Worlds Within Worlds: The Story Of Nuclear Energy

by Isaac Asimov

The Story of Nuclear Energy: Worlds Within Worlds covers the entire story of nuclear energy from a basic explanation of atomic weights, energy and electricity to nuclear fission, fusion - beyond. First coming to public consciousness as The Bomb that ended World War II, it is now the forefront of our attention as a source of peacetime energy, whether from nuclear power plants or from the sun.

In the last 20 years, Isaac Asimov has written more than 150 books, including science fiction and many technical guides to scientific subjects. His prodigious output has made him one of America's favorite interpreters of the roles of science and technology in shaping man's destiny.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Physics

Audiobook

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Jeff Koeppen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people probably know Asimov from his extensive science fiction catalog, but he was also a prolific writer of non-fiction. This book written in 1958 is a great example of how Asimov could take a complicated subject and make it easy for the layman to understand and appreciate. This is in the public domain, and I listened to it free on Librivox. The narration was well done.

This book is the story of nuclear energy, up until the dawn of the first nuclear power plants right around the time of the books publication. He starts out with some basic chemistry, explaining the basics of atomic theory (protons, neutrons, electrons, etc.) going back to the beginning of its discovery. He explains each major discovery and introduces the people behind them.

I thought the most interesting parts were about the first nuclear reactor, and the race for the atomic bomb during late WWII. The first human-made nuclear reaction was the Chicago Pile-1 in December of 1942 at the University of Chicago. This essentially was the beginning of the Atomic Age. The race for the atomic bomb was of utmost importance to the Allies during WWII as its discovery would shape the future of the world.

With all the promise of reliable and almost unlimited green energy if handled properly, it's a shame that nations are forgoing and rejecting this resource for unreliable, land-intensive green energy sources or even reverting back to coal. Especially with the availability of modern, safe, next generation reactors. With energy needs going through the roof it won't be long before world leaders regret some of their energy decisions. But that's just my opinion.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book pretty much sums it up. This is the story of how we discovered radiation, electrons, protons, and finally neutrons. It tells the story of how the first nuclear reactor was built, and how that led to the nuclear bomb. It is a clear and concise book, written with a layman in mind. This book was written in 1972, so I am sure more advancements have been made since then, however, this book is great for providing a history of the science of nuclear energy, and information on the basics of how everything works.

I am fascinated by physics, especially by nuclear energy. I found this book educational and insightful, and I enjoyed the manner in which it is written. Asimov was great at taking an advanced concept, and boiling it down so a layman could understand it. He was also good at making what could be a boring subject interesting. I would love to know what he would be writing on if he were still alive today.

[Katelyn Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome read on the chemistry of the nuclear bomb, told through session after session of history starting from John Dalton with the measuring of atomic weights to none other than Rutherford with atomic fission of alpha particles (yes, I remembered this, I am proud).
Book was an audiobook too! :) Link with the emojis, there are three volumes to listen to, roughly 90 minutes each -> [1💫] [2💣] [3💥]

[Remo · Rating 4 out of 5]

El maestro Asimov haciendo lo que sabe hacer. Comienza desde el principio, con los griegos descubriendo elementos, y va pasando por la historia (Dalton, Berzelius, Faraday, Curie, Thomson, Rutherford...) hasta llegar a nuestros días, nuestros días significando 1972, que es cuando se publica el libro. Hay una segunda reimpresión de Alianza en 1989, pero es solo reimpresión, por lo que tampoco se menciona Chernobyl (1986) ni el coqueteo con el desastre de Three Mile Island (1979).
Es un fantástico libro que en sus magras 160 páginas nos da una visión muy clara y comprensible de todo lo que implica aprovechar la energía nuclear, incluyendo el posible futuro uso de la fusión controlada, y, sobre todo, cómo hemos llegado hasta aquí. Muy claro, muy directo, muy comprensible, al estilo Asimov divulgador (quien en mi mente es distinto al Asimov novelista).

[Yezzen Alrawi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever read a book that feels like the right place at the right time? This book was written in the format I want, by an author I like, and with the exact content I was looking for. I have recently begun to take my interest in Nuclear energy more seriously and I was searching for a place to start when I discovered this book. It answered all the questions I had about the history of Nuclear science and about the processes and challenges of Nuclear energy. It's written in a popular science fashion so I didn't get lost in techincal jargon that I may not have been exposed to but I still finished the book feeling like I increased my scientific knowledge. It's a really great place to start if you're also feeling curious about the best form of energy generation.
My next book will hopefully be a contuination of my interest. Likely about one of the MANY scientists mentioned in this book and their work. This new pursuit will hopefully eventually lead me to contiubuting to this field in my career.

[Caleb Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 4 hour walk through humanity’s gradual arrival at understanding and utilization of nuclear energy. Fun and focused.

[Ingrid Gundersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whatever you say boss😊

[Maulik Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Physics, especially Nuclear Science, has remained one of my favorite areas of interest, and this book has thrilled me a lot in that regard. Beautiful overviews of nuclear processes without any equations reminds me of Stephen Hawking’s A brief history of time, explaining quantum physics. Although the book is wonderfully compiled, there are several places where I found myself confused. Overall, it’s a lightweight and interesting book for people loving physics!

