La última voz

In 1943 Roy J. Glauber was 18 years old. He was simultaneously studying Physics and doctoral courses at Harvard. One day, a government emissary asked to interview him. Shortly after, following brief instructions, Roy sent his belongings to a mysterious postal address and took a train to nowhere. Thus he arrived at Los Alamos, an isolated and secret laboratory in which the most brilliant minds of the time worked on the Manhattan Project. Overnight, young Roy rubbed shoulders with leading scientists to create a weapon that would change the war and political landscape of the 20th century. Fame is unattainable for most humans, and that boy at that time did not know that later he would have it twice. In 2005 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the quantum coherence of light. But, in addition, Roy was a witness to the events, he met and survived practically all the scientists linked to the creation and launch of atomic bombs; he closely lived before, during and after them. From the historical point of view, Roy occupied a privileged position: nobody else will hold it. Therefore, if life brings you into contact with a man as exceptional as he is, and in circumstances as special as those described here, you have an obligation to tell about it. This book narrates the beginning of the atomic age through a true protagonist; an independent one, committed to the truth. The events recalled by Roy will remain in history perhaps for millennia. "I was just an observer... albeit a very good one," he told us. Here is his voice. The last voice.