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34 reviews for:
The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor
Ken Silverstein
3.45 AVERAGE
34 reviews for:
The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor
Ken Silverstein
3.45 AVERAGE
The authors glorification of incredibly stupid behavior was quite frustrating. This pattern started with the title of the book. The kid did not make a nuclear reactor as the title implied. He just collected a lot of radioactive waste in really irresponsible manner and then stacked it up in a shape that replicated a picture of a reactor he saw in an old text book.
The author also insisted on calling the kids work "research" and on comparing him to famous scientists. He repeatedly implied that the kid's work pushed scientific boundaries with a novel organized approach. Really the boy just replicated highly dangerous chemical reactions first done decades earlier.
This wasn't a story about a whiz kid. This was a story about a kid having a rough time and of the adults that ignored his struggling. Teachers, parents, scout leaders and peers all failed to notice him or reach out to offer help, so he locked himself in a shed a played with nuclear waste.
The author also insisted on calling the kids work "research" and on comparing him to famous scientists. He repeatedly implied that the kid's work pushed scientific boundaries with a novel organized approach. Really the boy just replicated highly dangerous chemical reactions first done decades earlier.
This wasn't a story about a whiz kid. This was a story about a kid having a rough time and of the adults that ignored his struggling. Teachers, parents, scout leaders and peers all failed to notice him or reach out to offer help, so he locked himself in a shed a played with nuclear waste.
A very enjoyable read. I'm not much of a science fan but I found the explanations within the book easy to understand and the story itself interesting and very readable.
David Hahn (the boyscout of the title) was facinated with science and decided to build his own nuclear reactor in his garden shed. It was frightening how easy it was for him to collect enough radioactive material to actually pull it off! (including removing small amounts from household items such as americium from smoke detectors, thorium from camping lantern mantles, radium from clocks and tritium from gunsights) he even posed as a professor and sent letters to various scientific institutes for equipment and info!
How he managed it is something of a miricle...how no-one was hurt or how he avoided being sent to prison for a very long time is also something of a miricle!
I enjoyed this book and will read it again someday
David Hahn (the boyscout of the title) was facinated with science and decided to build his own nuclear reactor in his garden shed. It was frightening how easy it was for him to collect enough radioactive material to actually pull it off! (including removing small amounts from household items such as americium from smoke detectors, thorium from camping lantern mantles, radium from clocks and tritium from gunsights) he even posed as a professor and sent letters to various scientific institutes for equipment and info!
How he managed it is something of a miricle...how no-one was hurt or how he avoided being sent to prison for a very long time is also something of a miricle!
I enjoyed this book and will read it again someday
It was... good. David's journey from introverted nerd to mad scientist is certainly interesting, especially when you remember he was only a teenager. However, the bool just came off as dull at points. Not to say I didn't enjoy it (some of the final chapters were great) but a lot of the buildup felt flat and once the climax had been reached, there wasn't really anywhere for the story to go. Interesting read but I don't think I'll read it again.