author_d_r_oestreicher's review
4.0
The Age of Radiance by Craig Nelson is a four part history of atomic energy.
Part 1: The fundamental science from Marie Curie to Lise Meitner with a refreshing emphasis on women scientists.
Part 2: Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, and the development of the A bomb.
Part 3: Cold War with newly declassified information which is still frightening even after all these years, and in some place laughable.
Part 4: Atomic power generation with highlighting Three-mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
Like most history, this book shares a mythology with fiction: people are in charge and the consequences of their actions are critical. Homo sapien sapiens are pattern matching beings. They expect the narrative to be controlled by cause and effect, action and reaction, not randomness. This myth persists even though much of our experience is arbitrary and inexplicable.
Nelson makes a strong case for Germany's loss in World War II being a direct result of antisemitism, both from Germany's loss of scientific resources, and from the actions of those angry scientists who were victims of antisemitism. This is a neat example of cause and effect like you'd find in any novel from classics to contemporaries, from literary to genre.
A well-written book for those interested in the history of science and research.
For more: http://1book42day.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-age-of-radiance-by-craig-nelson.html
Part 1: The fundamental science from Marie Curie to Lise Meitner with a refreshing emphasis on women scientists.
Part 2: Los Alamos, Manhattan Project, and the development of the A bomb.
Part 3: Cold War with newly declassified information which is still frightening even after all these years, and in some place laughable.
Part 4: Atomic power generation with highlighting Three-mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
Like most history, this book shares a mythology with fiction: people are in charge and the consequences of their actions are critical. Homo sapien sapiens are pattern matching beings. They expect the narrative to be controlled by cause and effect, action and reaction, not randomness. This myth persists even though much of our experience is arbitrary and inexplicable.
Nelson makes a strong case for Germany's loss in World War II being a direct result of antisemitism, both from Germany's loss of scientific resources, and from the actions of those angry scientists who were victims of antisemitism. This is a neat example of cause and effect like you'd find in any novel from classics to contemporaries, from literary to genre.
A well-written book for those interested in the history of science and research.
For more: http://1book42day.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-age-of-radiance-by-craig-nelson.html
meghanarnold's review
2.0
Incredibly well-researched and fascinating history, but the writing style did not sit well with me.
sunburial's review against another edition
3.0
A great book, but I stopped reading it once Nelson kept glossing over the tech iCal aspects of the technology - as interesting as the history of the people is, it's really the technology that interested me and I felt that he only touched it on the surface.
littoface's review against another edition
3.0
Dnf, too focused on the lives of the nanes involved and not enough on the era
thomasroche's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really great book. Unfortunately, at the end the author spins into a little bit of a political whirlwind, that ends up making very little sense to me. He's pretty balanced up to that point.
Other complaints: He really skips over most of the Cold War and doesn't go into the politics of nuclear weapons design (or tactics/strategy) in as much detail as I would have liked.
However, his treatments of the European pre-Manhattan-Project and North American Manhattan-Project eras are really great. So is his coverage of the early days of radiation research.
Well worth reading for anyone interested in popular histories of nuclear technology.
Other complaints: He really skips over most of the Cold War and doesn't go into the politics of nuclear weapons design (or tactics/strategy) in as much detail as I would have liked.
However, his treatments of the European pre-Manhattan-Project and North American Manhattan-Project eras are really great. So is his coverage of the early days of radiation research.
Well worth reading for anyone interested in popular histories of nuclear technology.
chaoticmissadventures's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this book!
Nelson writes for the novice and for the scientist. It is fascinating to take a historical tour of radiation. At times the book is funny, sad, tragic, and always interesting. I was never bored, and often surprised even with a few history of science classes in my own past.
Book was a ton of fun :)
Nelson writes for the novice and for the scientist. It is fascinating to take a historical tour of radiation. At times the book is funny, sad, tragic, and always interesting. I was never bored, and often surprised even with a few history of science classes in my own past.
