Critical assembly : a technical history of Los Alamos during the Oppenheimer years, 1943-1945
This 1993 volume studies the technical research that led to the first atomic bombs. The authors explore how the 'critical assembly' of scientists, engineers, and military personnel at Los Alamos, collaborated during World War II to create a new approach to research. Readers will find this book a crucial resource for understanding the underpinnings of contemporary science and technology.
Print Book, English, ©1993
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [England], ©1993
History
xv, 509 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
9780521441322, 9780521541176, 0521441323, 0521541174
26764320
1. Introduction
2. Early Research on Fission: 1933-1943
3. The Early Materials Program: 1933-1943
4. Setting Up Project Y: June 1942 to March 1943
5. Research in the First Months of Project Y: April to September 1943
6. Creating a Wartime Community: September 1943 to August 1944
7. The Gun Weapon: September 1943 to August 1944
8. The Implosion Program Accelerates: September 1943 to July 1944
9. New Hopes for the Implosion Weapon: September 1943 to July 1944
10. The Nuclear Properties of a Fission Weapon: September 1943 to July 1944
11. Uranium and Plutonium: Early 1943 to August 1944
12. The Discovery of Spontaneous Fission in Plutonium and the Reorganization of Los Alamos
13. Building the Uranium Bomb: August 1944 to July 1945
14. Exploring the Plutonium Implosion Weapon: August 1944 to February 1945
15. Finding the Implosion Design: August 1944 to February 1945
16. Building the Implosion Gadget: March 1945 to July 1945
17. Critical Assemblies and Nuclear Physics: August 1944 to July 1945
18. The Test at Trinity: January 1944 to July 1945
19. Delivery: June 1943 to August 1945
20. The Legacy of Los Alamos