Alumni Author Talk: The Uranium Club

Join us for a thought-provoking virtual discussion featuring the book The Uranium Club: Unearthing the Lost Relics of the Nazi Nuclear Program by Miriam E. Hiebert, Ph.D. '19.

Part treasure hunt, part thrilling historical narrative, The Uranium Club uncovers and presents compelling—and greatly consequential—stories of science and humanity that launched the world into the modern atomic age. Join the Clark School for a lively discussion between Miriam Hiebert, Ph.D. '19, author, cultural heritage scientist and engineer, and Timothy Koeth Ph.D., nuclear physicist and UMD engineering researcher, moderated by science communicator Michelle Donahue.

About the Book

It all began with a mysterious gift that landed on the UMD desk of Tim Koeth: a cube of uranium metal wrapped in a cryptic note that read, “Taken from Germany from the nuclear reactor Hitler tried to build. Gift of Ninninger.”

What followed was a yearslong quest by Koeth and his student-turned-colleague Miriam “Mimi” Hiebert to discover the origin of the cube and its place in the high-stakes race between the United States and another would-be nuclear power: Nazi Germany.

Hiebert traverses the twists and turns of the regime’s failed nuclear program as well as the United States’ successful Manhattan Project, revealing the contributions of the men and women at the forefront of the race for nuclear weapons and energy.

Visit the publisher's website to purchase and read the book in advance of the event: https://www.chicagoreviewpress...

About the Author

Miriam E. Hiebert, Ph.D., was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She moved east for college, getting a B.S. in Chemistry at the University of Richmond in Virginia in 2014. She went on to pursue a doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland, and it was during this time that she was first introduced to nuclear history, and the uranium cubes. She currently works as a conservation scientist in the DC area.