Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful… (2008)

Some interesting things presented in this book, and it is a very good piece of journalism. I do, however, find many parts of the book repetitive. The author goes in circles making the same point in many occasions: fusion power is a wishful science; many of the scientists have been kidding themselves, and therefore, in many ways, deserve their self-created downfalls... Chapter 9 bored me the most, so I merely skimmed it, because I found the science more interesting than the politics. The large amount of coverage on who did what, who said what when a particular research invited skepticism, and how lobbyists lied here and there to cheat federal money, those accounts cheapen the book for me in many ways. I understand that science is about experimenting and verifying hypotheses, and by nature is prone to errors, so even if someone's folly ideas, like tabletop fusion, cold fusion, and bubble fusion, are presented, as long as it's with scientific, though misinformed, basis, it's still interesting to read. The moment that the author abandons these and turns to timelining a person's demise, when juxtaposed by diagrams and scientific claims, makes me question whether science takes centerstage, or whether it's been hijacked by politics. Having said that, I do like the conclusion of the book very much. ( )

Since Edward "Dr Strangelove" Teller's and Andrei Sakharov's success in creating hydrogen bombs, has the effort to develop controlled nuclear fusion reactors been nothing but a string of fiascoes? Such an interpretation would seem to be overly harsh, but Seife does have the facts well marshalled, and the old quip that "energy from fusion is just a few decades off and always will be" still bites.

Charles Seife is rapidly becoming my favorite science journalist. This latest book is a wonderful blend of history and science, all told in an eminently fair and interesting manner. ( )

The telling of the dream of fusion. Lies. Mistakes. Dead ends.

The billions of dollars spent trying to put a small star in a bottle - breaking reputations and careers.

Even a few pictures. ( )