{"product_id":"destroyer-of-worlds-the-deep-history-of-the-nuclear-age-9781541605893","title":"Destroyer of Worlds: The Deep History of the Nuclear Age","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe thrilling and terrifying seventy-year story--\"kinetic, dramatic, and compulsively readable\" (Patchen Barss)--of the physicists that deciphered the atom and created the hydrogen bomb \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Although Henri Becquerel didn't know it at the time, he changed history in 1896 when he left photographic plates and some uranium rocks in a drawer. The rocks emitted something that exposed the plates: it was the first documented evidence of spontaneous radioactivity. So began one of the most exciting and consequential efforts humans have ever undertaken. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As Frank Close recounts in \u003ci\u003eDestroyer of Worlds\u003c\/i\u003e, scientists confronting Becquerel's discovery had three questions: What was this phenomenon? Could it be a source of unlimited power? And (alas), could it be a weapon? Answering them was an epic journey of discovery, with Ernest Rutherford, Enrico Fermi, Irene Joliot-Curie, and many others jockeying to decipher the dance of particles in a decaying atom. And it was a terrifying journey as well, as Edward Teller and others pressed on from creating atom bombs to hydrogen bombs so powerful that they could destroy all life on earth. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The deep history of the nuclear age has never before been recounted so vividly. Centered on an extraordinary cast of characters, \u003ci\u003eDestroyer of Worlds\u003c\/i\u003e charts the course of nuclear physics from simple curiosity to potential Armageddon. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Frank Close\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Basic Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/10\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.25lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781541605893","brand":"Ripon Bookstore","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44150131327021,"sku":"9781541605893","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0681\/0501\/1245\/files\/img_bbefa90a-2153-4d44-ae5b-b3dead96bd7d.jpg?v=1757311191","url":"https:\/\/riponbookstore.com\/products\/destroyer-of-worlds-the-deep-history-of-the-nuclear-age-9781541605893","provider":"Ripon Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}