Atomic Energy
by
Wiley, $2.00.
Here is a useful 80-page booklet on nuclear physics, a primer vastly more substantial than the many recent popularizations. Consisting of four lectures delivered at Northwestern University by a well-known physicist, it covers the essentials of nuclear theory; the steps which led to the discovery of nuclear fission; the nature of Uranium 235; the principles underlying the “atomic” (more correctly, “nuclear”) bomb; the progress made (by the Chicago project) toward harnessing unclear energy to peacetime uses; radioactivity, and so forth. Dr. Darrow addresses himself to the nonscientist (in fact, his eagerness to find simple analogies produces some ghastly professorial coyness). Even so, the text needs to be studied rather than just read. Anyone interested in the subject will find the effort thoroughly worth while.