Book was a ton of fun :)
scifi451's review against another edition
4.0
Two things I would say will help dictate whether you are likely to enjoy the book “The Age of Radiance: The Epic Rise and Dramatic Fall of the Atomic Era” by Craig Nelson. The first and most obvious is whether you have interest in the subject matter of learning about the sweeping history of the atom, radiation and nuclear weapons, power, and medicine. The second reason is if you like the style of historical writing that is used by author Craig Nelson. The style that Nelson uses and which is not unique to him is to make liberal use of quotes normally from people involved or who lived through the events described. Nelson likes to construct his story with a smaller mixture of his telling of events and then more weighted towards his use of quotes. If you like hearing more directly from the people involved then you will be more inclined to like this book given that is the style it uses.
The book covers a larger span of time than you might imagine for this topic. It covers the discovery of x-Rays in 1895 to the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan in 2011. If you are looking for a heavy dose of science and how exactly things work, that is not what you will find with this book. Nelson gives you a moderate understanding of the scientific principles in play when talking about x-Rays, radiation, the splitting of the atom, nuclear energy and weapons among other topics talked about. While at certain times I wish I had gotten a bit more detailed scientific information than I did get, I can see the balance that Nelson likely had to walk in giving you enough information on the science behind the topics discussed but at the same time not getting bogged down in the details so that it would not become inaccessible to your average reader. In that sense I think Nelson has done a good job of giving you enough of a taste of the scientific underpinnings of the story he is telling to allow you to understand the topics discussed. Nelson also gives you a good idea of the large and varied group of people that you encounter over the course of the history of this topic and the politics and personal stories that are prevalent with in this subject.
If you are looking for a good but not extremely technical look at radiation and nuclear based devices this book is certainly worth a look in my estimation.
The book covers a larger span of time than you might imagine for this topic. It covers the discovery of x-Rays in 1895 to the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan in 2011. If you are looking for a heavy dose of science and how exactly things work, that is not what you will find with this book. Nelson gives you a moderate understanding of the scientific principles in play when talking about x-Rays, radiation, the splitting of the atom, nuclear energy and weapons among other topics talked about. While at certain times I wish I had gotten a bit more detailed scientific information than I did get, I can see the balance that Nelson likely had to walk in giving you enough information on the science behind the topics discussed but at the same time not getting bogged down in the details so that it would not become inaccessible to your average reader. In that sense I think Nelson has done a good job of giving you enough of a taste of the scientific underpinnings of the story he is telling to allow you to understand the topics discussed. Nelson also gives you a good idea of the large and varied group of people that you encounter over the course of the history of this topic and the politics and personal stories that are prevalent with in this subject.
If you are looking for a good but not extremely technical look at radiation and nuclear based devices this book is certainly worth a look in my estimation.
abookishaffair's review against another edition
4.0
"The Age of Radiance" is an absolutely fascinating account of the history of nuclear energy from the early to mid-20th century until very recently. It was really amazing to me how much things have changed. You had so many scientists who put their lives on the line to study this new kind of energy that both excited and scared the world at the very same time. I really enjoyed this history. This book goes through the personalities and the events that shaped such an important way of getting energy.
The book is jam-packed with all of the personalities and events involved in the history of nuclear power. I really liked reading about some of those that had a big impact on this research. The book includes sections that are almost akin to a small biography on people such as the Curies, Oppenheimer, Fermi, and many others. I loved reading about their research and their discoveries. Nelson makes the book very accessible to all readers, not just those that have science backgrounds.
The book also goes through a lot of the big events involving atomic energy such as the dropping of the bombs over Japan during World War II, the almost nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. The book also goes through a lot of the good things that have been done with this kind of energy. A lot of Nelson's premise is that nuclear energy is really a two sided coin. As with so many things, this energy isn't bad or good; it can be used both ways. Overall, this is a fascinating history!
The book is jam-packed with all of the personalities and events involved in the history of nuclear power. I really liked reading about some of those that had a big impact on this research. The book includes sections that are almost akin to a small biography on people such as the Curies, Oppenheimer, Fermi, and many others. I loved reading about their research and their discoveries. Nelson makes the book very accessible to all readers, not just those that have science backgrounds.
The book also goes through a lot of the big events involving atomic energy such as the dropping of the bombs over Japan during World War II, the almost nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. The book also goes through a lot of the good things that have been done with this kind of energy. A lot of Nelson's premise is that nuclear energy is really a two sided coin. As with so many things, this energy isn't bad or good; it can be used both ways. Overall, this is a fascinating history!
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