The Los Alamos Primer by Robert Serber

This is a reconstruction of the lectures which were given to the scientists when they came to Los Alamos for the Manhattan Project. The lecture notes are given and explained in a different type face in the light of more recent knowledge. It is a great little book. What is striking is that the science was rather well known from the outset and it was the execution and engineering that was the monumental feat. This is a unique glimpse by one who was there, and source documents open to view, inaccuracies and brilliance on display in the best tradition of American science.