The Radioactive Boy Scout
By: Will Switzer
Basic Information
- “The Radioactive Boy Scout” by: Ken Silverstein
- Topics Covered: Biology, Physics, scientific Experiments
- Basic Vocabulary: Polonium, burette, lepidoperty, instrumentation
- Summary statement: David Hahn a Detroit teenage boy scout embarks on experiment to build a radioactive breeder.
Personal Opinion
Overall I was indifferent about the book it was a nonfiction novel so it wasn’t the most exciting and enthralling book but it did keep me interested through out most of it especially toward the end when his nuclear breeder was messing with the cities energy supply and discovered by authorities. I got lost a couple times in the book though with strange vocabulary and very boring explanations of the experiment.
Scientific Quotes
“ Nuclear power, he read would be the driving force of a scientific revolution that would soon transform the planet”(Silverstein 14).
“ But the atom’s first contribution to military history was not to eradicate war but to serve as the foundation for the first weapon of mass destruction”(Silverstein38).
“Manhattan Project scientists first conceived of a breeder reactor in the early 1940’s. They were particularly keen on the concept because at the time it was estimated that the entire worlds supply of uranium could generate the electricity needed by the United states for less than two years”(Silverstein118).