Bomb: Part Four–Epilogue

by Steve Sheinkin
In this engaging blend of science and history, Steve Sheinkin traces the development of the atomic bomb.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Prologue–Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four–Epilogue
15 words 236 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. credible
    capable of being believed
    With this credible alibi in place, he bought a ticket for the three-day cross-country bus ride.
  2. corroborate
    support with evidence or authority or make more certain
    To save their jobs, and probably their lives, Soviet spies needed a second source to corroborate Hall’s report.
  3. careworn
    showing the effects of overwork or suffering
    “His eyes were sunken,” Truman remembered. “His magnificent smile was missing from his careworn face.
  4. crevasse
    a deep fissure
    “It lighted every peak, crevasse, and ridge of the nearby mountain range with a clarity and beauty that cannot be described.”
  5. resolutely
    showing firm determination or purpose
    “There is no other recourse but to ignore it entirely and resolutely fight for the successful conclusion of the war.”
  6. ultimatum
    a final peremptory demand
    “In the face of this rejection,” Stimson later said, “we could only proceed to demonstrate that the ultimatum had meant exactly what it said.”
  7. incredulity
    doubt about the truth of something
    “He paused, expecting questions,” Laurence reported. “But there was silence in the room, a look of amazement and incredulity on every face.”
  8. sketchy
    giving only major points; lacking completeness
    The first reports to reach the Japanese capital of Tokyo were panicked and sketchy.
  9. catastrophe
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    Some kind of catastrophe had occurred at Hiroshima, but no one knew the details.
  10. flak
    artillery designed to shoot upward at airplanes
    “We had some flak bursts,” said Jacob Beser, the radar operator.
  11. prowess
    a superior skill learned by study and practice
    “The safety of this nation,” he insisted, “cannot lie wholly or even primarily in its scientific or technical prowess. It can be based only on making future wars impossible.”
  12. perplexity
    trouble or confusion resulting from complexity
    Oppenheimer returned to Los Alamos, feeling what he described to a friend as “a profound grief, and a profound perplexity about the course we should be following.”
  13. imminent
    close in time; about to occur
    “He seemed to feel that the destruction of the entire human race was imminent.”
  14. misgiving
    uneasiness about the fitness of an action
    If Truman had any misgivings about using the atomic bomb, he kept them well buried.
  15. precarious
    not secure; beset with difficulties
    “Who knew better than I on what a precarious, tottering house of cards my whole life rested?”
Created on Mon Dec 21 20:47:09 EST 2015 (updated Mon Aug 04 10:10:29 EDT 2025)

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