"An underground classic. Though declassified in 1965, [the primer] has not been widely available. . . . This edition is an essential part of the library of anyone interested in Manhattan Project history."—American Physical Society Journal
"An extraordinary document. . . . [Serber’s] analyses were elegant and compact yet sensibly accurate."—Physics Today
Robert Serber (March 14, 1909 – June 1, 1997) was an American physicist who participated in the Manhattan Project. Serber's lectures explaining the basic principles and goals of the project were printed and supplied to all incoming scientific staff, and became known as The Los Alamos Primer. The New York Times called him “the intellectual midwife at the birth of the atomic bomb.”
Richard Rhodes won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for The Making of the Atomic Bomb. He subsequently published three further volumes of nuclear history: Dark Sun, Arsenals of Folly, and The Twilight of the Bombs.
Robert Serber (March 14, 1909 – June 1, 1997) was an American physicist who participated in the Manhattan Project. Serber's lectures explaining the basic principles and goals of the project were printed and supplied to all incoming scientific staff, and became known as The Los Alamos Primer. The New York Times called him “the intellectual midwife at the birth of the atomic bomb.”
Richard Rhodes won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for The Making of the Atomic Bomb. He subsequently published three further volumes of nuclear history: Dark Sun, Arsenals of Folly, and The Twilight of the Bombs.
176 pp.5.5 x 8.25Illus: 16 line art illustrations, 17 b/w photographs
9780520344174$17.95|£14.99Paper
Apr 2020