Chain Reactions: The Hopeful History of Uranium

by Lucy Jane Santos

Overview

Tracing uranium's past—and how it intersects with our understanding of other radioactive elements—Chain Reactions aims to enlighten readers and refresh our attitudes about the atomic world.

Chain Reactions looks at the fascinating, often-forgotten stories that can be found throughout the history of uranium. From glassworks to penny stocks; from medicines to atomic weapons; from something to be feared to a powerful source of energy, this global history explores the scientific narrative of this unique element, but also shines a light on its cultural and social impact.

By understanding our nuclear past, we can move beyond the ideological opposition to technologies and encourage a more nuanced dialogue about whether it is feasible—and desirable—to have a genuinely nuclear-powered future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639367443
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	11/05/2024
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	136,086
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Lucy Jane Santos, author of Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium, is an expert in the history of twentieth-century with a particular interest in the cultural history of radioactivity. She is now the Executive Secretary of the British Society for the History of Science. Lucy lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

"A fascinating and richly detailed history charting an illuminating course through the story of one of the most useful and destructive elements.

Kat Arney

"Uranium has lurked at the centre of some of our strangest visions and strongest fears in the modern world. Lucy Jane Santos has written a light, entertaining and revealing history of a heavy element.

Professor Jon Agar

Chain Reactions is full of bright detail, as Santos lays out the ways that uranium has been found and extracted from Earth, penetrating human life.

Undark Magazine

"Chain Reactions is an essential read for those interested in the history and future of our applications of the atomic nucleus. It is enlightening, engaging, tragic, funny, accurate, and optimistic, all at once. Lucy Jane Santos' research and analysis have uncovered nearly-forgotten archival information and cleanly extracted an authoritative reality from stories riddled with myth and controversy. I've engaged with nuclear history for the past 20 years, and yet still learned something new and important on each page."

Nick Touran

Shines a light on the shocking history of the world's toxic love affair with a deadly substance, radium. Unnerving, fascinating, informative and truly frightening.

Hallie Rubenhold

Ms. Santos explores both the academic and popular literature to unearth long-forgotten stories, both entertaining and horrifying, that capture the broader impact of uranium on our society.

The Wall Street Journal

"Full of surprising facts from a tumultuous past, Lucy Jane Santos offers an intriguing and entertaining story of a powerful element with revolutionary potential.

Marco Visscher

"In telling this history, Santos is careful not to judge from the perspective of hindsight: the use of radiation in medicine wasn't quackery, it was supported by the best current scientific understanding. It's an entertaining and eye-opening tale of a strange time in the early history of modern science."

Booklist

A fascinating work of popular science and history looks back on a time when radium represented everything bright and promising about the future.

Shelf Awareness

"Lucy Santos transports us back to a time when when diners cheerfully drank radioactive cocktails that glowed in the dark. Santos has a masterful grasp of a complex area of science history. A delightfully disturbing book that reminds us all of the age-old Latin maxim: caveat emptor.

Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris

"With verve and vivacity, Lucy Jane Santos conducts her readers on a unique tour of the twentieth century's most significant scientific discovery. Before the R-word threatened destruction, it offered hope for the future—teeth would glow white, cocktails would shine in the dark, and cancer would be vanquished.

Dr. Patricia Fara

"There was a time when radioactivity seemed to promise the future. It was the stuff that twentieth-century dreams were made of—before those dreams turned sour. This marvelous book explores the ways radioactivity stood for a better future. A cautionary tale about the dangers of putting too much faith in simple technological solutions to all our problems.

Iwan Rhys Morus

A little gem of a book.

The Medical Journalists' Association