Rochester author Teresa Waldof's book, 'Wilhelm's Way,' wins first place in Minnesota Book Awards

May 5—ROCHESTER — Rochester author Teresa Waldof has won the Minnesota Book Award for General Nonfiction for her book, "Wilhelm's Way."

Her first-place award was announced earlier this week at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul during the 35th annual Minnesota Book Awards ceremony.

Waldof's book, her first, was recognized for its "compelling story and exemplary voice and writing style," according to a press release. The book tells the story of Harley Wilhelm, an Iowa chemist, and his largely unheralded contributions to the Manhattan Project, the U.S.-led effort to build the first nuclear weapons during World War II.

Wilhelm, a sharecropper's son from southern Iowa who rose to international fame within the field of chemistry, was also Waldof's grandfather.

"'Wilhelm's Way' is a delightful and important addition to the annals of the Manhattan Project," said Cythnia Kelly, president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation.

Wilhelm's contribution to the project was to develop a chemical process that created uranium pure enough and in sufficient quantities to produce the first atomic weapons. Prior to that breakthrough, scientists had been able to produce only small amounts of highly enriched uranium. The process developed by Wilhelm and other scientists made possible the production of 60,000 pounds a month of uranium.

While history has passed down the names of famous physicists behind the Manhattan Project, scientists such as Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard and Enrico Fermi, the contributions of chemists such as Wilhem were confined more to the scientific community.

Beyond the telling of Wilhelm's achievements, Waldof's story relates how Wilhelm's brains and dedication to science propelled him from a humble Iowa farm boy to the top ranks of scientists.

On Dec. 2, 1942, the first controlled self-sustaining nuclear reaction was conducted using Wilhelm's ultra-pure uranium as the core of the Chicago Pile One, an experiment that took place under Stagg Field at the University of Chicago. It was the dawning of the nuclear age, leading to the development of the atomic bombs that ended the war in the Pacific against the Japanese. It also led to the development of a host of other fields, including nuclear energy, nuclear medicine and other innovations.

"Wilhelm's Way" previously earned an honorable mention in the 30th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards and was a finalist of the 2022 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards. The book is currently a finalist for the Excellence in Iowa History Book Award.