Atom

by Piers Bizony (Author), Jim Al-Khalili (Foreword)

New
Illustrated
2008
$9.51

No one ever expected the atom to be as bizarre, as capricious, and as weird as it turned out to be. Its tale is one riddled with jealousy, rivalry, missed opportunities and moments of genius.Piers Bizony tells the story of the young misfit New Zealander, Ernest Rutherford, who showed that the atom consisted mainly of empty space, a discovery that turned 200 years of classical physics on its head, and the brilliant Dane, Niels Bohr, who made the next great leap into the incredible world of quantum theory.Yet he and a handful of other Young Turks in this revolutionary new science weren't prepared for the shocks that Nature had up her sleeve. At the dawn of the Atomic Age, a dangerous new force was unleashed with terrifying speed...

Synopsis

No one ever expected the atom to be as bizarre, as capricious, and as weird as it turned out to be. Its tale is one riddled with jealousy, rivalry, missed opportunities and moments of genius.Piers Bizony tells the story of the young misfit New Zealander, Ernest Rutherford, who showed that the atom consisted mainly of empty space, a discovery that turned 200 years of classical physics on its head, and the brilliant Dane, Niels Bohr, who made the next great leap into the incredible world of quantum theory.Yet he and a handful of other Young Turks in this revolutionary new science weren't prepared for the shocks that Nature had up her sleeve. At the dawn of the Atomic Age, a dangerous new force was unleashed with terrifying speed...

$9.51

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 256
Edition: Media tie-in
Publisher: Icon Books
Published: 01 May 2008
ISBN 10: 1840468734
ISBN 13: 9781840468731

Media Reviews

'Bizony brings an enthusiasm to his subject that elevates it to high drama, and shows how after even after two centuries we are still being confronted with bizarre discoveries and questions in this brand of science.' Good Book Guide 'Bizony's insightful, compelling book chronicles our quest to understand the atom through the personalities of those who looked furthest into its abyss - a human drama wrought with frustration, love, guilt and genius.' New Scientist

Author Bio

Piers Bizony is a science journalist and space historian who writes for magazines such as Focus and Wired as well as the BBC's Sky at Night magazine. His last book, The Man Who Ran the Moon, was described as a 'firebrand of a book' by Publisher's Weekly.