248 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
The blinding light -- Physics and uranium -- On the trail of the nucleus -- Lisa Meitner -- The Meitner-Hahn discovery -- Enrico Fermi -- The Rome experiments -- The events of 1938 -- Christmas 1938 -- The Heisenberg menace -- Chain reaction -- The Nazi nuclear machine -- Copenhagen -- The moment of truth -- Building the bomb -- The decision to use the bomb -- Evidence from a spying operation -- The Cold War -- Uranium's future.
Summary
The author of Fermat's Last Theorem chronicles the scientific discovery of nuclear energy, an account set against the nuclear fission race in 1920s Europe that considers the contributions of such figures as Marie Curie, Enrico Fermi, and Lise Meitner.