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Building the H Bomb: A Personal History

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Building the H Bomb: A Personal History

By: Kenneth W. Ford
Narrated by: Adam B. Ford
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About this listen

In this engaging scientific memoir, Kenneth Ford recounts the time when, in his mid-20s, he was a member of the team that designed and built the first hydrogen bomb. He worked with - and relaxed with - scientific giants of that time such as Edward Teller, Enrico Fermi, Stan Ulam, John von Neumann, and John Wheeler, and here offers illuminating insights into the personalities, the strengths, and the quirks of these men.

Well known for his ability to explain physics to nonspecialists, Ford also brings to life the physics of fission and fusion and provides a brief history of nuclear science from the discovery of radioactivity in 1896 to the 10 megaton explosion of “Mike” that obliterated a Pacific Island in 1952. Ford worked at both Los Alamos and Princeton's Project Matterhorn and brings out Matterhorn's major but previously unheralded contribution to the development of the H bomb.

Outside the lab, he drove a battered Chevrolet around New Mexico, a bantam motorcycle across the country, and a British roadster around New Jersey. Part of the charm of Ford's book is the way in which he leavens his well-researched descriptions of the scientific work with brief tales of his life away from weapons.

©2015 World Scientific Publishing Company (P)2018 World Scientific Publishing Company Nuclear Weapon

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As a nuclear weapons buff, there still isn't reams of information on the inner workings of the hydrogen bomb. This book is written by someone that actually contributed massively towards the development of Mike Shot in 1952, and gives that little bit of format hand insight that you won't come across often. This feels like an important book to me. It's a great story, and that extra level of detail based upon the fact that this man was actually doing the calculations on the thermonuclear burn of the first Hydrogwn weapon, just makes it that much more mouth watering. The book is a great listen and I didn't want it to end. It will surely get another listen, and some of the sections briefly detailing the physics of the device or its configuration, were re-wound over and over, purely to ensure that I had absorbed every second of luscious information.
If you have an interest in nuclear weapons, or physics, or both and enjoy the story of the person that goes with it (which is interesting in itself), then this book is for you. The author is a man that I would surely like to sit and sip a beverage with, whilst talking about his life experiences and his time working with the Hydrogen bomb and later nuclear physics. Terrific book, although '10.4 megahrs' shorter than I would have liked!

Stunning.

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