Cloud Chamber

by Clare George

Walter is a young Australian who comes to England (falling in love with a beautiful and feisty schoolteacher on the boat journey) to follow his dream of being a scientist at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge. There he falls under the spell of the charismatic scientists involved in splitting the atom and the other experiments that eventually led to the building of the atomic bomb. In 1945, in London, an older, disillusioned Walter struggles to keep his marriage together and to come to terms with what he - as a pacifist - saw as a terrible betrayal by his mentors and his best friend Alan Nunn May. Meanwhile, Nunn May is back in London, keeping a low profile and being shadowed by a rather inept and unenthusiastic spy. Walter is the only person Alan has seen since his return and so unwittingly, he and his family fall under surveillance too. The story that unfolds is an engrossing tale of friendship and betrayal, of forgiveness and enduring love and of the dangerous burden of scientific knowledge.

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a first novel I picked up on a whim in a bargain bookshop. It deals with nuclear physicists at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge in the 1930s and the subsequent impact of the Manhattan Project on them. I found it very interesting, but the author tackles too many themes, there are too many point-of-view characters and there are some very clumsy information dumps. Nonetheless, I learned quite a bit and found it an engaging enough read.

[David Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up for free! at SMSA Library 10 June 2015 in Pitt St whilst there for a conference. They are giving away surplus books!

A good account of British involvement in the development of the atomic bomb. I found a few characters unbelievable. In particular, the wife of the main character was too far ahead of her time.

[Neville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be a pacifist.