Growing up in suburban Detroit, David Hahn was fascinated by science. While he was working on his Atomic Energy badge for the Boy Scouts, David’s obsessive attention turned to nuclear energy. Throwing caution to the wind, he plunged into a new project: building a model nuclear reactor in his backyard garden shed. Posing as a physics professor, David solicited information on reactor design from the U.S. government and from industry experts. Following blueprints he found in an outdated physics textbook, David cobbled together a crude device that threw off toxic levels of radiation. His wholly unsupervised project finally sparked an environmental emergency that put his town’s forty thousand suburbanites at risk. The EPA ended up burying his lab at a radioactive dumpsite in Utah. This offbeat account of ambition and, ultimately, hubris has the narrative energy of a first-rate thriller.
Traces a boy's fascination with science and nuclear physics, which compelled him to misrepresent himself to the government and build a reactor in his back yard, causing an environmental catastrophe in his quiet Detroit town.
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). A PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Finalist 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 cancer—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 reactor—in his parents’ garage. In The Boy Who Played with Fusion, 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. 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. “An essential contribution to our understanding of the most important underlying questions about the development of giftedness, talent, creativity, and intelligence.” —Psychology Today “A compelling study of the thrills—and burdens—of being born with an alpha intellect.” —Financial Times
BANNED: The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments was a children's chemistry book written in the 1960s by Robert Brent and illustrated by Harry Lazarus, showing how to set up your own home laboratory and conduct over 200 experiments. The book is controversial, as many of the experiments contained in the book are now considered too dangerous for the general public. There are apparently only 126 copies of this book in libraries worldwide. Despite this, its known as one of the best DIY chemistry books every published. The book was a source of inspiration to David Hahn, nicknamed "the Radioactive Boy Scout" by the media, who tried to collect a sample of every chemical element and also built a model nuclear reactor (nuclear reactions however are not covered in this book), which led to the involvement of the authorities. On the other hand, it has also been the inspiration for many children who went on to get advanced degrees and productive chemical careers in industry or academia.
From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table. Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters? The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. The Disappearing Spoon masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery -- from the Big Bang through the end of time. Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.
WINNER 2016 SHELF UNBOUND AWARD The adventure begins in the first Dan Kotler archaeological thriller! An ancient medallion is unearthed in Pueblo, Colorado, revealing a secret that will rewrite the history of North America—the Vikings somehow made it to the continent's interior, centuries before Columbus made landfall, and there they built a city of gold. But today the COELHO MEDALLION has been stolen, and a linguist and researcher has been abducted in connection with the crime. Could the abductors be after the fabled city of gold? Or do they have a more sinister plot in mind? DAN KOTLER is an independent researcher who often finds himself in more trouble than he was expecting. But when his colleague is abducted he finds himself being investigated by the FBI, he must use all of his brilliance and expertise to find her and absolve himself. ANWAR ADHAM has plans for a terrorist action on U.S. soil, and information from the Pueblo research site can give him everything he needs to put his plans in motion. Unless Adham is stopped, thousands and possibly millions will die. Whoever wins this contest of wits and wills will hold the fate of thousands in his hands, and will also lay claim to the fabled city of gold. It's an adventure that can redefine the history of America as we know it. Kotler finds himself facing off against both the FBI and Adham's terrorist network as he struggles to solve the mystery of Vikings in Colorado, to rescue Evelyn and stop Adham's plans before it's too late. “Kevin has crashed onto the action-thriller scene as only an action-thriller author can: with provocative plot lines, unforgettable characters, and enough adrenaline to keep you awake all night.” —Nick Thacker, author of 'The Enigma Strain' — HERE'S WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT KEVIN TUMLINSON'S BOOKS: ★★★★★ “[Kevin Tumlinson] is what every writer should be—entertaining and thought-provoking.” — Shana Tehan, Press Secretary, U.S. House of Representatives ★★★★★ “There was something so fascinating about [Citadel] and the cast of characters [Kevin Tumlinson] put together.” — Leah Petersen, Author of Fighting Gravity ★★★★★ "I discovered Kevin Tumlinson from The Creative Penn podcast and immediately got his novel, Evergreen. I read it in like 3 seconds. It's the most fast paced story I've encountered." —R.D. Holland, Independent Reviewer ★★★★★ "[Sawyer Jackson and the Long Land] was a great read! I love these style of books—magic, science fiction, alternate reality. I couldn't put it down." —S., Independent Reviewer
Have you ever wondered how a nuclear power station works? This lively book will answer that question. It’ll take you on a journey from the science behind nuclear reactors, through their start-up, operation and shutdown. Along the way it covers a bit of the engineering, reactor history, different kinds of reactors and what can go wrong with them. Much of this is seen from the viewpoint of a trainee operator on a Pressurised Water Reactor - the most common type of nuclear reactor in the world. Colin Tucker has spent the last thirty years keeping reactors safe. Join him on a tour that is the next best thing to driving a nuclear reactor yourself!
