Brighter Than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists

by Robert Jungk

Book Overview

An account of the remarkable scientists who discovered that nuclear fission was possible and then became concerned about its implications. Index. Translated by James Cleugh. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156141507
• Release Date: October 1970
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.0" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Light from a different direction!

Recently, in theatres in London and New York, the public was treated to the drama "Copenhagen," by British playwright Michael Frayn, and it revisited the theme of this now old book. The play was about a visit in September 1941 by the then young German physicist Werner Heisenberg to his mentor and dear friend Niels Bohr in Nazi-occupied Denmark. So a detail in a bigger picture, but still a key detail! The wider subject of Robert Jungk's book is a biographical sketch of the pioneers in nuclear physics, the individual scientist who built the atomic bomb (the time before Hiroshima and Nagasaki), or whose theories were instrumental. The debate about the history, the science, and its implications of the nuclear bomb started after World War II, and it is important to remember that nuclear scientists worked on both sides of this conflicts. Now with hindsight, the Cold War, and nuclear proliferation have taken centre stage, but back in 1956 when Robert Jungk's book first appeared, World War II was still casting a big shadow on events and on the debate about nuclear deterrence. In my opinion Robert Jungk's book was one of the first serious attempts at a general account on what was clearly a watershed in history, a series of events that are shaping our lives even today. Since 1956, Robert Jungk's book was reprinted many times, and many more related books appeared. Jungk's book is interesting in that it paints a vivid portrait of such scientists as Robert Oppenheimer, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, and other leading physicists at the time, and on both sides of that conflict. What is interesting now is to view Robert Jungk's book in the light of Michael Frayn's play, and especially in light of newly released papers on the Niels Bohr archives in 2002, following the wide attention given to Michael Frayn's version of the 1941 meeting in Copenhagen. The 2002 addition to Niels Bohr's archives is a deposit comprising documents either dictated or written by Niels Bohr referring to what was said at the fateful 1941 meeting. Michael Frayn's play makes it clear that the two Bohr and Heisenberg were very close both scientifically and personally, and that the 1941 meeting changed all of that. Both men were devastated! Heisenberg was a leading scientific advisor to the German government in post WWII Europe; and yet he spent the rest of his life attempting to put his spin on his war work; his work on a nuclear bomb for Hitler, or perhaps rather denying these efforts. Niels Bohr who died in 1962 had been extraordinarily tight lipped about his meeting with Heisenberg in 1941. So while the newly released letters supplement and confirm previously published statements of Bohr's recollections of the meeting, especially those of his son, Aage Bohr, this part of the story is not well known, and especially not to Robert Jungk. The letters are from Niels Bohr to Heisenberg, and they are interesting for man

Jungk's history is far from Junk.

Often times, books loose a great deal when translated. I haven't read the original German version of this book, but the English version is so captivating that I can't imagine much was lost in the change of language. If you want to learn more, not only about the scientists who developed the bomb, but the issues surrounding its use and further development you can't to better than this book. It is exceptionally well written, and superbly translated. It's fabulous to have a record so well researched written by someone in a position that is far more objective than an American's would have been at that time. The book starts you off after World War I in Göttingen, the mecca for scientific thought at the time. The early chapters lay an excellent foundation for the readers understanding of the issues surrounding the development of the atomic bomb. The account of the research at Los Alamos is very well covered, and Jungk avoids going to deeply into the technical aspects of the research. This makes it accessible to anyone, regardless of their depth of scientific knowledge. (I also recommend Richard Feynman's "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman" for an anecdotal, and more whimsical account of the Los Alamos research.) The most fascinating part of the book for me was the discussion of the events leading up to the use of the atomic bomb in Japan. I have used this book many times as a source for arguing that the atomic assault on Japan was not necessary. The unique thing that "...Suns" provides is the perspective of the scientist's involved. Instead of only discussing the political aspect, and occasionally mentioning Oppenheimer or Teller, as other texts about the bomb tend to do, Jungk gives the reader clear view of the scientist's perspective on military deployment of an atomic weapon. (The Franck Report is appended.) Finally, the beginning of the arms race is explored, up through Russia's and the United States' development of hydrogen bombs. No doubt this section would have been more complete had the book been written later. However, I found that reading the book now, with the knowledge of the extent of the cold war and the arms race makes reading the perspective of someone who was witnessing the beginnings of it even more interesting. One usually does not think of history as something that enthralls so deeply as this book does. It is perhaps the most engaging book I have ever read.

Better than a thriller

It was shear chance that I came across this book in the library. I have read it twice already and I think I will buy it. Definitely a collectors item for those who are even half as interested as I am in the facts about the bomb and the world war.

Serious book about science that reads like a thriller

An extraordinary book. The story of the University in a small town of Goettingen, and the amazing characters who gravitate there to learn physics. This part on its own, prior to the Manhatten project is an exciting reading. Both the atmosphere of the German University and the characters of the students, inluding the "fathers" of nuclear and thermonuclear bombs, Oppenheimer and Teller, are very well described and vivid. Easy and interesting description of the foundations of physics behind the nuclear weapons. Actually that was my favorite part. The story of the Manhatten project is done very well. The book was powerful enough to affect me to become a physisist - 35 years ago. I am happy to see that it is still in print. Good reading for any age, but especially highly recommended for those who are chosing a profession and are too bright to go to a Medical School.

History of the men who made possible the Manhattan project.

(Although I said men I wanted to say men/women). This book shows the lives of the people involved in the development of the Atomic Bomb. The shoulders upon which other scientist climbed to get the atom knowledge, the relationship among them and the work done by each of them. It does not include physics at all, so it may readable for all ages. I recommend very much for those interested in scientist lives and as a historical document of the science research.