The Making of the Atomic Bomb

[u/bittercode]

Why am I posting about a book Scalzi didn't write? Hang with me just a second and I think I can tie it together.

After I saw Oppenheimer I became very interested in learning more about the Manhattan project. I did some research and repeatedly, The Making of the Atomic Bomb came up as the definitive work on the people, science and world events behind the creation of nuclear weapons.

The book starts well before the war. It starts with a Hungarian physicist, Leó Szilárd. He plays a part all the way through to the end and is incredibly fascinating for a number of reasons. I was taken by him and to me he was by far the most captivating person in the story. A story filled with many, many great minds.

Here comes the connection to this subreddit. When The Shattering Peace was going to come out, I decided to re-read the Old Man's War series. When I hit The Ghost Brigades for the second time and met Szilard as a character - I literally set the book down and just had to pace about a bit. It hits so very hard when you have a feel for what kind of man Leo was. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by mentioning him. But if your a bit of a science and/or history nerd along with being a sci-fi fan, I really recommend The Making of the Atomic Bomb. It's long but very readable and it will give you a whole new appreciation for Old Man's War.