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Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age
An unflinching examination of the moral and professional dilemmas faced by physicians who took part in the Manhattan Project.
After his father died, James L. Nolan, Jr., took possession of a box of private family materials. To his surprise, the small secret archive contained a treasure trove of information about his grandfather’s role as a doctor in the Manhattan Project. Dr. Nolan, it turned out, had been a significant figure. A talented ob-gyn radiologist, he cared for the scientists on the project, organized safety and evacuation plans for the Trinity test at Alamogordo, escorted the “Little Boy” bomb from Los Alamos to the Pacific Islands, and was one of the first Americans to enter the irradiated ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Participation on the project challenged Dr. Nolan’s instincts as a healer. He and his medical colleagues were often conflicted, torn between their duty and desire to win the war and their oaths to protect life. Atomic Doctors follows these physicians as they sought to maximize the health and safety of those exposed to nuclear radiation, all the while serving leaders determined to minimize delays and maintain secrecy. Called upon both to guard against the harmful effects of radiation and to downplay its hazards, doctors struggled with the ethics of ending the deadliest of all wars using the most lethal of all weapons. Their work became a very human drama of ideals, co-optation, and complicity.
A vital and vivid account of a largely unknown chapter in atomic history, Atomic Doctors is a profound meditation on the moral dilemmas that ordinary people face in extraordinary times.
After his father died, James L. Nolan, Jr., took possession of a box of private family materials. To his surprise, the small secret archive contained a treasure trove of information about his grandfather’s role as a doctor in the Manhattan Project. Dr. Nolan, it turned out, had been a significant figure. A talented ob-gyn radiologist, he cared for the scientists on the project, organized safety and evacuation plans for the Trinity test at Alamogordo, escorted the “Little Boy” bomb from Los Alamos to the Pacific Islands, and was one of the first Americans to enter the irradiated ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Participation on the project challenged Dr. Nolan’s instincts as a healer. He and his medical colleagues were often conflicted, torn between their duty and desire to win the war and their oaths to protect life. Atomic Doctors follows these physicians as they sought to maximize the health and safety of those exposed to nuclear radiation, all the while serving leaders determined to minimize delays and maintain secrecy. Called upon both to guard against the harmful effects of radiation and to downplay its hazards, doctors struggled with the ethics of ending the deadliest of all wars using the most lethal of all weapons. Their work became a very human drama of ideals, co-optation, and complicity.
A vital and vivid account of a largely unknown chapter in atomic history, Atomic Doctors is a profound meditation on the moral dilemmas that ordinary people face in extraordinary times.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published August 6, 2020
17 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
James L. Nolan Jr.
8 books10 followersJames L. Nolan Jr.
Washington Gladden 1859 Professor of Sociology, Williams College.
Professor Nolan’s teaching and research interests fall within the general areas of law and society, culture, technology and social change, and historical comparative sociology. His most recent book, Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age, was published with Harvard University Press in 2020. His previous books include What They Saw in America: Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber, G.K. Chesterton, and Sayyid Qutb (2016); Legal Accents, Legal Borrowing: The International Problem-Solving Court Movement (2009); Reinventing Justice: The American Drug Court Movement (2001); and The Therapeutic State: Justifying Government at Century’s End (1998). He is the recipient of several grants and awards including National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships and a Fulbright scholarship. He has held visiting fellowships at Oxford University, Loughborough University, and the University of Notre Dame.
Source: Williams College
Washington Gladden 1859 Professor of Sociology, Williams College.
Professor Nolan’s teaching and research interests fall within the general areas of law and society, culture, technology and social change, and historical comparative sociology. His most recent book, Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age, was published with Harvard University Press in 2020. His previous books include What They Saw in America: Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber, G.K. Chesterton, and Sayyid Qutb (2016); Legal Accents, Legal Borrowing: The International Problem-Solving Court Movement (2009); Reinventing Justice: The American Drug Court Movement (2001); and The Therapeutic State: Justifying Government at Century’s End (1998). He is the recipient of several grants and awards including National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships and a Fulbright scholarship. He has held visiting fellowships at Oxford University, Loughborough University, and the University of Notre Dame.
