After a devastating run of German victories, Allied troops are beginning to halt Hitler’s advance. But far from the battlefields, Allied scientists are struggling. Intelligence reports put them a distant second behind the Germans in a competition that could determine the outcome of the war: the race to build the world’s first nuclear weapon.
During World War II, a group of physicists who had once been close friends found themselves on opposite sides of a deadly race. German scientist Werner Heisenberg and American physicists Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Sam Goudsmit were all leading figures in nuclear research. But after the attack on Pearl Harbor, their shared passion for science turned into a high-stakes competition to build the world’s first atomic bomb—a weapon that could determine the outcome of the war.
Heisenberg had a two-year head start, and the possibility that Nazi Germany might beat the Allies to the bomb terrified American scientists. The Manhattan Project, led by U.S. Army General Leslie Groves, became a massive effort to catch up. Fear of Heisenberg haunted Manhattan Project scientists. At one point, Groves even approved plans to bomb Heisenberg’s lab and assassinate him to stop Germany’s progress. Meanwhile, Sam Goudsmit led a secret military unit tasked with tracking down Heisenberg and uncovering the truth about the Nazi nuclear program. What they found would surprise everyone. The Greatest Scientific Gamble tells the dramatic and little-known story of how personal relationships, wartime fear, and scientific ambition collided in the race to unlock the power of the atom.
There will be a book signing after the talk signing with a Barrett’s Bookstore representative on-site at the entryway table.
Michael Joseloff
Michael Joseloff is a TV news and documentary producer living in New York City and winner of four Emmy awards. His work has aired on ABC, CBS, PBS and numerous cable TV networks.
He is author of The Greatest Scientific Gamble (Michigan State University Press) and Chasing Heisenberg: The Race for the Atom Bomb (Amazon Publishing).
He has produced programs for the acclaimed PBS series FRONTLINE as well as a business-related documentary, crime dramas, biographies and reality-based programs for cable tv. Before that he produced hundreds of reports for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on PBS about current events, history, science and more.
