Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking

275 Pages·2008·1.78 MB·English

by  Charles Seife

Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Introduction

CHAPTER 1 - THE SWORD OF MICHAEL
CHAPTER 2 - THE VALLEY OF IRON
CHAPTER 3 - PROJECT PLOWSHARE AND THE SUNSHINE UNITS
CHAPTER 4 - KINKS, INSTABILITIES, AND BALONEY BOMBS
CHAPTER 5 - HEAT AND LIGHT
CHAPTER 6 - THE COLD SHOULDER
CHAPTER 7 - SECRETS
CHAPTER 8 - BUBBLE TROUBLE
CHAPTER 9 - NOTHING LIKE THE SUN
CHAPTER 10 - THE SCIENCE OF WISHFUL THINKING
APPENDIX: TABLETOP FUSION
Acknowledgements
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
ALSO BY CHARLES SEIFE
Decoding the Universe

Alpha & Omega

Zero

VIKING

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Copyright © Charles Seife, 2008
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Seife, Charles.
Sun in a bottle : the strange history of fusion and the science of
wishful thinking / Charles Seife.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-0-67002033-1
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INTRODUCTION
Circe warned me to shun the island of the blessed sun-god, for it was here, she said, that our worst
danger would lie.

—THE ODYSSEY, TRANSLATED BY SAMUEL BUTLER

The dream is as ancient as humanity: unlimited power. It has driven generation
after generation of scientists to the brink of insanity.
In 1905, after centuries of attempts to build perpetual motion machines,
scientists discovered an essentially limitless source of energy. With his famous
equation, E = mc2, Albert Einstein discovered that a minuscule chunk of mass
could, theoretically, be converted into an enormous amount of energy. Indeed, E
= mc 2 is the equation that describes why the sun shines; at its core, the sun is
constantly converting matter to energy in a reaction known as fusion. If scientists
could do the same thing on Earth—if they could convert matter into energy with
a controlled fusion reaction—scientists could satisfy humanity’s energy needs
until the end of time.
For the past half century, legions of physicists have been trying desperately to
create a tiny sun in a bottle, trying to bring the stellar power of fusion to Earth.
The quest for fusion is the story of scientists weaving an increasingly tangled
web of secret, crazy, and brilliant schemes to harness the power of the sun. They
are caught up in a complex tale that includes classified government experiments,
billion-dollar scientific projects, and byzantine conspiracy theories. The quest
for fusion is a tale of genius physicists who have changed the world forever—for
better and for worse—and of secret-spilling whistleblowers, jealous researchers,
brilliant tinkerers, and backstabbing politicians.
The stakes are enormous—and they are getting higher by the day. The world’s
supply of oil is no longer assured to meet humanity’s energy needs; worse yet,
the threat of global warming is forcing governments to find sources of power
other than fossil fuels. In the long term, fusion is the only option. Humanity will
suffer if researchers don’t solve its problems.
Scientists have broken under the pressure. Others have been forced to make a
heartwrenching decision to give up their dreams and disavow their work or to be
driven from the fold of mainstream science. Over and over again, the dream of
fusion energy has driven scientists to lie, to break their promises, and to deceive
their peers. Fusion can bring even the best physicists to the brink of the abyss.
Not all of them return.
CHAPTER 1
THE SWORD OF MICHAEL
He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire
by night, from before the people.

—EXODUS 13:22

The fires were still burning over Hiroshima, the charred and faceless victims
were still slouching toward Asano Park, when President Harry S. Truman told
the world about a new weapon. “The force from which the sun draws its power
has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East,” the
announcement read. Mankind had unleashed unheard-of energy from deep
within the atom and used it to destroy a city.
From the very beginning of the atomic age, Americans were enthralled and
frightened by the prospect of this inconceivable power. By splitting uranium and
plutonium atoms, scientists had made a weapon by using the very same principle
that made the sun shine: E = mc 2.
The scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, the super-secret program
to build the first atom bomb, looked back on their achievement with a mix of
awe and horror. To J. Robert Oppenheimer, the head of the Manhattan Project,
the atom bomb represented a loss of innocence, a fall from grace that could mark
the end of civilization. Others, however, such as the Manhattan Project physicist
Edward Teller, saw that the atom bomb was just the beginning of a nuclear arms
race. And just over the horizon, Teller realized, was a much greater weapon than
even the atom bomb, one thousands of times more powerful.
This new weapon, the “Super,” would unleash a power not yet seen on Earth:
fusion. Instead of breaking atoms apart to release energy (fission), the
superbomb would stick them together ( fusion) and release even more. While
this might seem to be a subtle difference, fusion, unlike fission, had the potential
to produce weapons of truly unlimited power. A single Super would be able to
wipe out even the largest city—a task far beyond even the bombs of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. A fusion bomb would be the ultimate weapon.
It would also split the scientific community in two and would drive humanity