Building the H Bomb: A Personal History, by Kenneth W Ford
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Building the H Bomb: A Personal History, by Kenneth W Ford
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In this engaging scientific memoir, Kenneth Ford recounts the time when, in his mid-twenties, 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 ten-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.
Readership: A memoir for general readership in the history of science.
Building the H Bomb: A Personal History, by Kenneth W Ford- Amazon Sales Rank: #358593 in Books
- Brand: Ford, Kenneth W.
- Published on: 2015-03-27
- Released on: 2015-03-25
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x .54" w x 6.00" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 240 pages
From the Inside Flap In this engaging scientific memoir, Kenneth Ford recounts the time when, in his mid-twenties, 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 ten-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.
About the Author In 1950-1952 Kenneth Ford took a two-year break from his graduate studies in physics at Princeton University to work on the H bomb, returning to earn his Ph.D. in 1953. Since then he has conducted research in nuclear physics, taught at several universities, and served as a college president and as the head of a nonprofit organization. After retirement, he taught high-school physics. In addition to his scientific papers, he has written textbooks and books explaining quantum physics to nonscientists — as well as a memoir on flying small planes. His books have won two writing awards and some have been translated into other languages. In 2006, he was recognized by the American Association of Physics Teachers with that organization's Oersted medal for contributions to teaching. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Joanne. They have seven children and thirteen grandchildren.
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Most helpful customer reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful. Warm, human book about the development of the H-Bomb and the people who dd it. By David M. Small I deeply enjoyed this book, and I recommend it. Ford writes about the many people who worked on the H-Bomb project, and tells very ... *human* ... stories about them. Edward Teller, Stan Ulam, Carson Mark, Richard Garwin, John Wheeler and on and on. I know the names but not much about them, and this book fills in the gaps nicely.Ford is a kind man. He documents in detail who came up with what in the Teller-Ulam H-bomb design invention. There has been a long debate about the origins of this invention. Teller too often tried to minimize Stan Ulam's contribution, which was an entire new way of doing things. Instead of raking Teller over the coals for trying to take full credit for the design, Ford instead writes with compassion about Teller, saying that "Oh, Edward, your human frailty is so much on display."The DOE is apparently trying to remove 5,000 words from this book, which deals with events from 1950, which is (counting on my fingers) about 65 years ago. The online e-book version has the 5,000 words.I recommend this book to anyone who wants a view of the people and the project, at this point in history.-- David
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Superb and informative By R. Coleman I bought this book originally to get more history on the Ulam vs. Teller event. My point of view was from a long background on von Neumann and computers and knowing Stan Ulam's work and his relationship with von Neumann. Before I add detail one has to wonder if Teller at the time the concepts for the Teller-Ulam version of the bomb were being developed had had the guts and maturity to give credit where credit was due, including credit to Richard Garwin, then Kenneth Ford would have written quite a different book, if written it all, since much of the conflict would have been removed. Teller could always have said, "Stan Ulam brought in a new decisive concept that motivated me to take a new approach, and after this was done, Richard Garwin designed the bomb, and I really have to give credit to the two of them, and the rest of the team to making this work."The book thus has a lot to do with Teller. You really have to understand that before all this coming up to the 1940's Teller had a really good reputation. He was always very helpful to other people and many physicists would proclaim this. Freeman Dyson to this day is big backer of Teller. Something happened during the 1940's through the Los Alamos days which began to change him. Thus the Teller we see in this book at the time it takes place is a changed Teller.What was really new to me was Chapter 14, "The Garwin Design," which probably was old hat to many physicists. In Chapter 15 Marshall Rosenbluth's discovery of the pre-detonation possibility of the fission trigger is discussed which is almost amusing, but illustrates the role of these brilliant young physicists in making things really work.Ford tells these stories so well in this memoir or personal history which is after all 65 years after the occurrence. He also fills in some history of the computations needed. George Dyson in "Turing's Cathedral" discusses from an Ulam and von Neumann point of view similar topics. If he had this book, he could have added probably some material in the pertinent chapters.Also parenthetically looking at a picture of Ford as a young man in 1952 he looks the type who would do square dancing and run around on his motorcycle. Although it took him five years at Princeton at that time, accounting for two years working on hydrogen bombs, he did pretty well. He mentions Hans Bethe several times including Bethe's laconic presence in several review meetings. I remember someplace Feynman saying during Los Alamos days that they used to compete in doing computations on physics problems and that he never could beat Bethe. The alpha people Ford talks about in both mathematics and physics were exceptionally gifted and we get Ford's view of them back at that time. The book to me is a superb read that helps fill in a lot of information.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Blockbuster Writing, Incredible History, Something for Every One! By Shawn Hughes In a nutshell, this is one of the best books written on nuclear weapon systems in quite some time.I've read more than my fair share of topical materials, and they generally fall into one of two categories: engineering detailed or historical review. This book shatters that barrier by being both.Written by an ACTUAL PARTICIPANT, this book has a very unique character. Instead of the typical tired rehash of known first person discussion, this author writes about it as he recalls it! It is almost like sitting in the various rooms on the Socorran plains. As to the technology end, I haven't really tried to understand secondaries. That's because almost zero first person information is out there. It is almost all theoretical from people who are guessing, or worse, spouting off what other guessers guessed. It's tiring. Dr. Ford's explanation helped to finally 'click' the concepts in my head. I have a good understanding of what the DOE considers close hold information, and the areas they are probably uncomfortable with stick out plainly. The author could not tell this story without this data; it is the framework of the salient points in the book, and the history of his life. Nothing he wrote will help a weaponeer on a tactical or engineering level. But for buffs and amateur speculators such as myself, it is a wealth of easy to understand knowledge. I don't know what the DOE will do to Dr. Ford. They are between a rock and a hard place. I hope they leave him alone, though. Great read. I'll probably read it again.
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