The Boy Who Played with Fusion
eBook - ePub

The Boy Who Played with Fusion

Extreme Science, Extreme Parenting, and How to Make a Star

  1. 272 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Boy Who Played with Fusion

Extreme Science, Extreme Parenting, and How to Make a Star

About this book

This story of a child prodigy and his unique upbringing is " an engrossing journey to the outer realms of science and parenting" (Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish).
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A PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Finalist
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Like many young children, Taylor Wilson dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Only Wilson mastered the science of rocket propulsion by the age of nine. When he was eleven, he tried to cure his grandmother's cancerā€”and discovered new ways to produce medical isotopes. Then, at fourteen, Wilson became the youngest person in history to achieve nuclear fusion, building a 500-million-degree reactorā€”in his parents' garage.
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InĀ  The Boy Who Played with Fusion,Ā science journalist Tom Clynes narrates Wilson's extraordinary story. Born in Texarkana, Arkansas, Wilson quickly displayed an advanced intellect. Recognizing their son's abilities and the limitations of their local schools, his parents took a bold leap and moved the family to Reno, Nevada. There, Wilson could attend a unique public high school created specifically for academic superstars. Wilson is now designing devices to prevent terrorists from shipping radioactive material and inspiring a new generation to take on the challenges of science.
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If you're wondering how someone so young can achieve so much, The Boy Who Played with Fusion has the answer. Along the way, Clynes' narrative teaches parents, teachers, and society how and why we urgently need to support high-achieving kids.
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"An essential contribution to our understanding of the most important underlying questions about the development of giftedness, talent, creativity, and intelligence." ā€” Psychology Today
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"A compelling study of the thrillsā€”and burdensā€”of being born with an alpha intellect." ā€” Financial Times
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Yes, you can access The Boy Who Played with Fusion by Tom Clynes in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Science & Technology Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Contents
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Introduction
  7. PART I
  8. The Digger
  9. The Pre-Nuclear Family
  10. Propulsion!
  11. Space Camp
  12. The ā€œResponsibleā€ Radioactive Boy Scout
  13. PART II
  14. The Cookie Jar
  15. In the (Glowing) Footsteps of Giants
  16. Alpha, Beta, Gamma
  17. Trust but Verify
  18. Extreme Parenting
  19. Accelerating Toward Big Science
  20. Heavy Water
  21. Bright as the Sun
  22. PART III
  23. Bringing the Stars Down to Earth
  24. Roots of Prodigiousness
  25. The Lucky Donkey Theory
  26. Twice as Nice, Half as Good
  27. Photos
  28. Atomic Travel
  29. Champions for the Gifted
  30. PART IV
  31. A Hogwarts for Geniuses
  32. A Fourth State of Grape
  33. Heavy Metal Apron
  34. Birth of a Star
  35. The Neutron Club
  36. PART V
  37. A Field of Dreams, an Epiphany in a Box
  38. The Father of All Bombs
  39. Weā€™re Just Breathing Your Air
  40. The Super Bowl of Science
  41. Scotch Tape
  42. Epilogue
  43. Acknowledgments
  44. Notes
  45. Index
  46. About the Author
  47. Footnotes