Atomic Adventures

Starred review from April 17, 2017
Hot on the heels of Atomic Accidents, nuclear scientist Mahaffey devotes attention to another bevy of nuclear-related flops, failures, murders, thefts, and suicides. What Mahaffey details is often hilarious and occasionally horrifying. He begins in 1903 with the discovery of N-rays, which was announced by a distinguished French physicist and confirmed by peers. These rays turned out to be a pseudoscientific delusion. In 1989, some labs—the author’s included—confirmed the dazzling discovery of cold fusion. Many, though not all, recanted their findings. Today, the idea of a nuclear-powered bomber carrying a massive reactor and shielding generates laughs, and Mahaffey does not disappoint with his descriptions. But the U.S. Air Force took the concept seriously until the project’s cancellation in 1961. The nuclear rocket tested during that same period worked well, generating twice the thrust of a chemical rocket, though it too was canceled—the U.S. military lost interest in expensive space projects after the successful moon landing. Nuclear accidents wreak havoc, but nuclear thievery also kills, as Mahaffey shows in accounts of criminals who stole radioactive material with fatal results. Mahaffey’s book is largely a collection of unconnected tales and anecdotes, but the results are irresistible. Illus. Agent: George Lucas, InkWell.

April 15, 2017
Further stories of nuclear nuttiness from the physicist and engineer.After a delightful history of nuclear power in Atomic Awakening (2009) and nuclear mishaps in Atomic Accidents (2014), Mahaffey, a former senior research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, delivers an expert, equally amusing chronicle of the wide world of nuclear science. Readers will roll their eyes to the point of exhaustion as the author recounts incidents, scientific discoveries, secret military programs, or tax-supported research that seem wacky now but were taken seriously by scientists and government officials. In 1948, Ronald Richter, a charismatic scientist refugee from Nazi Germany, convinced Argentine dictator Juan Peron that he could produce clean energy through nuclear fusion; it was "a match made in heaven, or at least on another planet." In 1982, another charismatic scientist, Edward Teller, convinced another national leader, President Ronald Reagan, that a space-based X-ray laser would destroy Soviet missiles. Mahaffey does not ignore the parallels between the two ill-conceived projects, including the immense, futile expense. Laboratories around the world, including the author's, fell over themselves to confirm the spectacular 1989 announcement that two scientists had produced nuclear fusion at room temperature. Mahaffey's account is not the first but definitely the funniest, surpassing even his history of the nuclear-powered bomber, a massive, radiation-drenched behemoth extensively tested in the 1950s and '60s. Amusingly gruesome are the innumerable clueless thieves who ignored warnings, smashed locks, bypassed shielding, carried off fiercely radioactive material, and then died horribly. There are fewer laughs in stories of murder by radiation, possible terrorism, and the Pakistani physicist who built his nation's nuclear bomb and then proceeded to sell the technology to other nations. A hodgepodge of unrelated anecdotes, journalism, memoir, and history, the book has the feel of an author clearing his files of unpublished material, but most readers will forgive him due to the entertaining tales.

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June 1, 2017

Although the atomic craze peaked in the mid-20th century, the topic continues to fascinate, and Mahaffey (Atomic Accidents) has tapped into the excitement. A former government scientist and researcher, he provides a practitioner's view of subjects such as the search for cold fusion and the dangers of unshielded radioactive elements. The tone is casual and even funny at times. However, this book assumes a high tolerance for technical details and an above-average familiarity with the development of nuclear weapons in the United States during World War II. The different types of fusion are examined in excruciating detail, but other aspects, such as the Manhattan Project, are glossed over. The purpose of the footnotes is unclear, since they frequently undermine the narrative with contradictory information or snark. Readers less familiar with some of these themes but who want to learn more about the making of atom bombs in the United States would be better served by Denise Kiernan's The Girls of Atomic City. VERDICT Though this title has some drawbacks, it is unlikely that those with a serious interest in nuclear history or physics will find these events described more clearly elsewhere, particularly the parts about the Georgia Tech Research Institute cold fusion experiments.--Cate Hirschbiel, Iwasaki Lib., Emerson Coll., Boston

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