Download Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking AudioBook Free
When weapons builders detonated the first hydrogen bomb in 1952, they tapped into the biggest source of energy inside our solar system – the phenomenon which makes sunlight shine. Nuclear fusion seems a virtually unlimited source of power, but it's been at the guts of a tragic and comic pursuit that has left scores of scientists battered and disgraced. Just like the eternal quest to build a perpetual motion machine, the dream of harnessing the energy of a miniature star is irresistible. Not merely would a fusion energy device give the world endless electrical energy, it would give power to its inventors – financial power, the power of fame, even military might. At this time the world’s richest countries are spending billions of dollars seeking to build a giant fusion reactor. Yet if history is any guide, the amount of money will not bring the dream of fusion energy at your fingertips. Indeed, the search for fusion energy has been a failure, generation after generation. Fusion is at the heart of a few of the biggest scientific scandals of all time, and Charles Seife traces its story from its beginning into the twenty-first century. Even after fusion scientists face defeat after defeat, they continue trying to put sunlight in a bottle, hoping against hope that they can succeed where others have failed. The science of wishful thinking is as strong as ever, which book is our key to understanding why.
