109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos Book

What first struck me about this book was that it was so readable. The first chapter paints a beautiful picture of "father of the atomic bomb" J. Robert Oppenheimer's first meeting with Dorothy McKibben, a laid back Santa Fean who would become "the gatekeeper" to Los Alamos. Through Dorothy's eyes, Conant shows us the story of Los Alamos, the scientists who came there, and the atomic bomb ' and the charming man behind it all, "Oppie."

I am familiar with much of the stories surrounding wartime Los Alamos ' and they are all included here. It expounded upon the Bradbury Science Museum's standard video, "The Town That Never Was," and included the context and history I had glimpsed in other places: articles from The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Richard Feynman's book, or the movie Infinity starring Matthew Broderick.

As I was reading I couldn't help but pick out quotes that would have backed up my point-of-view in past history papers (I wrote on different angles of this same general subject many times). (It's a little different to be reading this kind of book for fun, not gleaning for quotes!)

Nevertheless, I can't say I was totally in love with this book the entire time. A few chapters were drier than others ' after Conant's beautiful narrative in the first chapter she stiffens her writing style somewhat. It's still wonderfully written and very readable, but when the content wasn't as interesting (I don't care for government-related details, it seems) it was harder to get through. That said, I could hardly put the book down as it approached a few natural climaxes, particularly the testing of the bomb in the southern New Mexico desert and the dropping of the bombs on Japan.

Conant also includes the story of Oppenheimer himself: his sudden elopement with Kitty (a woman who turned out to be cold and brittle, but to whom Oppie was truly devoted), his "good life" before the war as he entertained at his California estate, and a few curious incidents and how that contributed to his stripped security clearance during McCarthy's witchhunts of the 1950s. For all his charm and brilliance, his personal life turned out to be a wreck.

Conant's descriptions of the other major scientists were wonderful. Her blunt portrayal of Edward Teller (a Hungarian scientists obsessed with the hydrogen bomb) was so incredulous that it was funny. Richard Feynman's pranks, Niels Bohr's fatherly influence, and Klaus Fuch's quiet, deceptive ways were all interesting to read about.

109 East Palace was a very readable, comprehensive book regarding Oppenheimer, Los Alamos, and the people who lived there. I really enjoyed it!