Overview

It was no accident that the Holocaust and the Atomic Bomb happened at the same time. When the Nazis came into power in 1933, their initial objective was not to get rid of Jews. Rather, their aim was to refine German culture: Jewish professors and teachers at fine universities were sacked. Atomic science had attracted a lot of Jewish talent, and as Albert Einstein and other quantum exiles scattered, they realized that they held the key to a weapon of unimaginable power. Convinced that their gentile counterparts in Germany had come to the same conclusion, and having witnessed what the Nazis were prepared to do, the exiles were afraid. They had to get to the Atomic Bomb first. The Nazis meanwhile had acquired a more pressing objective: their persecution of the Jews had evolved into extermination. Two dreadful projects - the Bomb and the Holocaust - became locked in a grisly race.

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9780199592159

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A provocative new book. Nature Physics ... fascinating ... Jeremy Bernstein, Wall Street Journal

... fascinating ... * Jeremy Bernstein, Wall Street Journal * A provocative new book. * Nature Physics * Like me, older readers who have known many of the protagonists, will not avoid poignant emotions. For young readers, the book is recommended because they will learn many historical facts that should not be forgotten. Fraser is excellent in presenting a tapestry of personal fates, scientific contributions and the relevant political facts in the age of the Second World War. * Ulrich Charpa, Times Literary Supplement * A stimulating read, bringing forward some developments of the physics of the last 100 years in their political, cultural and historical context. * Stefan L. Wolff, Physik Journal *

... fascinating ... Jeremy Bernstein, Wall Street Journal

Author Information

Gordon Fraser (the late) was for many years the in-house editor at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva. His books on popular science and scientists include Cosmic Anger, a biography of Abdus Salam, the first Muslim Nobel scientist, and Antimatter: The Ultimate Mirror. He is also the editor of The New Physics for the 21st Century and The Particle Century. After undergraduate studies at Imperial College, London, he went on to a PhD in theoretical particle physics, and has worked as a research scientist as well as a journalist. He lives in France.

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