Customer Reviews

Alsos (History of Modern Physics & Astronomy)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am in no way disappointed with Dr. Goudsmit's account of the Alsos project, especially after reading the truly tedious account written by Boris Pash. For those who do not know the story, Dr. Goudsmit was the foremost nuclear physicist that was not attached to one of the three Manhattan Project labs. He was sent into Nazi Germany with what amounted to a small special forces team to seek out the German atomic bomb project and to achieve three goals - report on the progress of the German scientists, bring as many of their physicists and their materials into Allied hands as possible, and discourage the remainder from going over to the Soviets. There is a mix of humor (radioactive wine!) and deep tragedy (Dr. Goudsmit's parent's house) that make for enthralling reading. This book, along with "Assault in Norway" and "The Farm Hall Reports" give a first hand account of the threat of atomic energy had it been achieved by the Nazis. Highly recommended.

I heard Goudsmit speak on this (and read the book - library copy) when I was at Brookhaven in the 1950's. I found it an interesting tale. ALSOS was the code name of the scientific mission that Goudsmit led to see how far the Nazi scientists had gotten on the atom bomb (without tipping our hand on how far the Americans had gotten!) Goudsmit was able to sift through German scientists because he knew personally every physicist in Germany capable of making an atom bomb.

By the way, the subtitle (History of Modern Physics and Astronomy, Vol 1) is erronious, the book is the same ALSOS I read in the 50's and has no such subtitle.

I purchased this book as a supplemental reference to other reading (The Farmhall Transcripts, Stan Ulam's Memoir, Larry Badash's reading list) and had already read Goudsmit's before this purchase.

Basically, the current value of this book is how intelligence officers not schooled in nuclear weapons learn about why some of this technology is not easily found in a garage (unlike portions of the computer industry). The writing style is 1st person and fun, and not intended to be any sort of historic analysis. Some people might find running around France looking for radioactive wine a waste, but some people can't take a joke. The book humanizes Boris Pash more than other books.

The book is only intended as a account, not the final word. The latter editions of this book may include photographs, diagrams, and other media not found in earlier editions and can resolve some of the thinking about German atomic piles which the text alone can't convey. It's not a book for every one, it's very context sensitive and other historic reading could put some of this into context (usually Richard Rhoades Atomic Bomb history or equivalent {R. Jungk would work}).

Enjoy yourself.

Supposedly about the scientific intelligence teams that wandered through post-war (just) Germany trying to locate the Reich's scientific secrets...

When I first ordered this book, I assumed that it would be an exciting blend of adventure and science. Ah, no. Rather, the writer spends an inordinate amount of time telling us about himself, Atomic Theory, pre-war Germany, his role in winning the war and so on. As it turns out, he's had a fairly interesting life, so the book isn't a total bust, but I would have liked to have learned more about the grunts in the field and the risks they took.