Critical Mass: How Nazi Germany Surrendered Enriched Uranium for The United States' Atomic Bomb

by Carter Plymton Hydrick

Why… did a quarter of the 65 present and former employees of Oak Ridge National Laboratory who viewed Carter Hydrick’s presentation of Critical Mass at the American Museum of Science and Energy purchase the book? Why…? did Texas A&M University’s professor of military science history Dr. Anthony Stranges, who had defended the traditional history of the atomic bomb against Critical Mass in two television news broadcasts, after reviewing Carter Hydrick’s documentation and reading the book, reverse his position and endorse Critical Mass, and obtain a university grant for Mr. Hydrick to present his findings to the university’s chapter of the national collegiate historical honors society (Phi Alpha Theta)? Why…? does retired director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Weapons Program Office, Dr. Delmar Bergen, endorse Critical Mass? Why…? does distinguished professor emeritus of history Dr. Douglas Tobler recommend that scholars and laymen interested in modern history read Critical Mass? Because what Carter Hydrick discovered and has written in Critical Mass provides compelling new information about what Dr. Tobler calls "an important, perhaps even critical, chapter in our modern history." The Nazis did surrender enriched uranium and other atomic bomb components to the United States that, according to the evidence, were used in the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now you can find out how it happened! Read Critical How Nazi Germany Surrendered Enriched Uranium for the United States’ Atomic Bomb.

357 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2003

About the author

Interesting things about me (I think--I may be too close to the subject matter to be objective), and why I think they may be important:

1) I am one of only two people I know who was officially thrown out of the Boy Scouts and kept out--by order of Boy Scout Headquarters. The story is too long to tell here but the facts include a search-and-rescue team--complete with helicopters--and TV, radio and newspaper media. All were the results of doing what I thought then--and still think today--was right, and I would do it again today. (Having written this, it's only fair to add that one of my sons is an Eagle Scout, the other almost got his--both with my blessing).

2) I grew up in a family of eight children, with five boys all in a row, none of us further than two years from the next. I learned one can be lonely in a crowd but also that, no matter how badly we fought, there was always someone there who had my back. Also, that ADD is not new--nor necessarily bad. It's a condition of those who want to get things done. It shouldn't be blunted, it should be focused.

3) My mother showed me she loved me by talking with me--despite the fact she had 7 other kids to talk with--about the things I loved and what I wanted to do with my life. Besides giving me life, she formed my life more than any other person. She also showed me by example that truth is important above all. I love her and am proud to admit I'm a "momma's boy."

4) I married my high school sweetheart, Kris, six weeks after I turned 18 and we are still married almost 45 years later. She is responsible for pretty much every moment of happiness I've experienced in my adult life--and some in my childhood, since we were married then. The tapestry of a lasting marriage is woven by thousands, perhaps millions, of threads, and that's what makes it beautiful and valuable--not whether it's perfect or not, which we all know can't be achieved in this life, anyway. Even the frayed, dirty and broken threads take their place and help establish the character of the whole. The main thing is to give it a good airing every now and then, but always cherish it.

5) Kris and I have four children, and I've learned more from them than they ever learned from me--probably because I was still a child when I started being their father.

Eli, the oldest, decided at 35, with a wife and 4 children, to go to medical school. He now holds an MD and DO. He's not afraid to do hard things, like his dad; and he sometimes does them the hard way, also like his dad. Both are okay--better than doing nothing.

Ashley is quiet, nice to be around, mild mannered, wise beyond her years, and strong as a rock inside. She's my example for keeping balanced in a storm while being strong.

Yurii is a wonderful combination of analytical capacity and creative force--something I've always tried to be but haven't achieved to his extent. For a fun example, google "Scott Sterling soccer goalie." He edited it.

Fleming is effervescent, bold and courageous, and yet soft. By observation of her I've learned to do things even when I'm afraid--by so doing new treasures come into my life.

Researching and writing "Critical Mass" took a little bit of everything I've learned above to complete, so it shouldn't be surprising that I list those above as the most important contributors to its existence.

Cheers.

Carter Hydrick

Reviews

[Philip Zozzaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

What if the Americans didn't build the Atomic Bomb in time? Would the US and Allies have fought it out with the Japanese in a gruesome land battle? Would they have continued to set cities on fire as had been done with Tokyo? What if Japan had beaten them to the punch? Carter Hydrick has dedicated a portion of his years to researching a captured German U-Boat that may have held the Uranium needed to complete the Manhattan Project. The Nazis have been written about for over 70 years, their brutality, bureaucracy, personalities explored ad nauseum. The majority of the existing literature gives little credence to the Nazi's attempt to build an Atomic bomb. The author feels differently and has done the research to provide a compelling argument to the contrary. A non-fiction book that reads as excellent mystery. Hydrick pokes holes in the established history of the Manhattan Project along with the mystery of the whereabouts of Nazi enigma Martin Bormann. Bormann lay at the heart of the story and the author does the investigative journalist proud in his work....A must read in alternative history.

[Adarsh Patel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very boring
But truth full