Source: Williams College
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 2, 2021
ATOMIC DOCTORS is an important work. It is not casual, easy reading, nor can it be given the subject matter. The author tackles the difficult and complicated history behind the development and use of nuclear weapons including huge personalities with conflicting agendas. One of the themes that jumped out was the management of public relations before and after the events in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even “facts” can be manipulated to shade the truth and manage the narrative given to the general public. The author uses a great variety of sources, including personal interviews to attempt to balance that narrative of what happened and why.
To make matters yet more excruciating to analyze -- his grandfather James F. Nolan MD., unbeknownst to the author until recently, was at the center of it. If you engage with the material and consider its ongoing implications, the reward will be yours. The “reward” however means having to encounter the dilemmas, quandaries, and complexities highlighted in this book. Not only this work however, it will force your consideration of such complexities in your personal life vis-à-vis current events: new technology in all its forms, climate change, beneficial uses of dangerous materials (nuclear and otherwise), mask use in the era of Covid-19, and the mundane everyday choice of your dish soap (petroleum-based or not).
Do not speed read this book. To take a clip from page 211, “…pay attention, reason, be patient, read deeply…” This may allow you to gain a new perspective on old events. It did for me.
To make matters yet more excruciating to analyze -- his grandfather James F. Nolan MD., unbeknownst to the author until recently, was at the center of it. If you engage with the material and consider its ongoing implications, the reward will be yours. The “reward” however means having to encounter the dilemmas, quandaries, and complexities highlighted in this book. Not only this work however, it will force your consideration of such complexities in your personal life vis-à-vis current events: new technology in all its forms, climate change, beneficial uses of dangerous materials (nuclear and otherwise), mask use in the era of Covid-19, and the mundane everyday choice of your dish soap (petroleum-based or not).
Do not speed read this book. To take a clip from page 211, “…pay attention, reason, be patient, read deeply…” This may allow you to gain a new perspective on old events. It did for me.
January 19, 2021
An insightful, disturbing account about how American doctors, including the author's grandfather, were connected to the development of the atomic bomb, the Trinity test, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and post-war tests in the Marshall Islands. An illuminating look at a little-known, deeply troubling aspect of America's nuclear history.
August 3, 2021
More than just a history book recounting the development, deployment and aftermath of the atomic bomb, this book explores the tensions inherent in the huge technological undertaking, that is the building of the atomic bomb, by highlighting the different perspectives of the doctors, the scientists, the generals, and the victims (not only the innocent Japanese civilians).
The author's grandfather, Dr. James Nolan, who is the main focus of the book, was an obstetrician. He was part of the Los Alamos Manhattan Project, where he delivered several babies there. "Delivering the babies" is a recurrent theme, not just with the Dr. Nolan, but also with the legacy of the bomb and the ensuing pursuit of more advanced versions, driven and led by the momentum of technique.
The author's grandfather, Dr. James Nolan, who is the main focus of the book, was an obstetrician. He was part of the Los Alamos Manhattan Project, where he delivered several babies there. "Delivering the babies" is a recurrent theme, not just with the Dr. Nolan, but also with the legacy of the bomb and the ensuing pursuit of more advanced versions, driven and led by the momentum of technique.
March 15, 2023
In light of this kind of books, conspiracy theories become much more understandable - so many blunt lies and cover stories even from the people directly involved. A fascinating read, if only it was (pure) fiction.
November 9, 2020
Atomic Doctors is the story of the author’s grandfather’s work as an obstetrician and medical doctor at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. It is not a memoir or a biography; instead, it is an examination of James F. Nolan’s complicity in the development of the Atomic bomb.
Although Nolan preferred to think of his job at Los Alamos as an obstetrician—he delivered 80 babies in his first year there—his most memorable role was that as one of the two men who delivered Little Boy aboard the SS. Indianapolis to the Enola Gay to be flown over Japan and dropped on Hiroshima. About a month after the bombing, as part of the Joint Commission for the Investigation of the Effects of the Atomic Bomb in Japan, Nolan and others visited Hiroshima to make a “spot check” of the bomb’s effects. In the mornings, they would visit the human casualties wreaked by the bomb; in the afternoons, they examined the massive property destruction. In Nagasaki, Nolan reported that his Geiger counter registered no significant residual radiation, a rather dubious claim, perhaps based on defective or inadequate machines. But he did find some effects of radiation exposure on the city’s residents.
