The Apocalypse Factory

The Apocalypse Factory traces the pathway from the discovery of plutonium to the rise of immense production facilities in Washington State to fuel the US nuclear arsenal, with riveting details about the nearly aborted mission to bomb Nagasaki…Steve Olson leaves much to ponder, and he calls on our collective ingenuity to address the threat that nuclear weapons pose today.–Cynthia C. Kelly, president of the Atomic Heritage FoundationA compulsively readable blend of science and storytelling…The Apocalypse Factory is a carefully researched tale of inventive genius, state-authorized mass murder, and the supertoxic legacy of a federal bomb-making mess that will never be cleaned up.–Blaine Harden, author of Escape from Camp 14 and A River Lost: The Life and Death of the ColumbiaScience writer Olson (Eruption) delivers a lucid, fast-paced chronicle of the discovery and weaponization of plutonium and the unforeseen consequences of the nuclear arms race… This comprehensively researched and compulsively readable account deserves a large audience.– “Publishers Weekly”

Steve Olson is the author of Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens (winner of a Washington State Book Award), Mapping Human History (a finalist for the National Book Award), and other books. He has written for the Atlantic, Science, Smithsonian, and more. He lives in Seattle, Washington.