Random House New Releases - Science - Nuclear Physics

Radiation by Eric Lax

2013-10-08T00:30:00-05:00

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to Know
Written by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

Trade Paperback, 288 pages | Vintage | Science - Radiation; Science - Nuclear Physics; Science - History | $16.95 | 978-0-307-95020-8 (0-307-95020-4)

The essential guide to radiation: the good, the bad, and the utterly fascinating, explained with unprecedented clarity.

Earth, born in a nuclear explosion, is a radioactive planet; without radiation, life would not exist. And while radiation can be dangerous, it is also deeply misunderstood and often mistakenly feared. Now Robert Peter Gale, M.D,—the doctor to whom concerned governments turned in the wake of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters—in collaboration with medical writer Eric Lax draws on an exceptional depth of knowledge to correct myths and establish facts.

Exploring what have become trigger words for anxiety—nuclear energy and nuclear weapons, uranium, plutonium, iodine-131, mammogram, X-ray, CT scan, threats to the food chain—the authors demystify the science and dangers of radiation, and examine its myriad benefits, from safely sterilizing our food to the relatively low-risk fuel alternative of nuclear energy. This is the book for all readers who have asked themselves questions such as: What kinds of radiation, and what degree of exposure, cause cancer? What aftereffects have nuclear accidents and bombs had? Does radiation increase the likelihood of birth defects? And how does radiation work?

Hugely illuminating, Radiation is the definitive road map to our post-Chernobyl, post-Fukushima world.

Radiation by Eric Lax

2013-01-29T00:30:00-05:00

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to Know
Written by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

Hardcover, 288 pages | Knopf | Science - Radiation; Science - Nuclear Physics; Science - History | $26.95 | 978-0-307-95969-0 (0-307-95969-4)

Radiation by Eric Lax

2013-01-29T00:30:00-05:00

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to Know
Written by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

eBook, 288 pages | Knopf | Science - Radiation; Science - Nuclear Physics; Science - History | $13.99 | 978-0-307-95970-6 (0-307-95970-8)

Radiation by Robert Fass

2013-01-29T00:30:00-05:00

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to Know
Written by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax
Read by Robert Fass

Unabridged Audiobook Download | Random House Audio | Science - Radiation; Science - Nuclear Physics; Science - History | $20.00 | 978-0-449-80698-2 (0-449-80698-7)

Present at the Creation by Amir D. Aczel

2012-11-27T00:30:00-05:00

Present at the Creation Discovering the Higgs Boson
Written by Amir D. Aczel

Trade Paperback, 288 pages | Broadway Books | Science - Nuclear Physics | $15.00 | 978-0-307-59182-1 (0-307-59182-4)

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the biggest, and by far the most powerful, machine ever built. A project of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, its audacious purpose is to re-create, in a 16.5-mile-long circular tunnel under the French-Swiss countryside, the immensely hot and dense conditions that existed some 13.7 billion years ago within the first trillionth of a second after the fiery birth of our universe.

In Present at the Creation, Amir D. Aczel takes us inside the control rooms, as an international team of researchers begins to discover whether a multibillion-euro investment will fulfill its promise: to find empirical confirmation of theories in physics and cosmology. Through the eyes and words of the men and women who conceived and built CERN and the LHC, Aczel enriches all of us with a firm grounding in the scientific concepts necessary to appreciate fully the stunning July 4, 2012 discovery of the Higgs Boson. Newly updated in the wake of the discovery, Present at the Creation tells the story of perhaps the greatest experiment in the history of science.

Power to Save the World by Gwyneth Cravens

2010-12-01T00:30:00-05:00

Power to Save the World The Truth About Nuclear Energy
Written by Gwyneth Cravens

eBook | Vintage | Social Science; Science - Environmental Science; Science - Nuclear Physics | $13.99 | 978-0-307-26856-3 (0-307-26856-X)

An informed look at the myths and fears surrounding nuclear energy, and a practical, politically realistic solution to global warming and our energy needs. Faced by the world's oil shortages and curious about alternative energy sources, Gwyneth Cravens skeptically sets out to find the truth about nuclear energy. Her conclusion: it is a totally viable and practical solution to global warming. In the end, we see that if we are to care for subsequent generations, embracing nuclear energy is an ethical imperative.

