Inquiry: Jim Baggott: THE FIRST WAR OF PHYSICS: The Secret History of the Atom Bomb

The Atomic Bomb and it’s progeny remain the most destructive and feared weapons humankind has ever developed. But why were they created in the first place? Did the scientists involved in the creation of atomic weapons have any clue what would happen once the technology for how to build these “super” bombs proliferated?  Once the process of fission was discovered in the late 1930s, then the possibility of creating a self-sustaining chain reaction and a bomb of unimagined power was soon realized. Within seven month, physicists in America, Britain and Nazi Germany all concluded that an atomic bomb was feasible. Tonight on Inquiry, we have a fascinating conversation with award-winning science writer JIM BAGGOTT about his new monumental history THE FIRST WAR OF PHYSICS: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE ATOM BOMB 1939-1949. Tune in tonight and learn who these men were who changed forever the way we thought of war and how close the Nazis really were to developing the bomb.