Plutonium: a history of the world's most dangerous element

Abstract

When plutonium was first manufactured at Berkeley in spring of 1941, there was so little of that was not visible to naked eye. It took a year to accumulate enough so that one could actually see it. Now there is so much that we dona (TM)t know what to do to get rid of it. We have created a monster. The history of plutonium is as strange as element itself. When scientists began looking for it, they did so simply in spirit of inquiry, not certain whether there were still spots to fill on periodic table. But discovery of fission made clear that this still-hypothetical element would be more than just a scientific curiositya it could be a powerful nuclear weapon. As turned out, is good for almost nothing else. Plutoniuma (TM)s nuclear potential put at heart of World War II arms racea the Russians found out about through espionage, Germans through independent research, and everybody wanted some. Now, nearly everyone has somea the United States alone has about 47 metric tonsa has almost no uses besides warmongering. How did product of scientific curiosity become such a dangerous burden? In his new history of this complex and dangerous element, noted physicist Jeremy Bernstein describes steps that were taken to transform plutonium from a laboratory novelty into nuclear weapon that destroyed Nagasaki. This is first book to weave together many strands of plutoniuma (TM)s story, explaining not only science but people involved.