{"product_id":"the-first-war-of-physics","title":"The First War of Physics","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn epic story of science and technology at the very limits of human understanding: the monumental race to build the first atomic weapons. Rich in personality  action  confrontation  and deception  The First War of Physics is the first fully realized popular account of the race to build humankinds most destructive weapon. The book draws on declassified material  such as MI6s Farm Hall transcripts  coded soviet messages cracked by American cryptographers in the Venona project  and interpretations by Russian scholars of documents from the soviet archives.  Jim Baggott weaves these threads into a dramatic narrative that spans ten historic years  from the discovery of nuclear fission in 1939 to the aftermath of Joe-1  August 1949s first Soviet atomic bomb test. Why did physicists persist in developing the atomic bomb  despite the devastation that it could bring? Why  despite having a clear head start  did Hitlers physicists fail? Could the soviets have developed the bomb without spies like Klaus Fuchs or Donald Maclean? Did the allies really plot to assassinate a key member of the German bomb program? Did the physicists knowingly inspire the arms race? The First War of Physics is a grand and frightening story of scientific ambition  intrigue  and genius: a tale barely believable as fiction  which just happens to be historical fact. 32 black-and-white illustrations\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44966767427637,"sku":"ByrdShop_1605980846","price":28.13,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781605980843.jpg?v=1770579101","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-first-war-of-physics","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}