William Lanouette

William Lanouette is a writer and policy analyst, as well as an expert on the Manhattan Project who has written extensively about the politics of nuclear weapons and power. He was the Washington Correspondent for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists before joining the U.S. General Accounting Office in 1991, from which he retired in 2006. Lanouette is also the author of "Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szliard, the Man Behind the Bomb", which was published in 1992. In the book, Lanouette highlights Leo Szliard's contributions to the Manhattan Project and his efforts to curb the use of nuclear weapons. He provides an overview of Szilard's life and his scientific contributions in many fields. Lanouette explains that Szilard's legacy is not well known due to the vast scope of his work and because his brilliance put him too far ahead of his time. Lanouette has participated in many panels and discussions about his book and the legacy of the Manhattan Project.