Heisenberg's War: The Secret History Of The German Bomb

This was a very interesting book on the German atomic bomb making. It is somewhat excruciating in details and there was more pre-war information than needed. Still, it is very relevant to our world today

Heisenberg is portrayed as a German patriot, having never joined the Nazi party, and a man of science, not politics. He was associated with many of the top people in the nuclear field before and during WWII. His interest was nuclear power, yet his research supported the Nazi atomic bomb effort. He was literally only months away from reactor criticality and building an A-Bomb when the Allies overran his atomic reactor site. He was labeled 'a white Jew' by the Nazis and yet remained in Nazi Germany during the entire war. A man of many conflicts and contrasts. The book is a long, and most thorough read, skewed toward portraying Heisenberg as a German patriot. Some might choose to differ with this viewpoint.

Thank you Thomas Powers. Without your in depth research and highly logical analysis , few people would have become aware of just what a contribution to the well being of the world that was made by this one greatest of all heroes, Werner Heisenberg. I especially liked the concept of Thomas Powers that says in effect "One has to look between the headlines of history and to delve into the "shadow conversations" i.e. those talks that were off the record and were yet recorded in private notes and memos for history and yet reveal the real truth of the situation. . One of these conversations was between Dr. Heisenberg and Dr. Neils Bohr . Werner Heisenberg was risking his life to even reveal to this physicist from Denmark that Germany even had a bomb program.at this time. The only realistic intention of Werner Heisenberg at this point was to awaken the West to the dangers that were brewing inside of Germany. . Werner Heisenberg knew that the German scientists could only act stupid for so long. It was time for the Americans and the British to wake up and get started. When Werner Heisenberg had heard the news on a BBC radio broadcast about the bombing of Hiroshima, some critics have commented "he must have quickly deduced hot to assemble a bomb " as he was telling Otto Hahn the exactly structure and firing order of the bomb. He also, during this secretly taped conversation , told Dr. Hahn the exact revolutions of or the numbers of cycles of fission one could expect from critical mass. (80) This is extremely difficult and highly unlikely if Werner Heisenberg did not know what critical mass was as some have contended. As for those who suggest that Werner Heisenberg quickly "deduced" how to make the bomb. this idea is dubious unless one can assume that the facilities at Farm Hall , which was . after all, still a prison, had a well stocked research department. The conclusion is apparent and highly logical to state that .indeed Werner Heisenberg acted to save the world from a nuclear holocaust. Thank you Thomas Powers for an excellent book.

intriguing tale, very thoroughly researched. dense with detail (maybe too much) but kept my attention. i recommend it but it's not a weekend read!

Among all the others, this book is necessary and essential for efforts to put all the pieces together—if uncertainly.

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good service and book okay

Great condition; prompt shipping!