ATOMS AND PEOPLE

by Ralph E. Lapp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 1956

A physicist tries to straddle at least four recognizable approaches to lay atomic literature; historical, human, technical, futuristic. The upshot is that the discoveries and discoverers leading to the bomb get the once over very lightly, some of the scientists enjoying new emphasis. Lapp seems to have met or seen a great many important scientists, but his personal knowledge is either superficial or perhaps top secret; only about himself is he more revealing. Theory hardly rears its abstruse head, but in the explanation of how Mr. A. is detonated, by so-called ""implosion"", and in all his reasoning about engineering aspects, Lapp comes proudly into his own. Similarly when he deals with industrial applications of nuclear energy and expatiates on its eventual service to humanity, Lapp carries authority. The book, in one word, is uneven. The good, all in all, would surely outweigh the bad- but it cannot be winnowed, and unfortunately the most objective and instructive pages are often marred by unnecessary personal asides..... There have been better books on this ever widening atomic area, even though this attempts perhaps to be the most complete.

Pub Date: Oct. 3, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION