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A very human-interest view on fusion history. Seife maintains some inter-character antagonisms that might be slightly skewed toward drama, but it mostly is effective in keeping reader interest for a very specialized and hopeful science. Not for the physicist or stickler, but a very entertaining book about a topic that most people have very little knowledge of.
I learned the differences between an H-bomb and a fission bomb, the different types of fusion reactors, and that the big problem isn't fusion, it's sustaining fusion AND getting more energy out of the reaction than was initially put in to start it. I was really surprised that table-top fusion was a real thing--but now I understand the term "cold-fusion" much better.
This being said, the only fusion references I really had previously were from "The Saint" (1997) with Val Kilmer and Elisabeth Shue, and I also had a colleague working for ITER. Fusion just is not important enough (yet) to be in undergraduate physics, chemistry or thermodynamics courses...
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (October 27, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0143116347
- ASIN: B0044KMQ5O
- Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Average Customer Review: 46 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#9,687,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #29451 in History & Philosophy of Science
- #17594 in Energy Production & Extraction
- #6179 in Nuclear Physics (Books)
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