Brighter Than a Thousand Suns by Robert Jungk
A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists
Oct 13, 2009
There have been many recountings of the discovery of nuclear fission and the ensuing development of the atomic bomb. Fifty-three years after its publication, Brighter than a Thousand Suns remains one of the best. Although Jungk may have lacked the advantage of being able to look back with the wisdom obtained over time, his work had an immediacy that no modern writer can now hope to achieve.
Atomic Physics in the 20th Century
Jungk starts at the beginning, in Germany. Many scientists that would later have a role in bomb research were associated with the University of Gottingen. Oppenheimer spent time there as well as Leo Szilard and Edward Teller. As the Nazis came into power and purged the university system of "Jewish science" things took a definite turn for the worse, allowing most of the important follow-up research to take place outside of Germany. All the early developments in atomic theory that led up to the discovery of fission and the dawning of the nuclear era are covered in engaging and authoritative style. Slowly it began to be clear that the atom could be split and the nucleus contained an astonishing quantity of energy.
From Fission to Fusion
As the subtitle suggests, this is not a book about technology so much as it is about people. The human interactions and relationships among the physicists, mathematicians, military men (Manhattan Project organizer General Groves in particular) and politicians take center stage. Yes they built the bomb, but it is Jungk's personal knowledge gained from knowing and corresponding with the principle players, combined with thorough research, that sets Brighter than a Thousand Suns apart from any other book on atomic history.
After (and even before) fission weapons were proven and in a cycle of improvement, talk of a fusion or "Super" bomb arose. The Super was championed by Edward Teller, who eventually got his way. Building a Super (commonly known as a hydrogen bomb) was very difficult, and many scientists hoped it would prove to be impossible, even as they worked on it. No matter what one may think of Teller, he comes through as a man who truly believed in what he was doing. Not every scientist of the time admired his ambition or his somewhat surreptitious ways of lobbying for the Super.
The Scientific Conscience
It wasn't easy being part of the team that made possible the destruction of all life on earth. The later part of the book details the investigation of Oppenheimer, the founding of pacifist organizations, and the reasons why some scientists chose to keep working on weapons research, while others swore it off entirely. Again, Jungk's closeness to actual events are the key to his success in telling what came after the bomb. The author convinces the reader that what transpired post-Nagasaki was just as important as the testing and actual use of the first nuclear devices by one nation against another.
References
Jungk, Robert; Brighter than a Thousand Suns; San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1956 (translated in 1958).
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