University Libraries Promotion and Tenure Recognition

Arthur Moses Thompson Motta Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering

Book Title: The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Author: Richard Rhodes

Selection Statement:

The atomic bomb is almost incidental, if it can be be so said, in this account of the development of nuclear physics and nuclear science in the first half of the twentieth century, which I read as a graduate student fifteen years ago. More than the physics, the account of the personal lives of physicists involved in nuclear research inspired me personally. I was inspired to a scientific career by my grandfather, Arthur Moses, a Brazilian scientist, who was a contemporary of these great discoveries in the beginning of the 20th century. He was throughout his life, more than a scientist, a nurturer of his colleagues' careers and of the science environment in Brazil. Through his work he helped create the conditions for successful scientists, thus having an impact much beyond his actual scientific work. In this book, similar tales are told of how extraordinary scientific personalities such as Rutherford, Bohr and Oppenheimer throughout their careers nurtured and supported their colleagues' work. Because of this, the "Making of the Atomic Bomb," affected and inspired me for my upcoming career in academia, and kept me aware that we all have a duty to make the place in which we work better for us and for others.


Year: 2003