Upon his return to Los Alamos, Nolan worked on a report detailing the findings of his (and other members of the Manhattan Project) visit to Japan. The report acknowledged that the team was ill-equipped to measure radiation levels with accuracy. Nevertheless, the report concluded that the levels were “quite low” and, in some cases, slightly exceeded the level of human tolerance. Finally, the report noted that 4,000 patients had been admitted to hospitals; about 1,300 showed signs of radiation, and 650 died of radiation exposure. Based on this report, General Groves testified before Congress that a few Japanese were injured solely by the radiation resulting from the bombs’ detonation, but residual radiation did not cause injury. Groves testified: “It would take an accident for a man … within the range of the bomb to be killed by radioactive effects.” More startling was his testimony, based on the alleged comments of the Manhattan Project’s doctors, that “it [was] a very pleasant way to die.”
The book is full of interesting tidbits, which are a pleasure to read. The author’s tendency to repeat information from previous chapters is sometimes off-putting, but occasionally it is a useful reminder.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book: it was a quick read, despite its scholarly format. My only regret is that James F. Nolan did not seem to regret his role in the Manhattan Project. He certainly was more than an obstetrician.
Although Nolan preferred to think of his job at Los Alamos as an obstetrician—he delivered 80 babies in his first year there—his most memorable role was that as one of the two men who delivered Little Boy aboard the SS. Indianapolis to the Enola Gay to be flown over Japan and dropped on Hiroshima. About a month after the bombing, as part of the Joint Commission for the Investigation of the Effects of the Atomic Bomb in Japan, Nolan and others visited Hiroshima to make a “spot check” of the bomb’s effects. In the mornings, they would visit the human casualties wreaked by the bomb; in the afternoons, they examined the massive property destruction. In Nagasaki, Nolan reported that his Geiger counter registered no significant residual radiation, a rather dubious claim, perhaps based on defective or inadequate machines. But he did find some effects of radiation exposure on the city’s residents.
Upon his return to Los Alamos, Nolan worked on a report detailing the findings of his (and other members of the Manhattan Project) visit to Japan. The report acknowledged that the team was ill-equipped to measure radiation levels with accuracy. Nevertheless, the report concluded that the levels were “quite low” and, in some cases, slightly exceeded the level of human tolerance. Finally, the report noted that 4,000 patients had been admitted to hospitals; about 1,300 showed signs of radiation, and 650 died of radiation exposure. Based on this report, General Groves testified before Congress that a few Japanese were injured solely by the radiation resulting from the bombs’ detonation, but residual radiation did not cause injury. Groves testified: “It would take an accident for a man … within the range of the bomb to be killed by radioactive effects.” More startling was his testimony, based on the alleged comments of the Manhattan Project’s doctors, that “it [was] a very pleasant way to die.”
The book is full of interesting tidbits, which are a pleasure to read. The author’s tendency to repeat information from previous chapters is sometimes off-putting, but occasionally it is a useful reminder.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book: it was a quick read, despite its scholarly format. My only regret is that James F. Nolan did not seem to regret his role in the Manhattan Project. He certainly was more than an obstetrician.
February 6, 2025
an intimately documented + enraging account of how doctors minimized the atom bomb’s radioactive threat for many many types of victims: japanese citizens, american soldiers, and indigenous people on the marshall islands. a horrifying example of how technology creates self-propelling momentum + its own ethic
i felt the initial chapters could’ve benefited from more sentence level and structural edits b the book comes to develop rhythm and a cinematic feel. the downside of so closely following the drs as protagonists, however, is that the author sometimes omits or delays useful context (like, when the bomb was developed or how it works or what it did in hiroshima and nagasaki VS what the doctors reported to the military). admire the author for criticizing the actors involved, including his grandfather, b sometimes wonder if he couldve gone further in examining their reasonings OR highlighting their lack of introspection.
for someone w more background knowledge abt the events or hist-tech analysis, this book may not present anything new but for me, it was still quite moving
i felt the initial chapters could’ve benefited from more sentence level and structural edits b the book comes to develop rhythm and a cinematic feel. the downside of so closely following the drs as protagonists, however, is that the author sometimes omits or delays useful context (like, when the bomb was developed or how it works or what it did in hiroshima and nagasaki VS what the doctors reported to the military). admire the author for criticizing the actors involved, including his grandfather, b sometimes wonder if he couldve gone further in examining their reasonings OR highlighting their lack of introspection.
for someone w more background knowledge abt the events or hist-tech analysis, this book may not present anything new but for me, it was still quite moving
June 9, 2024
Do you like history?
