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Uranium: War, Energy and the Rock That Shaped the World |  | Author: Tom Zoellner
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
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Rating:  23 reviews
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3
Dewey Decimal Number: 546.431
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Product Description
The fascinating story of the most powerful source of energy the earth can yield
Uranium is a common element in the earths crust and the only naturally occurring mineral with the power to end all life on the planet. After World War II, it reshaped the global orderwhoever could master uranium could master the world.
Marie Curie gave us hope that uranium would be a miracle panacea, but the Manhattan Project gave us reason to believe that civilization would end with apocalypse. Slave labor camps in Africa and Eastern Europe were built around mine shafts and America would knowingly send more than six hundred uranium miners to their graves in the name of national security.
Fortunes have been made from this yellow dirt; massive energy grids have been run from it. Fear of it panicked the American people into supporting a questionable war with Iraq and its specter threatens to create another conflict in Iran. Now, some are hoping it can help avoid a global warming catastrophe.
In Uranium, Tom Zoellner takes readers around the globe in this intriguing look at the mineral that can sustain life or destroy it.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
 Well travelled, well researched, and fascinating April 4, 2009
Cynthia (New York, NY)
31 out of 34 found this review helpful
Unlike some of the other reviewers, I have actually read this book, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
The focus of this book is on the history, not the science, of uranium (which should be obvious - it is a work of reportage, not science). Furthermore, the parts of the book that do deal with science are correct, clear, and concise; they are understandable to a lay reader but not boring -- the prose is poetic and beautiful in its description of uranium's structure, isotopes, and process of decay (ultimately winding up as lead).
Now on to the important stuff: Zoellner presents the paradox of uranium with drama and art. From the front lines, Zoellner reports on the tragic and terrifying. He speaks directly with survivors of Soviet prison camps on the border of East Germany and the Czech Republic, where thousands of political prisoners were forced to mine uranium to fuel the arms race. These stories are heartbreaking, and for me, were a new revelation about the havor wreaked by the cold war.
Zoellner travels into the heart of what is now the DRC, to visit Shinkolobwe, where the uranium for the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was mined. The discoveries he makes there are bone chilling (I won't give them away!)
He also captures the intangible influence uranium has had on society - the paradox of salvation (clean energy) and damnation (mutually assured destruction); its integration into capitalism and stock markets; how its pursuit in Canada, the American West, and even Mongolia, resembles the goldrush and embodies American entrepreneurship and adventure.
Despite the terrifying realities Zoellner reports, he is even-handed and does not set out to scare the reader. Thankfully, he also reports on the pithy and humorous -- including his own foibles while travelling the world.
My primary criticism is the dearth of time spent discussing today's choices -- does America become a nuclear country, like France? How do we address the deadly remains of the Cold War? Who can we trust to make these decisions.
In sum, Uranium is a fascinating read, a good book for history buffs, current events junkies, non-fiction lovers of all stripes, and even scientists.
FANTASTIC VOYAGE INTO THE AMAZING HISTORY OF URANIUM April 16, 2009
Mark R. Hunsberger (Pennsylvania, PA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I think that Tom Zoellner presented a fantastic, well written, account of uranium. The book dives into, in great detail, the vast history of uranium including: The element, The mineral, and possible future uses.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone the is into physics and geology, as well as historians. I enjoyed reading this book very much.
Thanks,
Mark R. Hunsberger
This book is wonderful! May 31, 2009
A. Aguero (Germany)
This is an extremely interesting read! Did you know that the critical last part of the uranium that went into the Hiroshima bomb was intended as a gift to the Japanese military from the Nazis?? The materiel was on its way to Japan in a German U-boat when the captain received word of the Allied victory in Europe and decided to change course to New York, surrendering to the Americans. Two Japanese officers onboard committed suicide before the submarine docked. I can't believe I never heard of this!!
If you're also fascinated by such uncommonly known facts, Tom Zoellner has delivered a real page-turner for you. His writing is engaging and clear - especially for a book about a topic as complicated as nuclear physics. Whether you are into science or a complete layman, this is one of those rare scientific tomes that is widely appealing and readable - which is saying a lot!
Reads like a gripping novel July 31, 2009
Rolf Dobelli (Switzerland)
This is a great story about a very special rock, uranium, which was formed by petrified foliage millions of years ago, and continues to breed a deadly form of energy. Tom Zoellner's factual book reads like a gripping novel. He breathes vigorous life into a saga that could have been a dry political and geological tale. His beautifully crafted story puts uranium into its complex context as a key protagonist on the world stage. Zoellner's reporting ranges from the Congo to Nazi Germany to the war in Iran, with vivid information at every turn. getAbstract found this meticulously researched book exceptionally interesting, and recommends it to anyone interested in discovering how society entered the atomic age and how it is muddling through.
The Rock that changed really the World August 7, 2009
Thomas H. Cozine
What a fantastic read, especially the first several chapters that explain the discovery of uranium,culminating with the bombing of Japan. The Book goes on to cover the post WW two developments of the Atomic age. Very well written in laymens terms.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
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