Sourcebook on Atomic Energy

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Richard Hull
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Sourcebook on Atomic Energy

Post by Richard Hull »

This book is by Glasstone and is a real treasure trove. It is almost a book of Nuclear trivia and at the same time a definitve reference up to 1950. It teaches very little. It you want teaching, diagrams, tables and great details get Rutherford, Chadwick and Ellis' book Radiation and Radioactive Substances (1930).

Glasstone's book is a superior quick rinse in everything nuclear or that which touches upon it. I love it, as it is written in biblical form. That is, every paragragh and major thought has a large leading black number. ei 7.119 or 2.56, etc. In this manner, if your are reading about Bequerel's discovery of Uranium radiations, it can tell you that "thorium was determined to be radiative by Marie Curie (5.110)", and then move on. Most books would tell you this will be covered in chapter ten and leave you to ferret it out of the entire chapter, but Glasstone points you, literally, to chapter and verse for immediate reference. Really sweet for quick reference.

Trivia......... did you know that T.R. Kahow or some such in 1947 coined the term "Nuclide"! Glasstone knows that inquiring minds want to know. Did you know that a German woman chemist by the name of Noddack in a 1934 paper criticizing some conclusions reached by Fermi and his italian group suggested that the Uranium nucleus might conceivably split into two nearly equal parts? All of this, four years before Meitner suggested this same possibility to Hahn upon his puzzlement at his unusual experimental results? Furthermore, did you know this same Frau Noddack and her husband had earlier discovered the element Rhenium?

Lots of hidden facts brought to light in this treasured tome in my library. One of my best references now, not so much for specific data, but for historical accuracy and temporal lineage regarding major nuclear discoveries.

Ricahrd Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Richard Hester
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Re: Sourcebook on Atomic Energy

Post by Richard Hester »

That's Samuel Glasstone, who authored (and co-authored) a lot of books on nuclear technology.It's a good catch-all reference book. His name on the spine of a book can be taken as a sign of quality...
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Richard Hull
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Re: Sourcebook on Atomic Energy

Post by Richard Hull »

sorry 'bout the mis-spell...........I have updated the post to Glasstone.... Thanks for the correction.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
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