Before the Fallout: From Marie Curie to Hiroshima (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780425207895)

In 1898, Marie Curie first described a phenomenon she called "radioactivity." A half-century later, two physicists would stand before dawn in the New Mexico desert, slathering themselves with sunscreen-and fearing that the imminent test detonation might ignite Earth's atmosphere in a cataclysmic chain reaction and transform our planet into a burning star.

This is the epic story of Curie's quest to unlock the secrets of the material world; of the scientists-Rutherford, Bohr, Einstein, Oppenheimer-who built upon her work; of the day the first weapon of mass destruction dropped on Hiroshima, bringing both sudden terror and sudden peace, and of the new era of global uncertainty that emerged in its wake. With the clarity of great science writing, the vividness of historical narrative and the insight of biography, Before the Fallout is an unforgettable and sweeping account of the scientific discovery that changed the world.

Author: Diana Preston
ISBN-10: 0425207897
ISBN-13: 9780425207895
Publisher: Berkley Books
Language: English
Published: 03/07/2006
Pages: 416
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 9.18h x 6.22w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Scitech Book News 06/01/2007 pg. 9