A Forgotten Town at the Center of the Manhattan Project

Denise Kiernan | New York Times | July 28, 2020

THE APOCALYPSE FACTORY
Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age
By Steve Olson

From nuclear medicine to “nuke-ing” your leftovers in the microwave, aspects of the atomic age still radiate out from every corner of our culture. Over the years, the phrase “Manhattan Project” itself has become synonymous with an all-out, failure-is-not-an-option approach to what appears to be an insurmountable problem that needs to be solved immediately. We need a Manhattan Project for renewable energy. Breast cancer. Childhood obesity. And, most recently, a Covid-19 vaccine.

Yet despite the ubiquity of this language, and the still-present possibility of nuclear warfare, the story of the Manhattan Project is one that is rarely, if ever, widely shared. How to tell that story — an unwieldy tale that continues to unfold to this very day — is a question of perspective and vision. In “The Apocalypse Factory,” Steve Olson offers readers another angle on this evolving global saga.

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