They Changed the World: People of the Manhattan Project - Softcover

AJ Melnick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0865345309 ISBN 13: 9780865345300

Publisher: Sunstone Pr, 2006

Synopsis

In the early years of World War II it was known that Germany had split the atom, and some feared that they might be working on an atomic bomb. Scientists in the United States urged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to pursue one lest the enemy have it first. This resulted in what was called the Manhattan Project, and many famous scientists were involved. However, more was needed than a few prominent scientists. A whole infrastructure was required: scientist and engineers, of course, but also clerks, truck drivers, teachers, cooks, technicians and all the other people necessary for the new city, Los Alamos, on the remote New Mexico plateau where the first atomic bomb would be created. It was referred to as 'The Hill.' Sixty years later, Santa Fe photographer AJ Melnick set out to find many of the people who were involved and capture their portraits while there was still time. As she visited with them, they told her stories of what it was like to live on The Hill from 1943-1945. Many of them also gave her access to their photos and documents from that era. Their portraits, their stories, and their memorabilia are presented in this book. Not only are there the striking portraits and stories about creating the bomb and the excitement of the first atomic blast, but there are also stories about the human side of everyday life: practical jokes, Saturday night dances, secrecy, muddy streets, coping with shortages, doing the laundry, getting married. This may be the best, possibly the only collection of current portraits and individual stories about life on The Hill, Los Alamos, during those momentous years.

About this title

About the Author:

Author and photographer aj Melnick moved to Santa Fe, NM in 1994 from Dallas, Texas, where she began developing her photographic skill some three decades ago. In New Mexico she has continued her photographic studies with Siegfried Halus, Norman Mauskopf, Andre Ruesch, and Miguel Gandert. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums, in juried group shows, and in individual shows. She holds a bachelor's in journalism and a master's degree in counseling. She lives with her husband Harold and her 'animal shelter special' dog, Stormy, in Eldorado near Santa Fe.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sunstone Pr
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0865345309
• ISBN 13: 9780865345300
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 136