Are you interested in the atomic age and what part radiation has played from the second World War onwards?
Do you like getting mad and sad at history?
This is the book for you!
This book goes through the implied complicity the doctors and scientists who were involved in the A-Bomb have in the resulting catastrophic atomic age that followed. Not just covering the secrecy of war-time research (honestly, the most light-hearted section of this book's focus), this book also focuses on the deployment of the bomb, the following test deployments of bombs in non war time, and the horrifying, undisclosed research done on unwilling participants who were injected with plutonium and other radioactive isotopes, and the United States government's unrelenting obsession with the dominant narrative and making sure they won'tbe sued.
This book will leave you upset, informed, and a bit melancholy.
Needless to say- not a light read.
Are you interested in the atomic age and what part radiation has played from the second World War onwards?
Do you like getting mad and sad at history?
This is the book for you!
This book goes through the implied complicity the doctors and scientists who were involved in the A-Bomb have in the resulting catastrophic atomic age that followed. Not just covering the secrecy of war-time research (honestly, the most light-hearted section of this book's focus), this book also focuses on the deployment of the bomb, the following test deployments of bombs in non war time, and the horrifying, undisclosed research done on unwilling participants who were injected with plutonium and other radioactive isotopes, and the United States government's unrelenting obsession with the dominant narrative and making sure they won'tbe sued.
This book will leave you upset, informed, and a bit melancholy.
Needless to say- not a light read.
November 6, 2025
Not as extensive a look into the history of atomic testing I wanted, but good nonetheless. Solid background on the Manhattan Project and an interesting view of life at Los Alamos. Will be reading further on Operation Sandstone and tests in the Pacific.
Author didn't do the best job linking themes together. It felt like some theories were shoehorned at the end of a chapter, like the religious imagery evoked by the nuclear scientists or the random dive into technological theology towards the end.
Author didn't do the best job linking themes together. It felt like some theories were shoehorned at the end of a chapter, like the religious imagery evoked by the nuclear scientists or the random dive into technological theology towards the end.
Read
September 27, 2020Comparing nuclear bomb to AI and other potentially destructive technology, they share determinism in both optimistic and pessimistic views. The oral history of this book cannot be commented with simplified judgement, it contains weight of happenings that suffocates my ability to react. It could, however, be a quest for homo sapiens to share decision makings on conscious level, which seems to be a threshold to confront both otherness and assimilation.
April 29, 2021
This is a well-rounded account of the atomic bomb in world war 2 and enlightens people about the arms race’s similarities to technology today.
I also learned much about the damaging effects of radiation.
I also learned much about the damaging effects of radiation.
March 28, 2023
Was expecting this book to be about how victims of the atomic bomb were treated but it actually revealed a far more interesting story about the doctors behind the Manhattan project. The last few chapters felt a little unscary and could have been condensed into one but other than this a great read.
July 14, 2023
3.5
The author isn't a writer and you can tell but that's okay! Neither am I. I really enjoyed this. Learned some interesting and also unfortunately heinous things. Once you get to the Marshall Islands chapter it gets kinda boring so I skimmed that last 2 chapters.
The author isn't a writer and you can tell but that's okay! Neither am I. I really enjoyed this. Learned some interesting and also unfortunately heinous things. Once you get to the Marshall Islands chapter it gets kinda boring so I skimmed that last 2 chapters.
February 1, 2026
I was able to hear the author speak in Los Alamos last year which led me to this book. This is a nice complement to the usual information about the Manhattan Project. I definitely learned a great deal about the medical side of the time.
November 12, 2020
I found this book to be a slog. Much of it was repetitious, and maybe it should have been a magazine article instead of a book. It was painful and VERY disturbing to read. I did not finish it.
November 26, 2020
Great book library borrow
December 23, 2021
See the full review here:
https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/ASPJ...
https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/ASPJ...
September 6, 2023
This is a fascinating account of the start of the atomic age, and I was going to give it 4-5 stars until I got to part 8, when it became very preachy.
September 6, 2025
Skip. There is nothing new in this work that contributes to understanding of the Nuclear Age.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews