Hydrick to talk Feb. 15 at Bradbury Science Museum

Back by popular demand, Carter Hydrick, author of Critical Mass: How Nazi Germany Surrendered Enriched Uranium For The United States' Atomic Bomb, will speak about his book at Los Alamos' Bradbury Science Museum at 7 p.m., Feb. 15. The talk will be followed by a booksigning at Otowi Station Bookstore adjacent to the museum.

His return offers the opportunity for individuals who missed him during his visit in November 2004, or perhaps did not get the opportunity to ask questions after the last presentation to attend his second talk.

At the talk, Hydrick will present documentation that demonstrates a surrendered Nazi submarine, or U-boat, U-234, contained 560 kilograms of enriched uranium oxide, as well as other atomic-bomb components that were used by the Manhattan Project to complete both the uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima and the plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki to defeat the Japanese, win World War II and usher in the Nuclear Age.

Hydrick's presentation will position the contents of Nazi submarine U-234 as vital to the Manhattan Project's efforts. Was its arrival on American shores a pivotal event in atomic history, as Hydrick argues, or an unimportant footnote, as most traditional historians suggest? Hydrick will discuss this issue at the talk.

Hydrick also is scheduled to talk about his book and the museum talk at 8:10 a.m., Feb. 14 on Los Alamos radio station KRSN-AM 1490.

The Bradbury Science Museum is located at 15th Street and Central Avenue in downtown Los Alamos. Museum hours apart from special events are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

The Bradbury Science Museum is part of Los Alamos' Public Affairs Office.

For more information, contact Pat Berger of the museum at 5-0896.

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