The Day the Sun Rose Twice; The Story of the Trinity Site Nuclear Explosion July 16, 1945

Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2001. Fourth paperbound printing [stated]. Trade paperback. Very good. xi, [1], 233, [3] pages. Map. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Signed on the title page. Contents include Preface; Introduction; The Origins of Los Alamos; The Construction and Naming of Trinity; Theoretical Considerations; The Question of Weather; The Blast; The Aftermath I: Fallout; The Aftermath II: Cattle, Film and People; The International Legacy; The Local Legacy; and Epilogue. This is an award-winning work! Szasz joined the UNM Department of History in 1968 and earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Rochester the following year. His scholarship included American intellectual history, American religious history, religion in the American West, early atomic age, the "old" social and intellectual history, especially dealing with the impact of Scotland on the West. He taught U.S. history survey courses, the history of World War II, and a number of undergraduate and graduate seminars. During the 1985-86 academic year Szasz was the Fulbright Professor of American Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, where, in addition to his university duties, he lectured extensively throughout Scotland, England and Wales. In 1985 Szasz received an "Outstanding Teacher of the Year" award and during his 43 years of teaching he had more than 20,000 students. 'In this tightly focused, lucidly written and thoroughly researched book, Szasz, a professor at the University of New Mexico, describes the events, personalities and scientific processes that led to the detonation of the first atomic bomb in an isolated stretch of New Mexican desert...' ---New York Times Book Review. Derived from a review found on-line: This book traces the development and testing of the first atomic bomb. The first two chapters are devoted to the creation of the Manhattan Project and the selection of the explosion site. Chapters three and four wrestle with the problems of atmospheric ignition, shock wave, and radioactive fallout. Chapter five details the events leading to the blast and its immediate impact. This book is full of fascinating details: George Kistiakowsky's bet with Robert Oppenheimer--a month's salary against $10--that the implosion system he had designed would work; Fermi's calculation of the blast yield on the basis of distance traveled by small pieces of paper at site S-10,000; Feynman's disobeying instructions not to look directly at the initial blast; and a blind music student's sensing the distant atomic bomb blast/flash. The next two chapters detail the radiation fallout and its effect on surrounding fauna and flora. The last two chapters discuss the social and political implications of the success of the atomic explosion. The book ends with an epilogue, list of abbreviations, and detailed notes on the author's sources. This is a documentation of one of the most significant events of all times. --Reviewed by Jag J. Singh in Science Books and Films, 21/4 (March/April 1986), p. 221.