From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold story of a renegade group of scientists and spies determined to keep Adolf Hitler from obtaining the ultimate prize: a nuclear bomb. Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely have the secrets been as vital as they were during World War II. In the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research. Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses -- dubbed the Alsos Mission -- and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club. The details of the mission rival the finest spy thriller, but what makes this story sing is the incredible cast of characters -- both heroes and rogues alike -- including: Moe Bergm, the major league catcher who abandoned the game for a career as a multilingual international spy; the strangest fellow to ever play professional baseball. Werner Heisenberg, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist credited as the discoverer of quantum mechanics; a key contributor to the Nazi's atomic bomb project and the primary target of the Alsos mission. Colonel Boris Pash, a high school science teacher and veteran of the Russian Revolution who fled the Soviet Union with a deep disdain for Communists and who later led the Alsos mission. Joe Kennedy Jr., the charismatic, thrill-seeking older brother of JFK whose need for adventure led him to volunteer for the most dangerous missions the Navy had to offer. Samuel Goudsmit, a washed-up physics prodigy who spent his life hunting Nazi scientists -- and his parents, who had been swept into a concentration camp -- across the globe. Irène and Frederic Joliot-Curie, a physics Nobel-Prize winning power couple who used their unassuming status as scientists to become active members of the resistance. Thrust into the dark world of international espionage, these scientists and soldiers played a vital and largely untold role in turning back one of the darkest tides in human history.
This Atom Bomb in Me traces what it felt like to grow up suffused with American nuclear culture in and around the atomic city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As a secret city during the Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge enriched the uranium that powered Little Boy, the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The city was a major nuclear production site throughout the Cold War, adding something to each and every bomb in the United States arsenal. Even today, Oak Ridge contains the world's largest supply of fissionable uranium. The granddaughter of an atomic courier, Lindsey A. Freeman turns a critical yet nostalgic eye to the place where her family was sent as part of a covert government plan. Theirs was a city devoted to nuclear science within a larger America obsessed with its nuclear prowess. Through memories, mysterious photographs, and uncanny childhood toys, she shows how Reagan-era politics and nuclear culture irradiated the late twentieth century. Alternately tender and alarming, her book takes a Geiger counter to recent history, reading the half-life of the atomic past as it resonates in our tense nuclear present.
This lively, intricately plotted, laugh-out-loud funny, and surprisingly touching family drama combines the wit of Carl Hiaasen with the southern charm of Jill McCorkle. Seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs come hell or high water. In 1953, he gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent as part of a secret government study that had horrible consequences. Marylou has been plotting her revenge for fifty years. When she accidentally discovers his whereabouts in Florida, her plans finally snap into action. She high tails it to hot and humid Tallahassee, moves in down the block from where a now senile Spriggs lives with his daughter’s family, and begins the tricky work of insinuating herself into their lives. But she has no idea what a nest of yellow jackets she is stumbling into. Before the novel is through, someone will be kidnapped, an unlikely couple will get engaged, someone will nearly die from eating a pineapple upside-down cake laced with anti-freeze, and that’s not all . . . Told from the varied perspectives of an incredible cast of endearing oddball characters and written with the flair of a native Floridian, this dark comedy does not disappoint.
