Silverstein, Ken The Radioactive Boy Scout: The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor (2005) . I chose this book on many accounts not the least of those being that I heard everyone talking about it in class. I also was intrigued about this book based upon the synopsis that I read in wikipedia. Which explained it well enough to catch my eye and investigate the story to see if I liked which ultimately I had a fine time reading it. I also enjoy learning about people who started from near nothing and made something of themselves. In this case it was a bumpy road, but it was interesting none the less.
It was definitely educational for a lack of better words. The Radioactive Boy Scout was a story of a young chemist in his early beginnings from pouring random chemicals into a vat to see a magic trick to attempting to make a breeder nuclear generator. David Hahn otherwise known as The Radioactive Boyscout started simply. After a short time of experiments he identified a very big problem that he forever is striving to end. Which is the impending exhaustion of the fossil fuels. His aspiration was to find a replacement. Which to him meant things were going to go nuclear so to speak.
His journey started with a book The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments: by Kurt Saxon and Robert Bent. Where is initial goal was instituted. That was to obtain every element on the periodic table. David was extremely determined in his quest towards his eventual objective; however, the manner in which he gathered resources were not exactly legal. He used false identities given he was a young man and too adolescent to purchase such resources. Thusly by complete consequence his car got searched on suspicion of harboring a bomb, and they found more than they bargained for.
In a spiralling multitude of following events his lab was found and confiscated. Directly after the scandal officials feared for David’s health and insisted on some assorted types of health evaluations. He predictably declined all of them due to the fear of actually finding out the amount of damage he had inflicted upon himself with all of the radiation. After the skirmish with the authorities things progressed to a negative outcome in his life. His girlfriend broke up with him, and his late mother committing suicide.
Following these events David lost his direction in life and was accounted doing some very irregular things which not the least of these being he would just drive around the block where they lived for no apparent reason. His step mother and father forced him to go to Macomb Community College to get a degree in metallurgy; however, he skipped classes regularly making his whole experience there almost completely devoid of meaning. His parents then set a mandate on him getting himself out of the house, and that means that he goes into the armed forces or gets kicked out of the house with no plan of sustaining himself in life.
He decided to go the military route. Unfortunately he was only a meer sailor and had the responsibility of swabbing the poop deck and menial tasks such as these. In the end he decided that he was quoted saying,”I wanted to make a scratch in life. ” He then goes on to say that he will return to his research and he thinks that the over exposure to the radioactivity took only 5 years off of his life. I learned many things from this book and from the man David Hahn. That if you have a passion, pursue it. Be patient, and do it legally and make your scratch in the world.
I also can take from that it is fine to take a small break from what you do to rekindle a fire that could have possibly laid dormant due to over development of that skill. I parallel it to wine. After all the work is done tilling the field, planting the seed, tending to its growth, harvest of the grapes, and then you leave the wine to ferment. After a break from the labour you get to enjoy the product. I think this book is relevant to chemistry in the way it shows how he commits to the process of experiments and the due process of perfecting a product.
It also encourages people to persist after their goals. When I say goals I don’t just mean short term I am referring to long term goals as well, but any goals are inspired by this man’s conflict to finally produce the breeder reactor. It also helps people understand how complex nuclear reactors are. That is with the preconception that anyone would assume that the construction of a nuclear would be simple. This is also a great example of how science should in fact be patient and not wanting immoral resources. David did an astounding amount of illegal things to make his experiments possible.
This is a perfect example of what not to do. One should just pay there dues and get the backing of a university to perform experiments. In that environment you can perfect the product exponentially faster along with it help you stay on the right side of the law. A few questions I am left with are: with the right backing how available is this tech, is this an effective alternative to fossil fuels if appropriately mobilized, and what are some pros and cons to nuclear energy versus more proven fuel sources with the calculated escalating risk we are facing today?
This is a great book to invest your time in if you are looking for an informational journal type book. It touches on all the specific things he focuses on to conduct his experiments; however if one is going to put any weight in this man’s findings. My warning is that you are discerning and do the experiments in more of a lab setting rather than a shed. I think the science is pretty close to being sound, but like many times the most brilliant of scientists are too unorthodox for modern society to handle which gives them a disadvantage on pursuing their field of study without a great deal of public criticism.
Which could ultimately end in the halting of all process due to the infringement of authorities. Ultimately slowing the process of discovery, but preserving morality in its wholeness. In conclusion, this is an interesting book. Definitely a good read and offers good chemistry topics to ponder on and research. I think if you enjoy Chemistry you will enjoy this book.
