Recipient of the Excellence in Iowa History Award

The untold story of the humble man whose scientific innovation helped end World War II

In February 1942, leaders of the Manhattan Project had a problem: to prove a controlled nuclear chain reaction was possible, they needed pure uranium-tons of it and in less than ten months. With only a few grams in existence, there was little hope anyone could achieve such a feat. Harley Wilhelm, a chemistry professor at Iowa State College, rose to the challenge.

A sharecropper's son and former college basketball coach, Wilhelm was an unlikely character to impact the course of world history. Nevertheless, he and his small, dedicated team of scientists and technicians surpassed everyone's wildest expectations.

Wilhelm's Way reveals the life and times of this unsung hero who helped America win the race to build the atomic bomb and end World War II.