Book

Mahaffey, James A., author.

Atomic adventures : secret islands, forgotten N-rays, and isotopic murder--a journey into the wild world of nuclear science / James Mahaffey.

First Pegasus Books edition.

New York : Pegasus Books, 2017.

xxxiii, 363 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

With enthusiasm and witty intelligence, Mahaffey unearths lost reactors on far-flung islands and finds trees that were exposed to active fission--which then changed gender or bloomed in the dead of winter. He explains why we have nuclear submarines but not nuclear aircraft and why cold fusion does not--and cannot--exist. And who knew that radiation-counting was once a fashionable trend? Though parts of our nuclear history might seem like fiction--such as when cowboys got their hands on a reactor--Mahaffey's vivid prose holds the reader in thrall of the infectious energy of scientific curiosity and ingenuity that may hold the key to solving our energy crisis--or even send us to Mars. -- from dust jacket.

Nuclear energy -- Government policy -- History.

Nuclear facilities -- History.

Nuclear engineering -- History.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-345) and an index.

Author's note: stories told at night around the glow of the reactor -- Introduction: The curious case of the n-rays, a dead end for all times -- Cry for me, Argentina -- AFP-67 in the Dawson Forest -- Inside cold fusion -- Good news and bad news -- The lost expedition to Mars -- The chic-4 revolution -- Japan's atomic bomb project -- The criminal use of nuclear disintegration -- The threat of the dirty bomb -- A bridge to the stars -- Conclusions.

1681774216

9781681774213

959875770

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333.7924 Mahaffey