Explaining the Atom

SCIENTISTS have been hoping for a book of this sort ever since the explosion of the first atomic bomb. Recommending reading matter to the pleading layman who wished an undistorted picture of the successful release of atomic energy has been difficult. Now it is easy. The lay reader who completes this book, which he can do in a couple of evenings, will not, as some have suggested, find himself qualified to do research in atomic physics, but he will have a greatly increased understanding of what nuclear energy means, and will be able to discuss atomic politics and to vote much more intelligently than before.

Hecht is not an atomic physicist, but a biophysicist, which appears to be of considerable advantage in writing about atoms for the lay reader. He stands in an intermediate position, pointing out such trees to his audience as may he necessary to sketch the outlines of the forest, without himself becoming entangled in the underbrush. He is a lucid thinker and a compelling speaker with enthusiasm for his subject, and he writes in the conversational tone he would employ in answering the questions of a non-scientific friend who had dropped in for a visit.

Hecht states as his purpose the supplying of background against which people can think and act intelligently on the problems of atomic energy. He traces the development of our knowledge of the atom, from the time it was considered to be a tiny hard sphere which had nothing ranch to do but bounce, through the complexities necessary to explain its ability to emit and absorb light, to the ultimate discovery of its nuclear structure and the recent release of nuclear energy from uranium and thorium.

The book concludes with three chapters entitled respectively “Atomic Bombs Become Possible,” “Atomic Bombs Can Be Made,” and “Atomic Bombs Are Made.” The author very wisely refrains from making predictions as to the specific peacetime utilizations of atomic energy which can be expected, but puts the reader into a position where he can make such predictions for himself. The reader is also enabled to evaluate through his own intelligence the statements which frequently appear elsewhere regarding, say, the utilization of pea-sized chunks of plutonium for operating household machinery.

Readable and stimulating Hecht’s book obviously is; that it is also scientifically sound makes its continued success certain.

GEORGE RUSSELL HARRISON