Physics Future Presidents Pa

by Muller,Richard A.

• ISBN13: 9780393337112
• ISBN10: 0393337111
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-09-21
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

This is "must-have" information for all presidents-- and citizens -- of the twenty-first century: Is Iran's nascent nuclear capability a genuine threat to the West? Are biochemical weapons likely to be developed by terrorists? Are there viable alternatives to fossil fuels that should be nurtured and supported by the government? Should nuclear power be encouraged? Can global warming be stopped?

Author Biography

Richard A. Muller is professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a past winner of the MacArthur Fellowship, often called the "Genius Award." This book is based on his renowned course for non-science students.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 13
Terrorism
Nine-Eleven	p. 19
Inspecting Passengers	p. 22
Taking Control	p. 25
Flying and Navigating the Airplane	p. 25
Impact	p. 27
Terrorist Nukes	p. 32
Big Nukes	p. 36
The Terrorist Dirty Bomb	p. 37
Rogue Nukes	p. 41
Uranium Bombs	p. 42
Plutonium Bombs	p. 43
The Next Terrorist Attack	p. 45
Future Airplane Gasoline Attacks	p. 45
Bombs on Airplanes	p. 47
Biological Terrorism	p. 53
The Anthrax Attack	p. 55
Terrorism: Presidential Summary	p. 60
Energy
Key Energy Surprises	p. 65
Why We Love Oil	p. 66
Power	p. 71
Energy Alternatives	p. 74
The Bottom Line: The Cost of Energy	p. 75
Solar Power	p. 77
An Anecdote	p. 77
Basic Facts	p. 78
Solar Power Plants	p. 82
Solar Airplanes	p. 84
The End of Oil	p. 86
Oil From Coal: Fischer-Tropsch	p. 88
The Price of Oil	p. 90
Energy: Presidential Summary	p. 91
Nukes
Radioactivity and Death	p. 95
Radiation and Cancer	p. 98
The Linear Effect	p. 100
The Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Disaster	p. 102
The Linear Hypothesis	p. 106
Radioactive Decay	p. 111
Dangers of Short Versus Long Half-Lives	p. 113
Environmental Radioactivity	p. 116
Horrific Mutations	p. 117
X-Rays and Microwaves	p. 119
Is Radioactivity Contagious?	p. 121
Nuclear Weapons	p. 123
The Key to an Explosion: The Nuclear Chain Reaction	p. 125
World War II and the Manhattan Project	p. 128
Critical Mass-The First Atomic Secret	p. 128
Hiroshima-The Simple Bomb Design	p. 130
The Hard Part: Purifying Uranium-235	p. 132
Centrifuges	p. 135
The Plutonium Bomb-An Implosion Design	p. 136
The Hydrogen Bomb	p. 139
Fallout	p. 142
Big Bombs	p. 143
Smaller Weapons, More Destruction	p. 144
Nuclear Madness	p. 146
The Neutron Bomb and the Weapons Paradox	p. 148
Nuclear Proliferation	p. 149
How Worried Should We Be?	p. 151
Nukular Weapons	p. 152
Nuclear Power	p. 154
Can a Nuclear Reactor Explode Like an Atomic Bomb?	p. 158
Manufacturing Plutonium	p. 160
Fast Breeder Reactors	p. 162
The China Syndrome	p. 163
Three Mile Island-Fuel Meltdown	p. 165
Chernobyl-A Runaway Chain Reaction	p. 167
Pebble Bed Reactors	p. 169
Nuclear Waste	p. 171
My Confession	p. 173
Plutonium	p. 177
Depleted Uranium	p. 179
Controlled Fusion	p. 180
Tokamak	p. 182
Laser Fusion	p. 184
Cold Fusion	p. 186
Nukes: Presidential Summary	p. 188
Space
Space and Satellites	p. 195
Satellite Orbits: LEO, GEO, and MEO	p. 199
GPS: A Set of Medium-Earth-Orbit Satellites	p. 202
Spy Satellites	p. 204
Rocket Science	p. 207
Gravity Applications	p. 210
g's	p. 212
Using Gravity to Search for Ice, Oil, Hidden Craters, and Secret Tunnels	p. 213
Space Industry: Manufacturing in a Weightless Environment	p. 216
Gravity on the Moon and Asteroids	p. 217
Artificial Gravity	p. 218
The X Prize	p. 219
Humans in Space	p. 222
Spying With Invisible Light	p. 228
Infrared Radiation	p. 230
Remote Sensing of the Earth	p. 232
Military Special Ops	p. 233
Stinger Missiles	p. 235
Radar and Stealth	p. 236
Radar Imaging	p. 240
X-Ray Backscatter	p. 242
Space: Presidential Summary	p. 244
Global Warming
A Brief History of Climate	p. 251
The Climate of the Past 14,000 Years	p. 258
The Greenhouse Effect	p. 261
Carbon Dioxide	p. 264
Calculating Greenhouse Warming	p. 266
Another Danger: Acid Oceans	p. 268
The Ozone Hole	p. 269
A Very Likely Cause	p. 273
Doing Something About It: Alaska	p. 276
Evidence	p. 278
Distortion	p. 281
Exaggeration	p. 284
Cherry Picking	p. 287
News Bias	p. 291
The Hockey Stick	p. 292
Carbon Dioxide and Ancient Climate	p. 296
Science and Propaganda	p. 299
Nonsolutions	p. 300
Hydrogen Hype	p. 302
Electric Automobiles	p. 304
Fusion	p. 307
Solar Power	p. 308
Recycling	p. 309
Kyoto	p. 310
The Fruit on the Ground	p. 314
Comfortable Conservation	p. 314
Compact Fluorescent Lights	p. 316
Cool Colors: When Brown Paint Is White	p. 318
Reason for Optimism: Rosenfeld's Law	p. 319
The Fizzling Population Bomb	p. 320
Automobile Efficiency	p. 323
New Technologies	p. 328
Biofuels	p. 328
Concentrating Solar	p. 331
Safe Nukes	p. 333
Clean Coal	p. 335
Carbon Credits	p. 337
Renewable Energy	p. 339
Global Warming: Presidential Summary-The Buck Stops Here	p. 344
Notes	p. 347
Index	p. 361
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