Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Charles Seife (Author), Bill Weideman (Reader)

Book Description

Release date: October 30, 2008

When weapons builders detonated the first hydrogen bomb in 1952, they tapped into the biggest source of energy in our solar system – the phenomenon that makes the sun shine. Nuclear fusion seems a virtually unlimited source of power, but it has been at the center of a tragic and comic pursuit that has left scores of scientists battered and disgraced. Like the eternal quest to build a perpetual motion machine, the dream of harnessing the energy of a miniature star is irresistible. Not only would a fusion energy device give the world endless electrical power, it would give power to its inventors – financial power, the power of fame, even military might. Right now the world’s richest countries are spending billions of dollars trying to build a giant fusion reactor. Yet if history is any guide, the money will not bring the dream of fusion energy within reach. Indeed, the quest for fusion energy has been a failure, generation after generation. Fusion is at the heart of some of the biggest scientific scandals of all time, and Charles Seife traces its story from its beginning into the twenty-first century. Even after fusion scientists face defeat after defeat, they continue trying to put the sun in a bottle, hoping against hope that they will succeed where others have failed. The science of wishful thinking is as strong as ever, and this book is our key to understanding why.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fifty years ago scientists and futurists glowingly predicted a future in which cars would run on little fusion cells and the world would extract deuterium from the oceans for an inexhaustible supply of energy. Like all too many shining visions, fusion turned out to be a mirage. Award-winning science journalist Seife (Zero) takes a long, hard look at nuclear fusion and the failure of one scheme after another to turn it into a sustainable energy source. Many readers will remember the 1989 cold fusion debacle, but Seife explains why tabletop fusion isn't all that difficult to achieve. The problem, as with all fusion devices except the hydrogen bomb, is to produce more energy than the fusion process consumes. The two most promising approaches today use plasma and lasers, but again, Seife reports, scientists have been repeatedly frustrated. The United States and several other industrial nations recently agreed optimistically to sink billions of dollars into a 30-year fusion power project. Seife's approachable book should interest everyone concerned about finding alternative energy sources. (Nov. 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

It’s the energy source of the future, and always will be; that’s the rap on nuclear fusion. Reviewing its development—which at present is embodied in two big-science installations in California and France—Seife clarifies the devilish complexities of containing a fusion reaction. The idea’s tantalizing physical simplicity and the allure of earning unbounded riches from unlimited power has repeatedly tempted scientists, whose excess optimism, hubris, and self-deception propel the technical side of Seife’s account. A seasoned science author (most recently, Decoding the Universe, 2006), Seife shines in explaining how hydrogen’s behavior at solarlike temperatures has so far defeated the two conventional devices for taming it: magnets and lasers. With high-energy physics at an impasse, eccentric claims of room-temperature fusion gained a hearing. Remember the cold-fusion nondiscovery of 1989? Seife writes up two other claims of low-temperature fusion that similarly could not be replicated, the sine qua non of scientific proof. Informed and perceptive, Seife ably melds physics and public policy (fusion has consumed billions of dollars) into a fine presentation for general-interest readers. --Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged; Unabridged edition (October 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423377168
• ISBN-13: 978-1423377160
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,324,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles Seife is a correspondent for Science, a London--based international weekly science magazine. He has written for Scientific American, The Economist, Wired UK, The Sciences, and numerous other publications. He has a masters degree in mathematics from Yale.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 77 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Focussed on the Lone Wolves November 9, 2008

By R. Goldston

Format:Hardcover

This book is mostly about the early history of fusion research, and about the more recent fiascos where lone-wolf researchers have claimed breakthroughs without adequate scientific basis. If you are interested in cold and bubble fusion, and how the press has dealt with them, this is a good book for you. On the other hand, Seife devotes relatively little ink to the scientists and engineers worldwide who are working to develop fusion, on the basis of peer-reviewed, replicable research. He also doesn't systematically review the literature on progress in fusion, on the remaining challenges, and on why it is attractive as an energy source. When I started in this field as a graduate student we made 1/10 of a Watt of fusion heat in a pulse of 1/100 of second. Now the record is in the range of 10 million Watts for a second. That is an improvement by an overall factor of 10 billion. The international ITER project will produce 500 million Watts of fusion heat for periods of at least 300 - 500 seconds. We have further to go, and lots of challenges, but fusion has large advantages in safety, waste and nuclear proliferation. There are relatively few options for large-scale, long-term, steady electric power production, and they all need to be explored.

