Customer Reviews

The Walt Disney story of our friend the atom

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This book was one of the reasons I decided as a fifth-grader in the 1960s to become a nuclear engineer. A year ago, while searching for a copy of the Disney film Our Friend the Atom, I bought a 1961 printing of this book. I had honestly forgotten just how well written it really is. For all of its naiveté - arguably just reflecting the naiveté of the times - Our Friend The Atom nevertheless proved that solid technical content can be presented in an attractive and, most importantly, understandable package. Forty years after its release, the mix of form and substance still holds up well.

I have since bought three additional copies (all different printings) for my collection of early atomic energy memorabilia, including a first printing. In these days when nuclear power seems a dying technology, Our Friend The Atom reminds me of the promise it once held.

I got this book for a Christmas present when I was about 8 or 9. I was interested in science at an early age and eagerly sought out popular accounts. This book was well illustrated in the Disney style and clearly written. I remember reading it from cover to cover in one sitting -- an re-reading it over and over again -- and being fascinated by the portraits of various scientists, the depiction of things and technologies related to the atomic world. One part stood out above all: the story of Avogadro's hypothesis that equal volumes of different gases contained indentical numbers of particles. For some reason, this absolutely fascinated me. Why should this hypothesis be true, and how could one possibly know it? I even tried to make up what I now recognize as kinetic theories to account for this -- of course, I didn't know any real physics so I was way beyond my depth.

I can really say that this book helped inspire me to go on to a scientific career. I recommend the book for children, and for anyone interested in a simple, popular account of the atomic world, and also a period piece representative of the '50's in America.

Oddly, I didn't remember the pro-nuclear-energy theme of the book. I read it when I was 7, and was completely blown away by the concept of atoms, and all the things we knew about atoms and chemistry -- I was already a wonky kid, but this book set the hook DEEP. It also taught me that mercury, beryllium, arsenic, and nickel cause health effects. Four years later, one of the major toothbrush manufacturers began selling a toothbrush impregnated with a mercury compound to suppress "unhealthy bacterial growth" on the bristles between brushings. I remember thinking, "Heyyyyy.... 'Our Friend The Atom' said mercury is bad for you. Will this toothbrush make me sick???" I've been on a low-environmental-exposure kick ever since then. THAT, my friends, is the power of knowledge! :D