible thing about this book was how he set so many different contexts around the story of the atomic bomb. The scientific development context of the early 20th century, the women in science context, the political context of Europe before WWII and how that effected the development of the science, and so many others. Even though I have already learned a lot of the history, this really connected a lot of dots and put it all into a larger picture that I feel like I finally have a grasp of.

PLUS, he explained nuclear activity in a way that I finally really understand it! I always basically understood *how* nuclear weapons worked, criticality of the nuclear material, etc, but now I finally understand *why* they work. What exactly radioactivity is, chemically, and why, for example, uranium is radioactive but iron is not. As someone who was never that good at science in school, it is really exciting to feel like I finally understand a scientific concept! This book is really well done.

[Anthony Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I decided to read this book, I thought that is was going to be more of a story rather than straight facts. For people looking to read a book completely for 100% history, this is the right book for you, but for me, I was looking for more stories from wartime that discussed what these bombs were doing to people in the eyes of certain victims rather than straight information on how the bombs were made, the effect they had on people, and what we could be doing in the future to be more efficient with our resources in order to be more fuel efficient to the economy. I understood the end of the book with the fuel-efficient mindset and how Uranium may be something to bring back to incorporate in some of the items we use everyday such as for vehicles and heating, however this isn't something that I agree with. Overall, I felt like the book was divided up well into chapters but certain parts of it dragged on such as all the work that went into producing the atomic bombs. For the most part though, it was an interesting book.

[Dan Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the history of the development of nuclear physics and technology, focusing on the scientific discoveries and the development of the first atomic bombs. Whilst it's not a patch on Rhodes' "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" it is much shorter and hence more accessible. Perhaps partly because of this there were a number of errors, omissions and simplifications I didn't like, and I found the last few chapters touching on military and cold-war history less convincing or interesting than the earlier material.

[Delson Roche · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that caught my undivided attention! The book chronicles the story of uranium from its discovery to its use in nuclear weapons and reactors.
The stories of scientist and their discoveries are beautifully narrated and it kept me engrossed.
There is little science and absolutely no math. It's mostly history of science.
Where it lost one star is the final chapter, that covers the atom bombs. The narration focuses on the politics of the bomb, rather than the uranium and the technology of the bomb itself.

A very satisfying read for me.

[Monzenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate the story of uranium, and the challengers across the Axis and Allies that the book puts out. A bit missing on a few things, like not enough action from the Soviet Union, or the unfortunate necessity to rely on guesswork and spy work just because the Nazi work on the atomic bomb is not transparent. Also, not enough Oppenheimer lol (granted he does appear in the final third). Still a good introduction to uranium and the atomic bomb.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be incredibly scary – to be precise the parts on nuclear proliferation and how little it would take to produce a nuclear winter and wipe all life from this planet. How much it puts all our little problems into perspective and reminds us of how little attention we pay to the things that could change humanity’s future in just an instance.

[Aiman Adlawan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book i have read this year. it tells about the story from the discovery of the theory of the nuclear fission to the actual experimentation that was very successful and how politics used it. very great story

[John Crippen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brief history of the scientific race to understand nuclear physics and create the atomic bomb. I have enjoyed Aczel's previous titles, but this one needed a better editor.