Present at the Creation by Byron Wagner

2010-10-05T00:30:00-05:00

Present at the Creation Discovering the Higgs Boson
Written by Amir D. Aczel
Read by Byron Wagner

Unabridged Audiobook Download | Random House Audio | Science - Nuclear Physics | $17.50 | 978-0-307-73567-6 (0-307-73567-2)

The Large Hadron Collider is the biggest, and by far the most powerful, machine ever built. A project of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, its audacious purpose is to re-create, in a 16.5-mile-long circular tunnel under the French-Swiss countryside, the immensely hot and dense conditions that existed some 13.7 billion years ago within the first trillionth of a second after the fiery birth of our universe. The collider is now crashing protons at record energy levels never created by scientists before, and it will reach even higher levels by 2013. Its superconducting magnets guide two beams of protons in opposite directions around the track. After accelerating the beams to 99.9999991 percent of the speed of light, it collides the protons head-on, annihilating them in a flash of energy sufficient—in accordance with Einstein’s elegant statement of mass-energy equivalence, E=mc2—to coalesce into a shower of particles and phenomena that have not existed since the first moments of creation. Within the LHC’s detectors, scientists hope to see empirical confirmation of key theories in physics and cosmology.

In telling the story of what is perhaps the most anticipated experiment in the history of science, Amir D. Aczel takes us inside the control rooms at CERN at key moments when an international team of top researchers begins to discover whether this multibillion-euro investment will fulfill its spectacular promise. Through the eyes and words of the men and women who conceived and built CERN and the LHC—and with the same clarity and depth of knowledge he demonstrated in the bestselling Fermat’s Last Theorem—Aczel enriches all of us with a firm grounding in the scientific concepts we will need to appreciate the discoveries that will almost certainly spring forth when the full power of this great machine is finally unleashed.

Will the Higgs boson make its breathlessly awaited appearance, confirming at last the Standard Model of particles and their interactions that is among the great theoretical achievements of twentieth-century physics? Will the hidden dimensions posited by string theory be revealed? Will we at last identify the nature of the dark matter that makes up more than 90 percent of the cosmos? With Present at the Creation, written by one of today’s finest popular interpreters of basic science, we can all follow the progress of an experiment that promises to greatly satisfy the curiosity of anyone who ever concurred with Einstein when he said, “I want to know God’s thoughts—the rest is details.”

From the Hardcover edition.

Present at the Creation by Amir D. Aczel

2010-10-05T00:30:00-05:00

Present at the Creation Discovering the Higgs Boson
Written by Amir D. Aczel

eBook, 288 pages | Broadway Books | Science - Nuclear Physics | $13.99 | 978-0-307-59168-5 (0-307-59168-9)

Power to Save the World by Richard Rhodes

2008-10-14T00:30:00-05:00

Power to Save the World The Truth About Nuclear Energy
Written by Gwyneth Cravens
Introduction by Richard Rhodes

Trade Paperback, 464 pages | Vintage | Science - Energy; Science - Environmental Science; Science - Nuclear Physics | $16.95 | 978-0-307-38587-1 (0-307-38587-6)

The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein

2005-01-11T00:30:00-05:00

The Radioactive Boy Scout The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor
Written by Ken Silverstein

Trade Paperback, 240 pages | Villard | Technology - Nuclear Energy; Science - Nuclear Physics; Social Science - Anth/Cultural | $15.00 | 978-0-8129-6660-2 (0-8129-6660-0)

Growing up in suburban Detroit, David Hahn was fascinated by science. While he was working on his Atomic Energy badge for the Boy Scouts, David’s obsessive attention turned to nuclear energy. Throwing caution to the wind, he plunged into a new project: building a model nuclear reactor in his backyard garden shed.

