Jacob Berkowitz's favorite books on how science won World War Two
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Jacob Berkowitz's favorite books on how science won World War Two
Picked by
Jacob Berkowitz
What did I love about each book?
List by
Jacob Berkowitz
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Why am I passionate about this?
I’m an author, playwright and science writer near Ottawa, Canada. One thing that fascinated me in writing The Stardust Revolution was how 20th-century astronomy advances were grounded in the re-use of military technologies developed in WWII. Both radio- and infrared astronomy emerged from the use of former Nazi and Allied military hardware. This is because WWII was the physicists war—their inventions determined its outcome. These five books describe the key science and technology—atomic weapons, radar, and rockets—that won World War Two and have shaped the world since. The books are a great mix of biography, narrative non-fiction, and investigative journalism.
I wrote
The Stardust Revolution: The New Story of Our Origin in the Stars
By
Jacob Berkowitz
What is my book about?
Three great scientific revolutions have shaped our understanding of the cosmos and our relationship to it. The Copernican Revolution, which…
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The books I picked & why
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
By
Richard Rhodes
Why I love this book
The invention of the A-bomb was the most intensive, expensive, and extensive weapons development program in history. Rhodes’ book is a magisterial, gripping telling of this story—from nascent ideas to the terrors of Nagasaki. Pulitzer prize-winner, it’s essential reading to understand the birth of today’s big science.
What is this book about?
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
By
Richard Rhodes
Why should I read it?
10<br>authors picked
The Making of the Atomic Bomb<br>as one of their favorite books, and they share<br>why you should read it.
What is this book about?
With a brand new introduction from the author, this is the complete story of how the bomb was developed. It is told in rich, human, political, and scientific detail, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly -- or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity there was a span of hardly more than twenty-five years. What began as merely an interesting speculative problem in physics grew into the Manhattan…
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Why do people like this book?
Topics
The Manhattan Project
Nuclear power
Nuclear weapons
Manhattan
Genres
American history
Science
War
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The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technological Revolution
By
Robert Buderi
Why I love this book
To paraphrase Buderi, radar won the war, the atomic bomb ended it. This isn’t hyperbole. Rushed into service, radar saved Britain from invasion in the summer of 1941 and was a decisive tool in every major theatre of war, from directing night bombers to attacking U-boats.
What is this book about?
The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technological Revolution
By
Robert Buderi
Why should I read it?
author picked
The Invention That Changed the World<br>as one of their favorite books, and they share<br>why you should read it.
What is this book about?
From Simon & Schuster, The Invention That Changed the World explores how a small group of radar pioneers won the second World War and launched a technical revolution.
The technology that was created to win World War II—radar—has revolutionized the modern world. This is the fascinating story of the inventors and their inventions.
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Why do people like this book?
Topics
U-boats
Nuclear weapons
Genres
History
Science
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Harry and Arthur
by
Lawrence J. Haas,
With Franklin Roosevelt’s death in April 1945, Vice President Harry Truman and Senator Arthur Vandenberg, the Republican leader on foreign policy, inherited a world in turmoil. With Europe flattened and the Soviets emerging as America’s new adversary, Truman and Vandenberg built a tight, bipartisan partnership at a bitterly partisan time…
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