[ilya murychev · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is very clearly written, very short (in this case, this is an advantage) about nuclear energy.

The only thing I have complaints about is the Russian translation. Apparently, the translator does not distinguish between the word fusion (thermonuclear synthesis) and fission (fission of the uranium nucleus). There is always hydrogen fission. In my opinion, it is absurd. I believe that everything is fine in the original.


Книга очень ясно написана, очень короткая(в данном случае это достоинство) про ядерную энергетику.

Единственно, есть претензии к русскому переводу. Видимо переводчик не отличает слово fusion(термоядерный синтез ) и fission(деление ядра урана). Там постоянно встречается деление водорода. На мой взгляд абсурд. Я полагаю, что в оригинале все в порядке.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short booklet on science fact commissioned by the U. S. Energy Research and Development Administration (Office of Public Affairs). It tells the story of the origins of nuclear physics in terms understandable to an audience with minimal technical background. What were the steps through history - the discoveries that built upon one another - from alchemy to chemistry, physics, astronomy, mathematics, and quantum mechanics, that led to our understanding and harnessing nuclear energy? Asimov was a great writer of both science fact and fiction who wrote or edited more than 500 books, published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification.

[Antoine Guenet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief but incredibly clear account of nuclear energy, the science and its history. From the discovery of the atom and Thomson's plum pudding model, all the way to nuclear fusion and antimatter, through the inevitable explosions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Asimov manages to make light of what constitutes matter and energy, and how we managed to tap into the former in order to extract the latter. This was the first Asimov book I read and sure won't be the last.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A LibreVox Audiobook. Narrated by BA McKoy.
An excellent high school or college primer on the atom and nuclear power. Easy to read (or in this case, listen) and comprehend. The book is recorded in 6 sections.

Though there are a very few points which have since been shown to be wrong, they are relatively minor and this could actually be used as an Introduction to Nuclear Textbook.

[Rafael Ontivero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me estoy dando cuenta de que el Buen Doctor arrancaba bien los libros de divulgación pero los termina un poco deprisa.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening. I wish I’d read this book in high school.

[Vincent V · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really informative about nuclear energy.

[Stefano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scritto bene, passaggi non sempre chiari da imputare forse alla traduzione (?), ancora attuale.

[Zagreus · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25-3.5

[Željko Filipin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of Asimov's fiction, but this book was very interesting.

[Philip of Macedon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isaac Asimov explains the origins of atomic theory, nuclear physics, and the persistent quest for obtaining energy from nuclear reactions. My copy of this short book is a three volume set of ~60 page booklets sold originally at Oak Ridge National Lab in 1972, published by the US Energy Research and Development Administration. This organization became the Department of Energy in 1977. I don’t remember where I found these years ago, but I’m glad I did. It’s a casual read intended for all audiences, no science background required.

Each volume is a brief historical survey of the scientists and concepts that fill out this area of study, with diagrams and photos of important physical processes, people, and laboratories. The incremental discoveries and occasional breakthroughs are examined, as are the implications of these findings and how they changed the field of knowledge. Asimov delicately explains the scientific concepts, easing into them from the vantage point of one enamored with their beauty, but cognizant of how such a topic can turn away casual readers if not done with care.

Volume 1 covers the discovery of atoms, and takes a look at electricity and the insights it provided into atomic structure and radioactivity, and at energy, its conservation law, and how chemical energy differs from radioactivity and nuclear energy.

Volume 2 is about the relationship between mass and energy, the structure of the nucleus, nuclear bombardment and the first particle accelerators, leading up to the theorizing and later discovery of the neutron and its pivotal role in man made nuclear interactions.

Volume 3 looks at nuclear fission and fusion, nuclear chain reactions and the development of the first nuclear weapons and reactors, as well as plasma laboratories and the search for fission. Asimov looks beyond fission and fusion to particle physics, antimatter, and what potential for energy awaits us.

Since the book is 50 years old it’s dated, some of its information is less accurate, but not by much. It’s an interesting piece of history, on top of its scientific explanatory interest, because it was written at a time when America was hopeful about the dream of nuclear power replacing all our non-renewable resources. Fifty years later we’ve yet to realize that dream, but the dream persists. With recent breakthroughs in nuclear fusion, that dream seems a little more realistic, but not as close as Asimov and others were hoping for half a century ago. There are probably better and more recent books on this topic for a general audience, but Asimov’s coverage still warrants a reading, because its economical historical presentation needs no important changes, just updates.

[Emre TOPTANCI · Rating 4 out of 5]

Çok beğendim, çok eğlendim.
Nükleer dünyanın keşfi ile ilgili merak ettiğim bir çok şeyin cevabını bu kitapta buldum. Adım adım nasıl deneylerden nasıl sonuçları çıkarıldığını ve bütün keşiflerin nasıl yapıldığını anlatıyor.
Bir süre sonra tekrar okumalıyım.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decen nuclear energy primer. Free fro guttenberg.org