Science libraries | Research libraries | World War II
by Michael Waters June 23, 2017
While dodging accusations of communism, Charlotte Serber made the nuclear bomb possible.
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| Inner view of the Manhattan Project's scientific library Courtesy Los Alamos Historical Society Photo Archives | | | | | | |
Th
e residents of Los Alamos, New
Mexico—a town that wasn’t supposed to exist—lived in a viscous state of
secrecy during World War II. To disguise the existence of the nuclear
bomb being built there, the group of Manhattan Project scientists,
security personnel, and families needed to consider and reconsider their
every move. They couldn’t leave “the Hill,” as Los Alamos was known,
without required passes. Their mail reached New Mexico through a series
of forwarding addresses set up across the United States, arriving in a
P.O. box 20 miles away in Santa Fe. Food was purchased from a single
commissary; a trip to Santa Fe was “
a major event.”
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