How Did We Find Out About Nuclear Power?

How Did We Find Out #11

by Isaac Asimov

Traces the work of many scientists over more than one hundred years in developing man's knowledge of nuclear power.

Genres: Science

53 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Andy Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short read for anybody high school and up who wants to see the history of how we found out about nuclear power and have it explained in almost everyday terms. Asimov is a great writer and student of history.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asimov wrote a very clear description of how we got nuclear power. He also did this by bypassing the various controversies involved in the process such as the way Lisa Meitner got cheated of the Nobel prize. While I have mixed feelings about that, Asimov also made it clear that she had the insight that continued the quest for power. He also described very briefly the letter Einstein wrote informing FDR about the potential for weaponry from this discovery.

I found this very clear and understandable. I would still recommend it highly while encouraging students to read more recent, larger books that will go into detail Asimov had to skip. Recommended.

[grllopez ~ with freedom and books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess if you were ever curious about the discovery of nuclear power and the invention of atom bomb, this is a pretty good little read. While it was published in the 70s, it still lays the groundwork leading up to the scientific journey of splitting atoms. Truly interesting. Short and sweet and to the point.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of how we found out about Nuclear Power. These people get full page drawings: Thomson, Roentgen, Marie Curie, Chadwick, Pierre Currie, Bethe, Rutherford, Fermi, Bohr, Szilard, Oppenheimer.

As an exercise I leave it to you to retell the story yourself.

[Thodoris Deligiannidis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional abstraction about the history of nuclear power. Top fun read for any schoolboy interested in physics