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nothingtosay's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a great read for anyone who wishes to know the power and terrible beauty that is the history of US atmospheric and underwater nuclear testing.
The set of 100 photographs are equally seperated into two groups: desert (Nevada) and ocean (the Pacific). The photos are labelled accroding to the codename designated by the US military. The names themselves do not have any relation to the nuclear wepon involved for that particular testing. Some of the names are chosen in a seemingly random fashion, ranging from a word or sometimes a type of vegetable. This only accentuate the chilling factor of the horrifying event being named after something that seemed innocent and entirely unrelated to nuclear testing.
After the photographs there is a section that explain to readers (in an almost layman's term) the basic nuclear phyics (how the explosion occurs) and the damage to human and environment during and after the nuclear testing.
The author also points out the fact that all those pictures are from a small fraction of photos that are taken during the atmosphere and underwater testing between 1945 to 1962. Many more during from those period are either still in strict classified archives, deliberately destoryed or lost. Moreover, since the Limited Test Band Treaty signed by US and Russia in 1963 until 1992 (in US), there are still many more underground testing that were conducted. The photographs of those testing are never released. The absence of those photos only further strengten on how much more of such testing are unknown to the general public.
I have the pleasure of visiting The Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas in last Decemeber. While seeing the actual exhibit and photos provides a more unsettled feeling after viewing than the book itself, the book provides a fair substitute for those who cannot see the museum exhibit themselves.
The set of 100 photographs are equally seperated into two groups: desert (Nevada) and ocean (the Pacific). The photos are labelled accroding to the codename designated by the US military. The names themselves do not have any relation to the nuclear wepon involved for that particular testing. Some of the names are chosen in a seemingly random fashion, ranging from a word or sometimes a type of vegetable. This only accentuate the chilling factor of the horrifying event being named after something that seemed innocent and entirely unrelated to nuclear testing.
After the photographs there is a section that explain to readers (in an almost layman's term) the basic nuclear phyics (how the explosion occurs) and the damage to human and environment during and after the nuclear testing.
The author also points out the fact that all those pictures are from a small fraction of photos that are taken during the atmosphere and underwater testing between 1945 to 1962. Many more during from those period are either still in strict classified archives, deliberately destoryed or lost. Moreover, since the Limited Test Band Treaty signed by US and Russia in 1963 until 1992 (in US), there are still many more underground testing that were conducted. The photographs of those testing are never released. The absence of those photos only further strengten on how much more of such testing are unknown to the general public.
I have the pleasure of visiting The Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas in last Decemeber. While seeing the actual exhibit and photos provides a more unsettled feeling after viewing than the book itself, the book provides a fair substitute for those who cannot see the museum exhibit themselves.
hammo's review against another edition
3.0
Did you know that fission nuclear bombs have a physical limit of about one megaton? The critical mass gets blown apart before you can exceed this limit.
sarahsponda's review against another edition
4.0
I wish I'd known about the detailed captions in the back of the book BEFORE.
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