Atomic Awakening Audiobook By James Mahaffey cover art

Atomic Awakening

A New Look at the History and Future of Nuclear Power

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Atomic Awakening

By: James Mahaffey
Narrated by: John McLain
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"Persuasive and based on deep research. Atomic Awakening taught me a great deal." (Nature)

The American public's introduction to nuclear technology was manifested in destruction and death. With Hiroshima and the Cold War still ringing in our ears, our perception of all things nuclear is seen through the lens of weapons development. Nuclear power is full of mind-bending theories, deep secrets, and the misdirection of public consciousness - some deliberate, some accidental. The result of this fixation on bombs and fallout is that the development of a non-polluting, renewable energy source stands frozen in time.

Outlining nuclear energy's discovery and applications throughout history, Mahaffey's brilliant and accessible book is essential to understanding the astounding phenomenon of nuclear power in an age where renewable energy and climate change have become the defining concerns of the twenty-first century.

©2009 James Mahaffey (P)2013 Audible, Inc. History History & Philosophy Science Inspiring Quantum Physics

Editorial reviews

A person does not have to delve deeply into his or her memory to determine why nuclear power has a bad rap. The disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima, not to mention the terrifying specters of Hiroshima and the Cold War, inform many personal judgments about nuclear safety. But in his first book, research physicist James Mahaffey aims to get the facts straight and establish the viability of nuclear power beyond both the hype and the scare tactics.

John McLain's performance makes this accessible and entertaining book even more inviting. At times McLain sounds almost like a narrator of a science fiction film, a fitting tone considering the term "atomic bomb" originally came from a novel by H. G. Wells.
Comprehensive History • Engaging Storytelling • Accessible Science Explanations • Fascinating Anecdotes • Clear Diction
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Detailed, informative, and entertaining. Not at all technical, but enough meat to keep technically-minded listeners happy. Complements his newest book, Atomic Adventures, which is also great.

Narrator was dry and took away significantly from the author's personality. Otherwise the narration was fine. Audible needs to choose better audio snippets; for the longest time I avoided buying this book for fear of having to listen to that obnoxious, overly-inflected narration for 12 hours.

Narrator not as bad as in the intro snippet.

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Loved it. Five stars, all that. Thorough history of nuclear radiation and nukes. Can be a bit "text-booky" at times, but overall it's a great read on the subject. My biggest gripe is that the narrator sounds like he is reading a movie-trailer, but this is a minor annoyance. I highly recommend it anyone who wants to learn more about the subject. I would also recommend Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, by Eric Schlosser. It read more like a novel and is also full of great info.

Perfect for any science nerd

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Atomic awakening by James Mahaffey is one of the better books I've ever gone through! From blessed Marie Curie to the genius buffoon Richard Feynman and many more amazing people the thrilling and fascinating story is told of the discovery and development of nuclear technology. Alas the story also tells of how regretful it is that destruction and death was our first real public introduction to this potential second coming of Promethean fire to mankind. Good heavens, this book was interesting and John McLain does a great job narrating it.

The blessings and bombs of nuclear technology

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This was a surprise to get thru, was way better than I thought. The details were not too dry and would have liked just a bit more recent info included at the end.

little more please

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Informative, fascinating, witty and even playful account of the history of Nuclear power. Highly recommended!!

Amazing!

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Voice on X1 is painstakingly slow. Voice on X1.25 speed is ridiculously fast. Voice tone of speaker was not meant for this book/material. I would not purchase the audiobook if I had listened to the sample of the audio first.

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great narrator, gifted writer. very highly recommended. I laughed my butt off over the helmet story in chapter 15. I learned a lot, laughed a little and cringed 100 times over some of these stories. amazing book..

wonderful book!

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Informative, enlightening, entertaining. Listened to it multiple times for irony and depth. One does well to tune into Mahaffey for “Accidents” and “Awakenings”

Masterful!

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Educational and revealing. A history, a comparison, and a challenge to further disprove the current accepted knowledge of this fascinating power source.

More entertaining than I expected.

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the story was good overall but I would have liked to hear more about contemporary reactor designs and public opinion rather than a closer look at the theory leading up to the discovery of the nuclear reactor.

the history is a bit too much

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