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Destroyer of Worlds: The Deep History of the Nuclear Age: 1895-1965
by Frank Close
€ 18.75
ISBN: 9781802066029
Henry Becquerel's accidental discovery, in Paris in 1896, of a faint smudge on a photographic plate sparked a chain of discoveries which would unleash the atomic age. Destroyer of Worlds is the story of how pursuit of this hidden source of nuclear power, which began innocently and collaboratively, was overwhelmed by the politics of the 1930s, and following devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki opened the way to a still more terrible possibility: a thermonuclear bomb, the so-called "backyard weapon", that could destroy all life on earth - from anywhere.
Spanning decades and continents, the story moves from Becquerel to Ernest Rutherford, Enrico Fermi, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and the Joliot-Curies, and on to the appearance of Robert Oppenheimer before climaxing with increasingly horrifying developments in the USA and USSR. It re-evaluates the important role played by three remarkable women - Lise Meitner, Ida Noddack and Irene Curie - and provides new insights into the work of Ettore Majorana, who mysteriously disappeared in 1938.
This is the remarkable story of how knowledge is often advanced by personal convictions and relationships, an indeed by chance.
336 pages.
Not Yet Published.
Printed on or after 06/08/26. Please note dispatch may take 5-10 days after publication date.
A separate order should be placed for this item. If you order this along with other items, your entire order will be held and despatched when complete.
Date of Publication: 06/08/2026
Destroyer of Worlds: The Deep History of the Nuclear Age: 1895-1965 also appears in these Categories:
