Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl [Hardcover]

Mary Mycio (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2005

When a titanic explosion ripped through the Number Four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in 1986, spewing flames and chunks of burning, radioactive material into the atmosphere, one of our worst nightmares came true. As the news gradually seeped out of the USSR and the extent of the disaster was realized, it became clear how horribly wrong things had gone. Dozens died - two from the explosion and many more from radiation illness during the following months - while scores of additional victims came down with acute radiation sickness. Hundreds of thousands were evacuated from the most contaminated areas. The prognosis for Chernobyl and its environs - succinctly dubbed the Zone of Alienation - was grim. Today, 20 years after the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, intrepid journalist Mary Mycio dons dosimeter and camouflage protective gear to explore the world's most infamous radioactive wilderness. As she tours the Zone to report on the disaster's long-term effects on its human, faunal, and floral inhabitants, she meets pockets of defiant local residents who have remained behind to survive and make a life in the Zone. And she is shocked to discover that the area surrounding Chernobyl has become Europe's largest wildlife sanctuary, a flourishing - at times unearthly - wilderness teeming with large animals and a variety of birds, many of them members of rare and endangered species. Like the forests, fields, and swamps of their unexpectedly inviting habitat, both the people and the animals are all radioactive. Cesium-137 is packed in their muscles and strontium-90 in their bones. But quite astonishingly, they are also thriving. If fears of the Apocalypse and a lifeless, barren radioactive future have been constant companions of the nuclear age, Chernobyl now shows us a different view of the future. A vivid blend of reportage, popular science, and illuminating encounters that explode the myths of Chernobyl with facts that are at once beautiful and horrible, "Wormwood Forest" brings a remarkable land - and its people and animals - to life to tell a unique story of science, surprise and suspense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mycio takes us on a timely tour of the eerie, surprisingly vigorous area around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that's too radioactive for safe human habitation, yet where, 20 years after the explosion, flora and fauna are "thriving." Among abandoned towns, thousands of cormorants nest, and Przewalskis, a breed of wild horse, live seemingly unharmed on irradiated grass. A few people remain: workers decommissioning the plant, bureaucrats and scientists struggling with chronic underfunding, and samosels, elderly squatters so homesick that Ukraine finally let them stay. Mycio, former Kiev correspondent for the L.A. Times, is a good guide, clearly conveying the niceties of radionuclides; the elaborate, jerry-built structures containing the worst of the radiation; and the impossibility of cleaning the place up. She finds occasional humor and plenty of astonishment, as when a herd of red deer cross her path: "My recorder preserved my inarticulate reaction: 'Super. Wow. My God, they're beautiful!' " Mycio gives plenty of fuel for the discussion of nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuel. Not all readers will share her cautious optimism, yet her verdict, that Chernobyl is not simply a disaster but a terrible paradox, is convincing. B&w photos, map.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description

When a titanic explosion ripped through the Number Four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in 1986, spewing flames and chunks of burning, radioactive material into the atmosphere, one of our worst nightmares came true. As the news gradually seeped out of the USSR and the extent of the disaster was realized, it became clear how horribly wrong things had gone. Dozens died--two from the explosion and many more from radiation illness during the following months--while scores of additional victims came down with acute radiation sickness. Hundreds of thousands were evacuated from the most contaminated areas. The prognosis for Chernobyl and its environs--succinctly dubbed the Zone of Alienation--was grim.

Today, 20 years after the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, intrepid journalist Mary Mycio dons dosimeter and camouflage protective gear to explore the world’s most infamous radioactive wilderness. As she tours the Zone to report on the disaster’s long-term effects on its human, faunal, and floral inhabitants, she meets pockets of defiant local residents who have remained behind to survive and make a life in the Zone. And she is shocked to discover that the area surrounding Chernobyl has become Europe’s largest wildlife sanctuary, a flourishing--at times unearthly--wilderness teeming with large animals and a variety of birds, many of them members of rare and endangered species. Like the forests, fields, and swamps of their unexpectedly inviting habitat, both the people and the animals are all radioactive. Cesium-137 is packed in their muscles and strontium-90 in their bones. But quite astonishingly, they are also thriving.

If fears of the Apocalypse and a lifeless, barren radioactive future have been constant companions of the nuclear age, Chernobyl now shows us a different view of the future. A vivid blend of reportage, popular science, and illuminating encounters that explode the myths of Chernobyl with facts that are at once beautiful and horrible, Wormwood Forest brings a remarkable land--and its people and animals--to life to tell a unique story of science, surprise and suspense.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: Joseph Henry Press; First Printing edition (September 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0309094305
• ISBN-13: 978-0309094306
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #866,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > Nuclear Chemistry

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, Entertaining, Well-Written, May 27, 2006

By 

Michael Lee Parsons (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl (Hardcover)

This book works on several levels. The initial premise is that the Chenobyl disaster did not create a barren wasteland, as we might have anticipated. Rather, the "Zone of Alienation", from which nearly all humans have been removed, has become a flourishing nature preserve. Working from that point, the author explores the disaster and its consequences from a number of perspectives. There is a discussion of the accident itself, of the initial efforts to deal with it, and then with the long term effects, not only upon the plants and animals of the Zone, but also upon people - who continue to work and even live inside the Zone.
The writing is clear, perhaps due to Ms. Mycio's journalistic background. It is also very engaging, because she is intensely interested in the subject, and shares the reasons for her interest with the reader. For those of us who will never have the opportunity to visit the Zone, this book is really the next best thing.
The author has a website which makes a terrific supplement to the book, with generous photo galleries organized according in parallel to the book: www.chernobyl.in.ua

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Out of Nuclear Ashes, springs hope, October 26, 2005

By 

Kenneth Nowakowski (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl (Hardcover)

There is a popular song in Ukrainian Folk culture, "Two Colors". Black, that is sadness and Red that is joy. These two colors often are used in the famous Ukrainian Embroidered shirts and blouses. My reading of Mary Mycio's fabulous book, "Wormwood Forest" reminded me of this song. There is so much pain in this book, yet there is joy at coming to know some truths about a modern day cover-up. Mycio writes about complicated technical things regarding nuclear energy and the horrible accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine in such away that you don't need to have a scientific background to understand the picture. Yet, those with a scientific background will find this book informative. Want to find out what happened at Chernobyl, and what's happening now - then read this book!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book that should be required for biology classes!, November 5, 2006

By 

Mary Baechler - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl (Hardcover)

I came across this book when I made friends with someone from the Ukraine... the book grew and grew on me as I read it; I did not realize until towards the end that the author had deftly taken us through the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, and then through a gestalt of the land and people. (I like the casual way she would check her radiation meter to see how much radiation she was getting at a given pond, bog or town). So we kind of weave our way through the history, then the air, plants, ground, water,animals, people, and towns affected by Chernobyl. There's a lot of science but Mary Mycio makes you feel like, hey, you too understand all the bits and pieces about leftover radiation. So two things happen as you read the book; you feel like are in the car with her and her guides. And then to you see how nature has come back in an awesome way and taken over what is still a nuclear wasteland.(The wildlife has thrived and rebounded since people are gone from their radioactive world). Amazing book; all science majors should read this!