[BC] BOOM

[Jeff Johnson]

I recently read both Richard Rhodes bomb books. They are fascinating.

An equally great read is "109 East Palace", the story of Los Alamos 
from a more personality oriented perspective.

Dorothy McKibben should have won the Nobel Peace Prize for being the 
den mother of all those high-strung people - and keeping the entire 
Los Alamos project top secret at the same time. She allowed only one 
unannounced visitor onto the 'Hill" without credentials. She sensed 
she could trust him. It was Paul Tibbits.

Know why the first H bomb was called 'Mike'? -- megaton

At the Air Force Museum in Dayton, there is a shell from the first H 
bomb design deliverable by a B-36.

The Hiroshima U-235 gun-type bomb was only 1% efficient. Scary.

Jeff.Johnson at rfproof.com

At 11:02 PM 10/27/2009, Chuck Lakaytis wrote:

>    If you read the Rhodes book, they knew the first bomb would work, that is
>    why they did not test that configuration.
>    The plutonium bomb had a lot of uncertainties.
>    some calculations showed only a few kilotons.
>    and some calculations said that temperatures would be so high they would
>    ignite the atmosphere.
>    Several of the designers made bits on that.
>    When the bomb went off...
>    Openheimer spoke a piece for the Hindu  "We are the destroyers of worlds"
>    Robert Serber said, "Now we are all sons of bitches".
>    I have a minor in NE and a couple of published papers in another life.  It
>    is not simple to make and takes a hell of a lot of energy to make one
>    follow the heat trails of the powr plants.