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Deak Parsons assembled the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in the aircraft
while on the way to Japan. It had to be done this way because of the danger of a
crash on take-off with a primed bomb on board, with consequent catastrophe or
“cook-out”. Parsons, who hailed from rural New Mexico, was a Navy technical
officer and a high-ranking member of the Los Alamos team, which he joined after
leading the successful development of the proximity fuse for anti-aircraft
artillery shells. Eventually an admiral, but relatively unsung, he is done
justice in Al Christman’s comprehensive and readable biography, Target
Hiroshima. Published by Naval Institute Press, £17.58, ISBN
1557501203.