The Making of the Atomic Bomb

“Rhodes's Pulitzer-winning account of the Manhattan Project shows how theoretical physics, industrial engineering, and wartime administration had to be integrated under extreme time pressure. Musk has pointed to it as a model for how a small team with clear goals can accomplish things governments and large institutions cannot.”

“Richard Rhodes won the Pulitzer for this account of the Manhattan Project, and it earns the prize by being both rigorous physics history and a study of institutional design under extreme time pressure. Collison has recommended it as a window into how progress actually gets made.”