[gjkood]

The best non-fiction book I have ever read is 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb'[1] by Richard Rhodes.

Fantastic early history of the people that eventually comprise the Manhattan Project. I feel any person who is interested in physics should read the book.

It is mindblowing the scale of the facilities that they had to build to generate a very small amount of the fissile material needed.

Strangely enough, I started on (a few times already) the second part, 'Dark Sun' [2], which is about the making of the Hydrogen Bomb focused on Edward Teller but I haven't been able to complete it yet.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes/dp/...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Sun-Making-Hydrogen-Bomb-ebook/d...

[pjmorris]

I scrolled to find this and add my vote. 'The Making of the Atomic Bomb' is a daunting read, but it does a great job of tackling the physics, politics, project management, the difficulties, triumphs, and consequences of the bomb. I feel like reading it is part of what is necessary to understanding the 20th century.