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Rating:  Summary: Must Read for Truth In Nuclear Technology Review: Man's ability to harness he boundless energy of the Atom has forever changed the world. Nuclear Pioneer Ted Rockwell recounts his role in "Creating the New World" in a series of thirteen essays describing the evolution of his 60 years in Nuclear Technology.Rockwell is truly one of the American history's unsung heroes, having worked on the "Manhattan Project" supporting the development of the world's first Atomic Bomb, serving as Technical Director of Admiral Hyman Rickover's Nuclear Navy Program that founded America's Nuclear Navy and built the first commercial nuclear power plant at Shippingport, PA, and co-founded a leading engineering firm specializing in high-reliability technologies. Rockwell is also the author or editor of several government publications, articles in trade magazines, as well as a book -- "The Rickover Effect: How One Man Made A Difference." One of the most astonishing facets of Rockwell is that despite his incredible technical accomplishments, he is able to relate his experience in the nuclear industry in a way that non-technical people like myself understand and appreciate. Throughout the book he is able to relate political, social, and technical issues clearly and persuasively, to give an appreciation of the subject matter. The first four chapters discuss his work in the Manhattan Project from the time he was recruited out of college into the program at Oak Ridge. He does a great job describing the life style during World War II, explaining how the people banded together to build a community dedicated and their optimism of ending the war through the secret weapon they were developing. The next three chapters mesh Rockwell's work in Rickover's nuclear navy program and explain how his work there defined the values and principles that ultimately made him who he is today. The remaining chapters discuss some of the defining moments later in his life, such as his work evaluating the Three Mile Island accident, discussing the fallacy of that being pro-environment means being anti-nuclear, and revealing the other 90% of nuclear uses that people rarely think of. His overall theme in this book is to show that nuclear technology is "understandable and beneficial" to society. This book is a must read for anyone that works with nuclear technologies and particularly serves as a means of conveying the history of the industry to the next generation of nuclear workers. However, anyone seeking to learn more about the evolution of nuclear technologies from a historical perspective would also benefit. The one flaw I found in this book is that it retells some of the same stories that were part of "The Rickover Effect," although at a different level. Then again, if the stories were not the same in both books, that would leave me scratching my head also.
Rating:  Summary: Great View of Nuclear Pioneers Review: This book brings to life the environment and times of the early scientists and engineers who made the Manhattan project a reality. Dr. Rockwell is an effective eyewitness to history and his book provides an invaluable look inside this important part of WWII history.
Rating:  Summary: Terrific Look at the Nuclear Pioneers Review: This book brings to life the environment and times of the early scientists and engineers who made the Manhattan project a reality. Dr. Rockwell is an eyewitness to history and his book provides an invaluable look inside this important part of WWII history.
Rating:  Summary: Great View of Nuclear Pioneers Review: This book brings to life the environment and times of the early scientists and engineers who made the Manhattan project a reality. Dr. Rockwell is an effective eyewitness to history and his book provides an invaluable look inside this important part of WWII history.
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