Atomic adventures
by James A. Mahaffey · first published 2017
11mentions
4recommended by
7HN commenters
2017–2024first – last mentioned
57% recommend43% neutral
With enthusiasm and witty intelligence, Mahaffey unearths lost reactors on far-flung islands and finds trees that were exposed to active fission--which then changed gender or bloomed in the dead of winter. He explains why we have nuclear submarines but not nuclear aircraft and why cold fusion does not--and cannot--exist. And who knew that radiation-counting was once a fashionable trend? Though parts of our nuclear history might seem like fiction--such as when cowboys got their hands on a reactor--Mahaffey's vivid prose holds the reader in thrall of the infectious energy of scientific curiosity
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In Atomic Adventures, James Mahaffey (who I unreservedly recommend) outlines the history, claims and problems with Cold Fusion. He was a member of one of the first teams to try to replicate the results, and points out that…
on “Cold Fusion or Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions, U.S. Navy Researchers Reopen Case” ↗If you enjoy learning more about this sort of stuff, I'd highly recommend "Atomic Adventures" by James Mahaffey. The book recounts all sorts of crazy nuclear research, mostly from the 50s-70s, including using entirely unshielded reactors to test the effects of radiation on various materials,…
on “The US military is getting serious about nuclear thermal propulsion” ↗…Manhattan project, you read about the entire history of Europe between 1900 and WW2, with a bit more focus on quantum physics developments. More specifically about the Japan's atomic program, I found "Atomic Adventures" by James Mahaffey to give a slightly better coverage. Bonus: you will also understand the origin of the UFOs. Bonus 2: you'll get a very funny/sad first hand account of the first cold fusion debacle.
on “Scientist on Japan's atomic bomb program tells his story (1995) [video]” ↗The ones I rated highest out of those I read this year (which is what I think the question means). * Exactly: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester * Atomic Adventures: Secret Islands, Forgotten N-Rays, and Isotopic Murder-A Journey into the Wild World of Nuclear Science by James Magaffey * Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande * Vulcan…
on “Ask HN: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2019?” ↗James Mahaffey, Atomic Adventures (Pegasus:2018 Reprint): 'A couple of things about the announced phenomenon bothered me greatly. Both Pons and Fleischmann had claimed over and over that their apparatus was producing “tremendous” heat…
on “Cold Fusion or Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions, U.S. Navy Researchers Reopen Case” ↗I did some research on this. James Mahaffey who is a nuclear engineer talks about this a bit in his book 'Atomic Adventures.': "Professional-grade Geiger counters, such as the Eberline E-120, are available as surplus, but they are usually sold without the probe assemble, which is what wears out when in constant use in a nuclear…
on “French institute suspects nuclear accident in Russia or Kazakhstan in September” ↗I have read(@ Atomic Adventures by James Mahaffey) about "lockwood" made by irradiating wood. It's supposed to have been quite popular, used for floors, even bows. Have you encounter it?
on “Crushed wood is stronger than steel” ↗…expensive part and the thing that wears out[2]. The probe assembly also needs to be properly calibrated. [1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rdklein.ra... [2]: https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Adventures-Islands-Forgotten-I...
on “Escape Compasses” ↗You are right, I stand corrected. I read about the Chinese bombs in "Atomic Adventures" by James Mahaffey, but reading again, I see that only the Chic-4 bomb originated from the US W-33 warhead, which was copied by the Soviets and became their 3BV3 bomb. All these had a yield of about 10…
on “What John von Neumann did at Los Alamos (2020)” ↗Yeah, his other book "Atomic Adventures" was recommended to me by my friends and also mentioned in the book "The Future of Fusion Energy" by Parisi and Ball. I'll have to check it out!
on “Oklo has a plan to make tiny nuclear reactors that run off nuclear waste” ↗…technology, and by that point the ICBM precision would have been high enough that radiation implosion thermonuclear weapons would not have been really needed. [1] https://www.google.com/books/edition/Atomic_Adventures/wxokD...
on “What John von Neumann did at Los Alamos (2020)” ↗