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Published Oct 2008
304 pages
Genre: Science, Health and the Environment
Publication Information
The author of Zero looks at the messy history of the struggle to harness fusion energy.
When weapons builders detonated the first hydrogen bomb in 1952, they tapped into the vastest source of energy in our solar system--the very same phenomenon that makes the sun shine. Nuclear fusion was a virtually unlimited source of power that became the center of a tragic and comic quest that has left scores of scientists battered and disgraced.
For the past half-century, governments and research teams have tried to bottle the sun with lasers, magnets, sound waves, particle beams, and chunks of meta. (The latest venture, a giant, multi-billion-dollar, international fusion project called ITER, is just now getting underway.) Again and again, they have failed, disgracing generations of scientists.
Throughout this fascinating journey Charles Seife introduces us to the daring geniuses, villains, and victims of fusion science: the brilliant and tortured Andrei Sakharov; the monomaniacal and Strangelovean Edward Teller; Ronald Richter, the secretive physicist whose lies embarrassed an entire country; and Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, the two chemists behind the greatest scientific fiasco of the past hundred years. Sun in a Bottle is the first major book to trace the story of fusion from its beginnings into the 21st century, of how scientists have gotten burned by trying to harness the power of the sun.
"Seife's approachable book should interest everyone concerned about finding alternative energy sources." - Publishers Weekly.
"Written with clarity and infectious enthusiasm that are rare in science writing ... Zero is really something." - The Washington Post.
"A relentlessly entertaining tale of scientists pursuing a dazzling dream that, in the author's educated opinion, may never come true." - Kirkus Reviews.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Charles Seife is the author of Decoding the Universe, Alpha & Omega, and Zero, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for first nonfiction book, and was named a New York Times Notable Book. An Associate Professor of journalism at New York University, he has written for Science magazine, New Scientist, Scientific American, The Economist, Wired, The Sciences, and many other publications.
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