The Road from Los Alamos
New York: The American Institute of Physics, 1991. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. xvii, [1], 286 p. Illustrations. Index. This is one of the Masters of Modern Physics series. DJ has some sticker residue on the front. Hans Albrecht Bethe (July 2, 1906 – March 6, 2005) was a German-American nuclear physicist who made important contributions to astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics, and solid-state physics, and who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. For most of his career, Bethe was a professor at Cornell University. During World War II, he was head of the Theoretical Division at the secret Los Alamos laboratory that developed the first atomic bombs. There he played a key role in calculating the critical mass of the weapons and developing the theory behind the implosion method used in both the Trinity test and the "Fat Man" weapon dropped on Nagasaki in August 1945. After the war, Bethe also played an important role in the development of the hydrogen bomb, although he had originally joined the project with the hope of proving it could not be made. Bethe later campaigned with Albert Einstein and the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists against nuclear testing and the nuclear arms race. He helped persuade the Kennedy and Nixon administrations to sign the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (SALT I). His scientific research never ceased and he was publishing papers well into his nineties, making him one of the few scientists to have published at least one major paper in his field during every decade of his career, which in Bethe's case spanned nearly seventy years. Focuses on the uses and misuses of nuclear energy in our society, with chapters devoted to arms control, Chernobyl, the cutting edge between science and government, and a debate with Edward Teller. This work assembles Bethe's most powerful essays from the postwar period to the time of its publication. Beginning with the Bomb's early years, this collection included Bethe's arguments against America's crash program to develop hydrogen weapons and an account of why an atomic explosion cannot--as once feared at Los Alamos--ignite the Earth's atmosphere. Arms control is the volume's central theme, with topics ranging from the unsuccessful attempts to secure a comprehensive test ban to the technological urgency driving the arms race. It also offers a reasoned condemnation of the pursuit of a "Star Wars" missile shield. A support of the peaceful uses of atomic energy, Bethe writes on nuclear safety and the Chernobyl disaster and the necessity to continue developing fission power. Other major topics include his contributions to astrophysics--Bethe won the Nobel Prize for discovering the Sun's inner workings--and his reflections on friends and colleagues--J. Robert Oppenheimer, Richard Feynman, Freeman Dyson, Herman Hoerlin and Paul P. Ewald. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Arms Control, Frederick Seitz, Richard Garwin, Kurt Gottfried, Malcolm Wallop, Robert McNamara: Edward Teller, Frank von Hippel, Nuclear Power, Ballistic Missile Defense, Los Alamos, Robert Oppenheimer, Freeman Dyson, Richard Feynman, Donald Kerr, Ho
ISBN: 0883187078
[Book #84024]
Price: $50.00