The Atomic City: A Firsthand Account by a Son of Los Alamos

"Atomic City" is a first-hand account of growing up in the dawning of the Atomic Age and at the epicenter of where it all took place. Terry L. Rosen's story is unique because he was not a scientist but a boy growing up, where it all started in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Amid World War II, an assemblage of the best scientists and engineers in the world worked in a secluded part of northern New Mexico on the development of an atomic bomb. They brought to this critical project a concentration of knowledge and skills encompassing many disciplines, unprecedented in history and likely unrepeatable. Against the backdrop of a beautiful mountainous environment, enriched by a mixture of Native American, Hispanic, and Anglo cultures and their histories, a modern drama replete with discord, failures, and triumphs-and its significance for history-was enacted with extraordinary dedication and urgency.

Terry Rosen tells about his experiences growing up in Los Alamos during the period 1944-64, providing the reader with parallel coming-of-age stories for a youth and a town born within a year of each other. With sensitivity and humor, he brings the reader intimate glimpses of the personalities and accomplishments of several scientists and their colleagues who lived and worked at Los Alamos during that first phase of the community's existence.

Terry Rosen was born on the campus of Penn State University while his father was earning his Ph.D. in physics. He arrived at Project Y-also known as the "Atomic City," the "Secret City," "the Hill," and Los Alamos, New Mexico-in 1944 at the age of four months, and it was his home until 1964.Terry Rosen was born on the campus of Penn State University while his father was earning his Ph.D. in physics. He arrived at Project Y-also known as the "Atomic City," the "Secret City," "the Hill," and Los Alamos, New Mexico-in 1944 at the age of four months, and it was his home until 1964.After graduating with a B.A. from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Mr. Rosen taught high school social studies in southern Colorado for two years (1966-1968). He then attended the University of Denver College of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1971. Mr. Rosen worked as a labor relations analyst for the City and County of Denver from 1972 through 1974. In late 1974 he was asked by Denver's mayor, William McNichols, Jr., to establish an agency to address citizen complaints regarding Denver City and County Government. He agreed to do so and served as the director of the mayor's Office of Citizen Response for nine years. In 1977 Mr. Rosen joined the board of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Colorado and served as chairman for a year beginning in 1984. In 1979 he was made a lifetime honorary member of the Denver Jaycees. In 1981 he was chosen by the Denver Federal Executive Board as Municipal Employee of the Year for the Denver Region. After leaving Citizen Response in late 1983, Mr. Rosen did business consulting while teaching part-time-public administration at the University of Colorado, Denver campus Extended Studies Program; and Colorado state and local government, American history, and business law at Denver Technical College. In 2000 the International Library of Photography proclaimed one of Mr. Rosen's photographs, entitled "Winter's Solace," one of the best photos of the twentieth century. In 1994 he began experimenting with a new and unique photographic art form that he calls STAR WRITING. He had planned to begin marketing STAR WRITING in the summer of 1999, until a tragic event inexorably changed the course of his life on April 30 of that year when he saw his life's mate, Jennifer Tuck, killed in a horrific accident.It was that incident that moved him to write this book. Terry L. Rosen passed away October 27, 2003, in Denver, Colorado.