Atomic adventures
Subtitle: secret islands, forgotten N-rays, and isotopic murder--a journey into the wild world of nuclear science
By: James Mahaffey
Edition: First Pegasus Books edition.
Publisher: Pegasus Books; PEGASUS
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 363
ISBN-13: 9781681774213
Subjects: Nuclear energy; Nuclear facilities; Government policy; Nuclear engineering; History
Description: With enthusiasm and witty intelligence, Mahaffey unearths lost reactors on far-flung islands and finds trees that were exposed to active fission--which then changed gender or bloomed in the dead of winter. He explains why we have nuclear submarines but not nuclear aircraft and why cold fusion does not--and cannot--exist. And who knew that radiation-counting was once a fashionable trend? Though parts of our nuclear history might seem like fiction--such as when cowboys got their hands on a reactor--Mahaffey's vivid prose holds the reader in thrall of the infectious energy of scientific curiosity and ingenuity that may hold the key to solving our energy crisis--or even send us to Mars. --
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-345) and an index.
Table of contents: title: Author's note: stories told at night around the glow of the reactor; title: Introduction: The curious case of the n-rays, a dead end for all times; title: Cry for me, Argentina; title: AFP-67 in the Dawson Forest; title: Inside cold fusion; title: Good news and bad news; title: The lost expedition to Mars; title: The chic-4 revolution; title: Japan's atomic bomb project; title: The criminal use of nuclear disintegration; title: The threat of the dirty bomb; title: A bridge to the stars; title: Conclusions.