Posing as a physics professor, David solicited information on reactor design from the U.S. government and from industry experts. Following blueprints he found in an outdated physics textbook, David cobbled together a crude device that threw off toxic levels of radiation. His wholly unsupervised project finally sparked an environmental emergency that put his town’s forty thousand suburbanites at risk. The EPA ended up burying his lab at a radioactive dumpsite in Utah. This offbeat account of ambition and, ultimately, hubris has the narrative energy of a first-rate thriller.

The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein

2004-03-02T00:30:00-05:00

The Radioactive Boy Scout The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor
Written by Ken Silverstein

eBook | Random House | Technology - Nuclear Energy; Science - Nuclear Physics; Social Science - Anth/Cultural | $13.99 | 978-1-58836-356-5 (1-58836-356-2)

Growing up in suburban Detroit, David Hahn was fascinated by science, and his basement experiments—building homemade fireworks, brewing moonshine, and concocting his own self-tanning lotion—were more ambitious than those of other boys. While working on his Atomic Energy badge for the Boy Scouts, David’s obsessive attention turned to nuclear energy. Throwing caution to the wind, he plunged into a new project: building a nuclear breeder reactor in his backyard garden shed.

In The Radioactive Boy Scout, veteran journalist Ken Silverstein recreates in brilliant detail the months of David’s improbable nuclear quest. Posing as a physics professor, David solicited information on reactor design from the U.S. government and from industry experts. (Ironically, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was his number one source of information.) Scavenging antiques stores and junkyards for old-fashioned smoke detectors and gas lanterns—both of which contain small amounts of radioactive material—and following blueprints he found in an outdated physics textbook, David cobbled together a crude device that threw off toxic levels of radiation. His unsanctioned and wholly unsupervised project finally sparked an environmental catastrophe that put his town’s forty thousand residents at risk and caused the EPA to shut down his lab and bury it at a radioactive dumpsite in Utah.

An outrageous account of ambition and, ultimately, hubris that sits comfortably on the shelf next to such offbeat science books as Driving Mr. Albert and stories of grand capers like Catch Me If You Can, The Radioactive Boy Scout is a real-life adventure with the narrative energy of a first-rate thriller.

From the Hardcover edition.

Random House New Releases - Science - Nuclear Physics

Radiation by Eric Lax

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to KnowWritten by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

Radiation by Eric Lax

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to KnowWritten by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

Radiation by Eric Lax

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to KnowWritten by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

Radiation by Robert Fass

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to KnowWritten by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax Read by Robert Fass

Present at the Creation by Amir D. Aczel

Present at the Creation Discovering the Higgs BosonWritten by Amir D. Aczel

Power to Save the World by Gwyneth Cravens

Power to Save the World The Truth About Nuclear EnergyWritten by Gwyneth Cravens

Present at the Creation by Byron Wagner

Present at the Creation Discovering the Higgs BosonWritten by Amir D. Aczel Read by Byron Wagner

Present at the Creation by Amir D. Aczel

Present at the Creation Discovering the Higgs BosonWritten by Amir D. Aczel

Power to Save the World by Richard Rhodes

Power to Save the World The Truth About Nuclear EnergyWritten by Gwyneth Cravens Introduction by Richard Rhodes

The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein

The Radioactive Boy Scout The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear ReactorWritten by Ken Silverstein

The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein

The Radioactive Boy Scout The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear ReactorWritten by Ken Silverstein

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to Know
Written by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to Know
Written by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to Know
Written by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax

Radiation What It Is, What You Need to Know
Written by Robert Peter Gale and Eric Lax
Read by Robert Fass

Present at the Creation Discovering the Higgs Boson
Written by Amir D. Aczel

Power to Save the World The Truth About Nuclear Energy
Written by Gwyneth Cravens

Present at the Creation Discovering the Higgs Boson
Written by Amir D. Aczel
Read by Byron Wagner

Present at the Creation Discovering the Higgs Boson
Written by Amir D. Aczel

Power to Save the World The Truth About Nuclear Energy
Written by Gwyneth Cravens
Introduction by Richard Rhodes

The Radioactive Boy Scout The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor
Written by Ken Silverstein

The Radioactive Boy Scout The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor
Written by Ken Silverstein