[Fin McLean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike some, I actually enjoyed Uranium Wars for it’s easy-to-understand retelling of a few centuries worth of history. One of my favorite parts of the book is how the book explains science and events that are far over my head in a readable and understandable manner. The book is great at providing information about topics without overloading the reader with info. The progression of the book is excellently paced going chronologically, starting at the discovery of uranium at the Joachimsthal silver mines all the way to present day and even going into the potential future for uranium and nuclear energy. The book covers all the major (and some minor) people and discoveries made by them by period. The book isn’t perfect, however, and has some errors that can not be overlooked. Some of the book’s factual errors can be overlooked due to the data and information available at the time. The book has some bias towards the nuclear program and other parts of the book, which is similar to getting “alternative’ facts that aren't exactly wrong, but aren't exactly right either. Some points of the book can drag on a little, but it’s all in the author’s interest to educate the reader. The author has a slight misunderstanding of the history of the atomic bomb and decided to drop the atomic bomb during WW2, though this issue is a very convoluted topic. In conclusion, this is a very engaging and interesting book about the history of nuclear research, that suffers from minor inaccuracies.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazon:
Starred Review. Author and Boston University research fellow Aczel (Fermat's Last Theorem) shares a scientist's history of nuclear chemistry in the 20th century, and its eventual application in the form of the atomic bomb. In the first half, Aczel covers figures of early modern science like the Curies in Paris, the Meitner-Hahn group in Berlin, and Italian physicists before they were driven out by the Fascists. (One of WWII's greatest ironies is that the science Nazis dubbed "Jewish physics" gave the Allies their conquering weapon.) Newly released documents and post-war memoirs also help Azcel chronicle German scientists, like Werner Heisenberg, who participated in the Nazi bomb project. Aczel is at his most intriguing analyzing Truman's decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima; further declassified U.S. documents reveal that the U.S. knew Japanese ambassadors were making peace offers in Moscow before the bombing, and that the destruction of Hiroshima was also meant to send a message to the Soviets. Using a wealth of new source material, Azcel covers the triumphs and mistakes that come from powerful, cutting-edge science, while sounding a cautionary alarm regarding ongoing global conflicts with terrorists and nations.

[Courtney Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A straight-forward, easily read account of uranium and the atomic bomb, from the discovery of pitchblende at the silver mine at Joachimsthal, Saxony, in the sixteenth century to the Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine of the late twentieth.

Aczel is a solid writer, if not inspiring, and he lays out in his introduction his key figures (Fermi, Hahn, Meitner, Curie, Curie-Joliot, Heisenberg, Bohr) and - just as importantly - those who he will glide over (including the difficult Teller).

The book deals with the gradual unravelling of the atom and radioactivity, the emergence of quantam mechanics, and the scientific diaspora of the late 1930s. Aczel does a really good job of showing what was happening with atomic research and development in America and Germany, and manages to combine contemporary and current thinking and analysis.

There was an element of tone that bothered me. Occasionally Aczel would use 'we' went referring to America and even if he questions the legitimacy of the bombing of Nagasaki, he is still very clearly of the opinion that it was 'better' that this weapon be developed and rest in the hands of the Americans.

Still, it felt like a really good place to begin more reading into the Manhattan Project.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Proud to say this book taught me a great deal. I learned about Lise Meitner, who I'd never heard of previously, and a great deal about the Curies and the search for radioactive elements. I especially liked learning about the difference between enriched uranium (the kind necessary for nuclear weaponry) and regular uranium (for nuclear power). The discussion regarding Hiroshima and Nagasaki and whether it was necessary to end World War II with those bombings to deter the Soviet menace was also very illuminating. Not very in-depth on the Manhattan Project but a good overview of the issues and history of uranium.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed chronicle of the history of uranium, it's uses and discoveries involving it. At some points short sections can seem a bit repetative but overall this is a very good history. Very well researched and well written. I had an early pre-release copy so I'm not sure what all had been edited. I loved the details about each of the major scientists involved, and how each one of them contributed to the knowledge base. I also found it interesting that some scientists were biased in some ways (eg. Nazi sympathisers and chauvanists).

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent source of information. I loved the chapters on the progression of the Manhattan Project and the Cold War. He was a little slow in some of the biography sections, but overall a good book. I learned a lot about nuclear reactions, bombs and plants.

[Sally Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy history, science, and find the Manhattan Project interesting, then you'll love this book. If those interests aren't yours, then skip this. I love history, science, and find the Manhattan Project interesting, so I really enjoyed it and learned some new things.

[Ross Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and - mainly - engaging history of the development of our nuclear capabilities, ending with an optimistic outlook on addressing proliferation, disposal and safety challenges to harness the 'clean' potential of nuclear power.

[Jordan Munn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A layman's history of the scientific pathway to the atomic bomb. Fun to read.

[dragynlady]

Interesting book - I certainly learned things I did not know both historic and scientific.

[Mélodie Herbas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about the scientists who played the main role in the nuclear history.

[Kerem Cankocak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nükleer bombanın tarihi hakkında merak ettiğiniz her şey bu kitapta var.