Telling the story of uranium, Bickel takes the reader on a journey through time from Klaproth's discovery of the element in 1763 through Roentgen’s discovery of X-rays to the creation of plutonium. The book is split into five parts, and includes a final chapter on atomic transmutation. The first two parts deal with early physics research on uranium and fission. The final three parts focus on more advanced research on the use of uranium and plutonium, and the people involved in the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II. The book includes an appendix of principal scientists involved in uranium research and their contributions.