Skip to main content

The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

Reveals little-known part of history of the making of the bomb





This history of a time just prior to the end of World War II, told in narrative style, spotlights the story of a town called Oak Ridge, in Tennessee, that was created by the U.S. government after the forced relocation of Americans who had lived on the land for generations. Temporary housing was hastily erected and large buildings were constructed where the secret work would take place. Americans looking for work – including many women – were recruited, but they were told only that they would be working on something that would help end the war. This book provides historical details about several of the women who were hired in different capacities, from janitor to physicist, from secretary to statistician. It was sometimes hard to keep track of each of their individual stories.

Girls of Atomic City documents how these women, and others at the site, assisted in the making of the atomic bomb, which was nicknamed “The Gadget.” They were kept in the dark about the exact nature of the work until after the atomic bomb was dropped. They were strongly directed to stay silent about their particular jobs. The secrecy of the government, including the recruiting of some workers to spy on others, government control over media reporting, and signs posted reminding workers to stay quiet about their work and inform on anyone who wasn’t, is a chilling reminder that there is a lot more going on than what gets reported in the news. The details surrounding the bomb test in New Mexico are fascinating, as are the details of how different individuals felt, morally, about the bomb, and what information the president did (or didn’t) have when making the decision whether or not to use it. There’s also a section about some unethical human testing that was done at the site that turned my stomach. It’s a pretty powerful read with a lot of little-known (to me, anyway) details about this particular segment of history.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Vampire Shrink by Lynda Hilburn

  Vampires in the Club Kismet is a psychologist in Denver. She meets with a 20-something client, Midnight, whose parents insist on a counseling appointment because of Midnight's infatuation with the underground vampire culture in Denver's nightlife scene, particularly the crowd that hangs out at The Crypt, a popular goth/alternative dance club. Midnight insists that vampires are real and wants to become one; Kismet discovers Midnight is also a lonely individual whose mother is unavailable and whose father is a long-time untreated addict.  Kismet becomes interested in the vampire culture and considers writing a book about the psychology of vampire wannabes. Then she meets Devereaux, the owner of The Crypt nightclub. After meeting Devereaux, and other not-near-as-pleasant night walkers who habitually terrorize others, Kismet doesn't know what to believe about whether or not vampires really exist. But she does know her feelings for Devereaux have magic intensity. This is a se...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

A fantastic winter folktale, bleak and beautiful   The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey Reagan Arthur / Back Bay Books The Snow Child is a beautifully written story inspired by a Russian fairy tale. In a rare moment of playfulness, a childless couple named Jack and Mabel lovingly create a little girl made of snow. The next day, the snow person is gone but Jack and Mabel begin seeing glimpses and finding evidence of a young girl in the woods near their homesteading cabin. Jack and Mabel have come to Alaska in the 1920s with hopes of a new start. They’re barely surviving on the return from their crops, farmed exclusively by Jack, while Mabel makes baked goods for a little extra money. They’re considering admitting defeat and leaving Alaska behind when new connections with others in the area, including the mysterious snow child, give them new hope. The atmospheric differences in the writing between the spare, exhausting, isolated despair of Jack and Mabel at the beginning ...
Post a Comment
Read more
Best Reads ~ 2015 I read 45 b ooks in 2015, and most of those were at least medium enjoyable, but there were about a dozen that stood out from the rest, and one of those was a real surprise to me. It came late in the year and moved right to the front of the line. That book was The Martian by Andy Weir. Hard sci-fi is not something I usually read, but this story captured me. It incorporated adventure, suspense, humor, politics, and lots and lots of science.  The list of my best reads of 2015 is below, and each book is reviewed in separate posts. Remember, these are not books that were published in 2015, simply books I read in 2015. The Martian by Andy Weir The Marauders by Tom Cooper The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater Salvage and Demolition by Tim Powers Celeste by I.N.J. Culbard America's Boy by Wade Rou...
Post a Comment
Read more