The Apocalypse Factory – Audiobook Online

The Apocalypse Factory – Audiobook Online By: Steve Olson

It started with plutonium, the first element to be produced in large quantities by man. Fearing that the Germans would be the first to weaponize the atom, the United States brought together clever minds and seemingly tireless bodies to find a way to create a nuclear chain reaction with explosive power, inconceivable.

In just a few months, the Hanford nuclear facility was built to produce and weaponize the mysterious and deadly new material that would fuel the atomic bomb. In the desert of eastern Washington state, far from prying eyes, scientists Glenn Seaborg, Enrico Fermi and thousands of others produced plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki and for the bombs in the arsenal current U.S. nuclear weapons, allowing for the creation of weapons with the potential to end human civilization.

With his signature blend of scientific clarity and storytelling, Steve Olson questions why Hanford has been largely overlooked in the history of the Manhattan Project and the Cold War. Olson recounts how a small town in Washington hosted some of the most influential scientists and engineers in American history as they sought to forge the core of the most destructive weapons ever created. Apocalypse Factory brings to the new generation the dramatic story of human achievement and ultimately deadly arrogance.

His attention to detail is quite good. He recounts the story of Japanese bomber balloons that used the recently discovered jet stream to fly from Japan to the western United States. One bomb destroyed the factory in a very short time, and another tragically killed a group of six citizens, the only casualty on American soil due to the Japanese war effort.

Balanced and easy to read review of atomic energy development and applications at Hanford. Also, a very informative biography of Professor Glen Seaborg. Should be on the reading list of those interested in UC Berkeley, nuclear physics and the commercialization of the technology and its environmental impact.

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