Atomic Adventures

James Mahaffey

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781681777856
• eBook ISBN: 9781681774800
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Nuclear Physics

Whether you are a scientist or a poet, pro-nuclear energy or staunch opponent, conspiracy theorist or pragmatist, James Mahaffey's books have served to open up the world of nuclear science like never before. With clear explanations of some of the most complex scientific endeavors in history, Mahaffey's new book looks back at the atom's wild, secretive past and then toward its potentially bright future. Mahaffey unearths lost reactors on far flung Pacific islands and trees that were exposed to active fission that changed gender or bloomed in the dead of winter. He explains why we have nuclear submarines but not nuclear aircraft and why cold fusion doesn't exist. And who knew that radiation counting was once a fashionable trend? Though parts of the nuclear history might seem like a fiction mash-up, where cowboys somehow got a hold of a reactor, Mahaffey's vivid prose holds the reader in thrall of the infections energy of scientific curiosity and ingenuity that may one day hold the key to solving our energy crisis or sending us to Mars.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• 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
• Chapter 1: Cry for Me, Argentina
• Chapter 2: AFP-67 in the Dawson Forest
• Chapter 3: Inside Cold Fusion
• Chapter 4: Good News and Bad News
• Chapter 5: The Lost Expedition to Mars
• Chapter 6: The Chic-4 Revolution
• Chapter 7: Japan’s Atomic Bomb Project
• Chapter 8: The Criminal Use of Nuclear Disintegration
• Chapter 9: The Threat of the Dirty Bomb
• Chapter 10: A Bridge to the Stars
• Chapter 11: Conclusions
• Illustrations
• Bibliography
• Illustration Credits
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• Also by James Mahaffey
• Copyright