Superheavy - Kit Chapman

Superheavy

Making and Breaking the Periodic Table

(Autor)

Buch | Hardcover
304 Seiten
2019
Bloomsbury Sigma (Verlag)
978-1-4729-5389-6 (ISBN)
21,15 inkl. MwSt
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 AAAS/SUBARU SB&F PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE BOOKS

How new elements are discovered, why they matter and where they will take us.

Creating an element is no easy feat. It’s the equivalent of firing six trillion bullets a second at a needle in a haystack, hoping the bullet and needle somehow fuse together, then catching it in less than a thousandth of a second – after which it’s gone forever. Welcome to the world of the superheavy elements: a realm where scientists use giant machines and spend years trying to make a single atom of mysterious artefacts that have never existed on Earth.

From the first elements past uranium, and their role in the atomic bomb, to the latest discoveries stretching the bounds of our chemical world, Superheavy reveals the hidden stories lurking at the edges of the periodic table. Why did US Air Force fly planes into mushroom clouds? Who won the transfermium wars? How did an earthquake help give Japan its first element? And what happened when Superman almost spilled nuclear secrets?

In a globe-trotting adventure that stretches from the United States to Russia, Sweden to Australia, Superheavy is your guide to the amazing science filling in the missing pieces of the periodic table. You’ll not only marvel at how nuclear science has changed our lives – you’ll wonder where it’s going to take us in the future.

Kit Chapman is an award-winning science journalist and broadcaster. Initially qualifying as a pharmacist, Chapman began his career on medical journal The Practitioner before moving to Chemist+Druggist, the UK's leading magazine for pharmacists. After stints as campaign website manager for the British Medical Association and clinical editor for The Pharmaceutical Journal, Chapman was appointed comment editor for Chemistry World. Chapman also writes for the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, and has appeared as an expert for the BBC and Sky News. @ChemistryKit

Prologue
Introduction

PART I: CHILDREN OF THE ATOM
Chapter 1: Modern Alchemy
Chapter 2: The Secret of Gilman Hall
Chapter 3: How to Build a Nuclear Weapon
Chapter 4: Superman vs the FBI
Chapter 5: Universitium ofium Californium Berkelium
Chapter 6: The Death of Jimmy Robinson
Chapter 7: Presidents and Beetles

PART II: TRANSFERMIUM WARS
Chapter 8: Nobelievium
Chapter 9: From Russia with Flerov
Chapter 10: The East and the West
Chapter 11: Xanthasia and the Magic Numbers
Chapter 12: Life at the Edge of Science
Chapter 13: The Atoms that Came in from the Cold
Chapter 14: Changing the Rules
Chapter 15: How to Name your Element

PART III: THE END OF CHEMISTRY
Chapter 16: After the Wall Came Down
Chapter 17: The Ninov Fraud
Chapter 18: A New Hope
Chapter 19: Beams of the Rising Sun
Chapter 20: The Edge of the Unknown
Chapter 21: Beyond Superheavy

Epilogue
References
Acknowledgements
Index

Erscheinungsdatum
Verlagsort London
Sprache englisch
Maße 135 x 216 mm
Gewicht 418 g
Themenwelt Sachbuch/Ratgeber Natur / Technik
Naturwissenschaften Chemie Allgemeines / Lexika
Naturwissenschaften Chemie Anorganische Chemie
Naturwissenschaften Physik / Astronomie Atom- / Kern- / Molekularphysik
Naturwissenschaften Physik / Astronomie Hochenergiephysik / Teilchenphysik
ISBN-10 1-4729-5389-4 / 1472953894
ISBN-13 978-1-4729-5389-6 / 9781472953896
Zustand Neuware
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