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Sun In A Bottle: The Strange History Of Fusion And The Science Of Wishful Thinking (2008)

by Charles Seife(Favorite Author)

3.86 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0670020338 (ISBN13: 9780670020331)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Viking Adult

review 1: There are plenty of books about the discovery of radioactivity, the Manhattan project, the atomic bomb and nuclear fission in general. This book focuses on fission's lesser-known cousin, nuclear fusion, the process that generates the energy we receive from the sun and other stars. The red thread through this book is the belief that lab- or reactor-generated fusion could be a cheap and reliable source of energy, a clean alternative to the dangers of the classic nuclear reactors. As the author shows, this belief has repeatedly been shown to be erroneous, or at least hugely optimistic. He is particularly interested in the two or three times that scientists announced they had achieved fusion by experiments that other scientists then showed were wrong (think of the Pons and Fl... moreeischman Cold Fusion debacle in the late eighties). He also does a good job of describing the congressional and international politics involved in the decisions to build or not build the increasingly complex and expensive reactors that the "believers" wanted to build. I thought that the science itself was a bit summarily treated. The illustrations were okay, nothing special. The diagrams of various experiments and reactions could have been clearer. Still, overall this was an enjoyable book for those what ever became of nuclear fusion.
review 2: "Sun in a Bottle", by Charles Seife, is a great expository book. Throughout the book are stories after stories of how people tried to unleash the power of the sun on planet earth. It started with the Manhattan project. Oppenheimer was in charge of the operation. However, the atomic bomb was not enough for Edward Teller. He did everything he could to build a fusion device, to build the H-Bomb. That's when it all started. Teller was obsessed with harnessing the power of fusion. He saw nuclear fusion as the answer to just about anything. Later on, several different scientist attempt to create fusion for different reasons. One of the main ones is an alternative energy source. Scientist attempt different methods from lasers to magnets. All through history, people lie, cheat, and deceive others to try to accomplish fusion. I truly enjoyed this book. It is very thorough. Throughout the book are diagrams to help understand just how things work. Bundles of information are packed into an understandable piece of text. I truly enjoyed this book. I would relate to Oppenheimer. He understood lots of things. One of the quotes from the book was "why, Oppenheimer knows about everything. He can talk to you about anything you bring up. Well, not exactly, I guess there are a few things he doesn't know about. He doesn't know anything about sports." That is similar to me. (Besides the knowing everything part). I can talk about anything academically. However, if you mention sports, I don't understand most of it. However, Oppenheimer did eventually start to get a little weird. But then again, lots of scientist did. I truly enjoyed this book. I wouldn't change a single thing. It was great. It definitely deserved five stars. I recommend this to any science lover. They will love this book. I know I did. less

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