79 of 91 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Using deception to sell books does a disservice to science and to science journalism November 26, 2008

By Anne White

Format:Hardcover

Seife's book, "Sun In A Bottle", is an illogical attack against scientists working in the modern fields of magnetic fusion energy research or inertial confinement fusion research. Seife uses a deceptive style to argue against government funding for fusion research in his book, "Sun In A Bottle". Seife employs "Fusion research", as an umbrella term to encompass research that spans decades, and yes, has involved some rather nasty characters who have indeed conducted themselves poorly1. But these men to whom Seife devotes much of his book do not represent the community of researchers who work today in magnetic fusion energy research2, which is the relevant category of physics to consider if discussing the ITER project3. If you doubt that "Sun in a Bottle" is an attack on magnetic fusion research and on ITER, I point out that on the last two pages of the book "Sun in a Bottle", Seife concludes his argument that all of fusion research is a failure and will never work due to the "intemperate self-deception" of fusion researchers (page 227) as he concludes with a suggestion to the reader: fission research should be pursued instead of fusion research (page 226). Seife's arguments against pursuing fusion as an energy source are identical to making arguments against cancer research by making a list of attempts to cure cancer that have not worked, by finding a few examples of liars who have worked in the field sometime during the past 60 years, and then generalizing to make a final statement that cancer research funding should be halted. Here is how that argument goes: "Some scientists claim to be able to cure cancer with alternative medicine, herbs, and crystals. These scientists lie and deceive as they push their research forward, they are blinded by their own hubris as they seek the fame and the power that discovering the cure for cancer would bring them. The methods these scientists employ will never be useful to curing cancer. Some other scientists are researching ways to cure cancer in national laboratories and universities around the world, and they receive many millions of dollars from governments to support their research, and they also have failed to cure cancer. Because all cancer researchers lie and deceive, governments should not waste time and money trying to cure cancer." If you find this argument compelling and after reading it you feel we should halt all cancer research, then Charles Seife's "Sun In A Bottle" is the book for you. I believe this book does a disservice to the field of popular science writing. Seife's book should read by all scientists as a warning of the machinations that "popular science" writing may produce. Scientists as a community must find a way to tell their stories to the public clearly, without sacrificing accuracy, and in an exciting manner. No easy task, to be sure. But scientists must take up this challenge. For if they do not, their stories could be told by more books like "Sun in a Bottle". Anyone who believes in critical thinking, honesty and accuracy should be repulsed that that possibility.
1 Physics Today, Volume 61, Number 11, November 2008, pp. 28, "Bubble fusion scientist disciplined"
2 There are many articles about fusion research published in peer-reviewed journals that one can access on-line through library subscriptions: Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics and Fusion Research (PPCF), and Physical Review Letters are three example. A volume of PPCF that includes papers about modern fusion research will be available for free online through June 2009 at the site [...]

29 of 37 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor Scientific Journalism January 3, 2009

By Nazdar

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Sun in a Bottle" is more of a history lesson than a book of science. The first 75 pages describes the development of the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb, which here is more a story of the rivalry between Oppenheimer and Teller that is ultimately won by Teller. My own view is that this portion of the book is unnecessary since the story of bomb development has been told many times before and in much greater detail.

The rest of the book is about the development of fusion as a power source. The author chooses to focus on the missteps and blind alleys of research rather than the progress that has been made. The stories are entertaining, but clearly one sided. He avoids technical information, except for general concepts, perhaps feeling that the reading audience is unable to understand or that the technical information does not have enough pizzazz to make a best seller.

The main problem I have with this book is that the author is ready to give up on a power source that has great promise but great problems to overcome. Development of a commercial fusion reactor is complex and expensive, but so have been other projects that ultimately have been successful. An example is the space program. I am old enough to remember the early days of the US space program with rocket after rocket blowing up on the launch pad. Considering the failures and costs, the author would have likely concluded that successful space travel was the wishful thinking of "scientists, drunk with the promise of personal glory."

If you are looking for entertaining stories, then you might enjoy this book. If you are looking for a balanced evaluation of fusion with accompanying technical information, this is not the book for you.