We Were There at the Opening of the Atomic Era

by James Munves

From the jacket: In 1942, when fifteen year old Tony Brenner started to give his talk on neutrons before his High School Science Club, he never expected to be spirited away - because he was a threat to the security of the United States.

As a result of the talk, Tony found himself working on a secret project with his father, a physicist, and his father's colleagues, several of them Nobel Prize winners. Tony could hardly believe it all - that two little pounds of a mysterious gray metal would one day send off a skyrocketing, mushroom-shaped blast felt over two hundred miles away; and that he was taking part in the race to perfect the atomic bomb.

Through Tony's experiences, every exciting detail of the most far-reaching scientific experiments of our time come to life - from the early discoveries to the release of the first atomic bomb, which was to bring World War II to a sudden and unforgettable close. This book recreates one of the most exciting and awesome moments in the history of the world - the moment both great and terrible that ushered in the Atomic Era.

175 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that my husband read in his young teens and found in the basement. He was inspired to read it again after we saw the movie Oppenheimer. It is a young adult book but an excellent historical fiction choice to explain some of the physics. I still could not understand all of it. LOL

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little chemistry and physics refresher for me, and would have been a great primer for Young Adults in 1960. I liked that John Dunning was both a character in the book and the Historical Consultant. The only reason I didn't rate it higher is that I thought it was slightly irresponsible of the author not to spend more time on the dangers of radiation and the effects of the bombs on Japan. I doubt a teenager (the book's narrator) would have summed that up so casually.