Hitler's Uranium Club: The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall 2nd ed. 2001 Edition

by Jeremy Bernstein (Author), David Cassidy (Introduction)

18 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0387950891

ISBN-10: 9780387950891

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Condition: Used - Acceptable

In Stock. Sold by Prime 1 Books

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

43 Used from $9.99

+ $3.99 shipping

Deliver to Finland

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

This item ships to Finland. Get it by Monday, Sept. 9 Choose this date at checkout. Learn more

List Price: $27.99
Save: $7.94 (28%)

45 New from $12.88

Deliver to Finland

More Buying Choices

45 New from $12.88 43 Used from $9.99

88 used & new from $9.99

See All Buying Options

Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Amazon Student

From April through December of 1945, ten of Nazi Germany's greatest nuclear physicists were detained by Allied military and intelligence services in a kind of gilded cage at Farm Hall, an English country manor near Cambridge. The physicists knew the Reich had failed to develop an atomic bomb, and they soon learned, from a BBC radio report on August 6, that the Allies had succeeded in their own efforts to create such a weapon. But what they did not know was that many of their meetings and private conversations were being monitored and recorded by British agents. This book contains the complete collection of transcripts that were made from these secret recordings, providing an unprecedented view of how the German scientists, including two Nobel Laureates, thought and spoke about their roles during the war.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Bernstein's] angered by [Copenhagen, suggesting] Heisenberg's attempt to play down his efforts for Hitler . . . may have been what upset Bohr." -- The New York Times, October 20, 2001 by James Glanz

(..) Did Heisenberg and the other scientists want to make the bomb? This insightful commentary explains the limitations of their knowledge and the materials available in Germany.... -- F. Potter, Choice

...a valuable part of the history of the modern world -- and indeed, well worthwhile reading for sheer human interest! -- Rapport Magazine

...an excellent source for understanding the ambitions of Heisenberg's team and the reason for its ultimate lack of success. -- Los Angeles Times Book Review, December 31, 2000

A most interesting and important contribution to the modern history of physics. -- Michael Eckert, Deutsches Museum, Germany

It is a fascinating document, revealing not only the limits of the scientists' wartime knowledge of physics, but their academic fragmentation, and their often lamentable concepts of political responsibility. -- Charles Maler, Center for European Studies, Harvard University

Jeremy Bernstein's thorough understanding of the physics, and his sharp but fair-minded criticism of Heisenberg's own approach to the problems involved, makes him an essential guide to the Farm Hall transcripts, and for me illuminated a great many things I had not properly appreciated before. -- Michael Frayn, author of Copenhagen

[The author] makes the technical discussions understandable to the layman, he compares them to the actual theory of nuclear explosions, he shows where Heisenberg's understanding is wrong and where it is right. -- Hans A. Bethe, Cornell University

Paperback: 427 pages
Publisher: Copernicus; 2nd ed. 2001 edition (December 21, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780387950891
ISBN-13: 978-0387950891
ASIN: 0387950893
Product Dimensions: 7 x 1 x 10 inches
Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 18 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #769,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #422 in Military Sciences
- #459 in Nuclear Physics (Books)
- #136 in Molecular Physics (Books)

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

18 customer reviews

Review this product

Write a customer review

Showing 1-8 of 18 reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Hawkeye

Hitler ' s bomb?

October 15, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This fascinating book incorporates the transcripts made from secret 1945 recordings from captured German Nuclear Scientists who worked on fission weapon research during WW II.. These were obtained without the ten scientists knowledge at "Farm Hall," a British Safe House in an operation similar to what MI 19 used on POW German Generals during the war, see: Helen Fry ' s work "The M Room" also available on Amazon.

Although the lengthy prologue provides many interesting facts to N AZ I unaccomplishments in this field during the war, the centerpiece of this work is what happened just after the war's end and it's impact on what German physicists did during the war. From translated Top Secret materials in the text it appears fission of the atomic nucleus in uranium was discovered by Hahn & Strassmann in Berlin December 1938. By end of 1941 it was determined this process could produce heat and drive machines. It did not appear feasible by the Germans to create a weapon using the path of modulation of heavy water. Later it was found graphite was a better modulator for reactors. It does not appear a bomb was the goal for no isotopes were created by them.

Additionally, it appears the German scientists only had a superficial idea of how a bomb could be made in August of 1945. In order to appreciate this work fully the reader needs a background in general atomic physics obtained in high school coupled with an understanding of western history of the twentieth century.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Sam Clemens

DO NOT GET THE KINDLE EDITION

December 28, 2012

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The one-star is only for the Kindle edition, as a warning.

