Atomic Spaces: Living on the Manhattan Project

Atomic Spaces: Living on the Manhattan Project

A cultural history of the development of the atomic bomb focuses on the milieu of the project's three key sites, including Los Alamos, New Mexico, documenting the clash between military efficiency and open democracy that went on inside them. UP. In this unusual cultural history, Hales (art history, Univ. of Illinois) explains how instant towns were created by military fiat during World War II with the sole purpose of developing the atomic bomb. The three principal sites were Los Alamos, New Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Hanford, Washington. Physical traces of these sites remain today?stockpiles of weapons, tanks of untreatable waste, noxious regions, and injured workers. While Hales's detailed history is more than the casual reader may wish to tackle, the author's exploration of the story's human and mythological elements should broaden the book's appeal. The first half looks at how sites were acquired and the ethical questions raised, while the rest deals with occupations, race relations, leisure activities, and thought control within the three main sites. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.?Gary D. Barber, SUNY at Fredonia Lib. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.