Pocket Encyclopedia of Atomic Energy [antikvár]

PREFACE Man has succeeded in tapping the energy of the atomic nucleus, and is now working toward an efficient harnessing of this energy, and is eagerly looking forward to a new "Atomic Age," This very expression "atomic age" calls for a brief comment. While the energy released from the nucleus of the atom is customarily referred to in popular parlance as "atomic" energy, and the layman has become accustomed to calling the bomb utilizing this energy "atomic" bomb, it is necessary to state emphatically and unambiguously that this use of the word "atomic" is a misnomer and a scientific inaccuracy. If there is at all such a thing as "atomic energy," it would be the energy contained in or released by the atom as a whole—it would be more or less a synonym for "chemical energy," the energy yielded by the extra-nuclear electrons within the atom. The energy which is released in the fission of an atomic nucleus is nuclear energy, and the bombs which flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear energy bombs. It may be right to call this energy intra-atomic (i.e. the energy present within the atom), but the expression "atomic" energy is scientifically meaningless and, even worse, misleading. However, this adjective is being so universally used by the general public that even scientific authors are compelled to use it—^under protest— when writing for other than strictly scientific audiences. The purpose of this book is to present a comprehensive collection of brief definitions and explanations of the terms 7