The book itself appears to be excellent. I say "appears" because the editing for the Kindle edition was a disaster. The font can't be changed, and doesn't flow -- there are hyphens in the text where, presumably, there were hyphens in the printed text. Some of the footnotes in the (otherwise excellent) introduction are simply inserted in the middle of the main text, interrupting a sentence.

But at least you can read them. The real problem is that you cannot read ANY of the notes that DON'T interrupt the text. Yes, you read that correctly: The whole point of this edition is that it is annotated by an expert to provide context and help the lay reader. BUT YOU CANNOT READ THE ANNOTATIONS. They aren't hyperlinked. They aren't at the end of the chapter. They aren't at the end of the book. They don't exist.

Unbelievable.

If Amazon wants to continue to promote the Kindle, it has to insist on quality control, and that means hiring professionals to do the editing. Not whatever untended machine performed this abortion.

_________________

After posting the review above, I noticed an earlier review pointing out the same problem. In 2009! Apparently not a problem for Amazon. Well, I guess the joke's on me. Caveat emptor.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Tony

Get it from the horse's mouth, Werner Heisenberg himself.

September 4, 2002

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book consists of expertly annotated transcripts of conversations of German scientists taken at Farm Hall after the end of the WWII in Europe. The book is based on the recently de-classified "Farm Hall Transcripts", a revealing set of informative statements which demonstrates the low level of understanding that the German Scientists had of how to build Atomic Bombs. It is written and annotated by an American physicist, so you get some insights as to Heisenberg's mistakes. The book is a refutation of the book "Heisenberg's War" by Thomas Powers, a revisionist history that claims that Heisenberg, Germany's top scientist, really knew how an Atomic Bomb worked, but withheld this information from his colleagues and the German Government.
Heisenberg remains a mystery. He won a Nobel Prize in Physics in the early 1930s for his "Uncertainty Principle" which deals with Quantum Mechanics. Yet despite his brilliance, he sounds pretty ignorant at Farm Hall. Was he faking? I think not. To paraphrase Watergate: the question still is "What did Werner Heisenberg know and when did he know it? At Farm Hall, when he found out about Hiroshima, his ego deflated like an untied balloon. His comments were made at a vulnerable and candid moment. They reveal a knowledge one would expect from someone you picked at random at a shopping mall.
The Manhattan Project was at least as much engineering as science, and Heisenberg was more of a theologian than a nuts 'n bolts guy.
But hey, don't take my word for it. If you are really interested, I recommend this book along with "Heisenberg's War" so you get both sides. Then read "Alsos" by Samuel Goudschmidt, the scientific leader of the famous Alsos Mission, who along with Col. Boris T. Pash ("The Alsos Mission"), followed the allied armies into France and captured Heisenberg and the others. Goudschmidt was a physicist who offered the earliest (1947) and perhaps the most philosophical postmortem on the German A-bomb "program".

34 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Henry R. Feldman

Fascinating and knowledgeable account of German nuclear science durin WW2

January 16, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Very absorbing account of the taped (bugged) conservations of German scientists held in detention in the U.K. at the end of the war. Interesting discussions of the making of a reactor and the bomb with much insight into the mindsets of the scientists, including Heisenberg, Gerlach, von Weiszacker, von Laue and Hahn. Not too technical for the lay reader.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Amazon Buyer

Heavy Reading

February 6, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book gives great insight into the psyche of the German physicists who worked on the German nuclear project. I found it very interesting to read, but the science contained therein is above anyone without a PhD in physics.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Vahe Keshishian

Hitler's Uranium Club

September 2, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book is about the history of the German effort to develop an atomic bomb. It shows how the Germans were on the wrong track and how their management was very poor. It also shows how far hehind they were in the field of physics technology. For instance they did not have a single cyclotron. What they needed was a person like general Groves who was able to get all the necessary funding for the effort, and assemble a great team of scientists.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: Hitler's Uranium Club: The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall

Set up a giveaway

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: nyc club, plasma physics

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy

Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account	Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Handpicked Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Inspire Digital Educational Resources

Amazon Rapids Fun stories for kids on the go	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services	Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics

CreateSpace Indie Print Publishing Made Easy	DPReview Digital Photography	East Dane Designer Men's Fashion	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities

IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital Publishing Made Easy	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing

Ring Smart Home Security Systems	eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Subscribe with Amazon Discover & try subscription services	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Second Chance Pass it on, trade it in, give it a second life

Hitler's Uranium Club: The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall 2nd ed. 2001 Edition