Lua, 302 characters
s=...t={" "}n=2 function p()for j=2,n-1 do if n%j==0 then n=n+1 return" "end
end n=n+1 return"*"end for i=2,s do for k=#t,1,-1 do t[k+1]=t[k]..p()end
t[1]=""for k=1,i*2-1 do t[1]=p()..t[1]end for k=2,#t do t[k]=p()..t[k]end
t[#t+1]=""for k=1,i*2-1 do t[#t]=t[#t]..p()end end print(table.concat(t,"\n"))
Output from lua ulam.lua 6:
* *
* *
* * * *
* * *
* * *
* ** *
* * *
* *
* * * *
* *
*
