Gripping reading that highlights the ethical issues as well as emotional reactions of the nuclear scientists A thoroughly researched dramatization of pivotal events in human history Includes historical narrative and photographic documentation alongside the play Prepared with support of American Institute of Physics

Autorentext

David C. Cassidy is a prize-winning historian and dramatist of science. He is a professor emeritus at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York USA. His previous books include Beyond Uncertainty: Heisenberg, Quantum Physics and the Bomb; Einstein and Our World; and J. Robert Oppenheimer and the American Century.

Zusammenfassung

This gripping book brings back to life the events surrounding the internment of ten German Nuclear Scientists immediately after World War II. It is also an "eye-witness" account of the dawning of the nuclear age, with the dialogue and narrative spanning the period before, during and after atomic bombs were dropped on Japan at the end of the war. This pivotal historical episode is conveyed, along with the emotions as well as the facts, through drama, historical narrative, and photographs of the captive German nuclear scientists - who included Werner Heisenberg, Otto Hahn, and Max von Laue. The unique story that unfolds in the play is based on secretly recorded transcripts of the scientists' actual conversations at Farm Hall, together with related documents and photographs.

Inhalt
Introduction*.- Farm Hall*, the Play.- A Brief History of the German Project, Alsos, and Farm Hall.- Science, History, Drama.- Historical Sources: The  Farm Hall  Reports.