"Version: 20170501"--Title page verso."A Morgan & Claypool publication as part of IOP Concise Physics"--Title page verso.Includes bibliographical references.Preface -- 1. The background -- 1.1. The physics -- 1.2. The Manhattan Project2. Nuclear fission -- 2.1. Energy release in fission -- 2.2. Chain reaction timescale -- 2.3. Temperature equivalent of fission fragments -- 2.4. A first glimpse …