Worlds Within Worlds:
The Story of Nuclear Energy
Volume 3
Nuclear Fission · Nuclear Fusion · Beyond Fusion
by Isaac Asimov
United States Atomic Energy Commission
Office of Information Services
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-189477
1972
_Nothing in the history of mankind has opened our eyes to the
possibilities of science as has the development of atomic power. In the
last 200 years, people have seen the coming of the steam engine, the
steamboat, the railroad locomotive, the automobile, the airplane, radio,
motion pictures, television, the machine age in general. Yet none of it
seemed quite so fantastic, quite so unbelievable, as what man has done
since 1939 with the atom ... there seem to be almost no limits to what
may lie ahead: inexhaustible energy, new worlds, ever-widening knowledge
of the physical universe._
Isaac Asimov
[Illustration: Photograph of night sky]
Nuclear energy is playing a vital role in the life of every man, woman,
and child in the United States today. In the years ahead it will affect
increasingly all the peoples of the earth. It is essential that all
Americans gain an understanding of this vital force if they are to
discharge thoughtfully their responsibilities as citizens and if they
are to realize fully the myriad benefits that nuclear energy offers
them.
The United States Atomic Energy Commission provides this booklet to help
you achieve such understanding.
UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
Dr. James R. Schlesinger, Chairman
James T. Ramey
Dr. Clarence E. Larson
William O. Doub
Dr. Dixy Lee Ray
[Illustration: Isaac Asimov]
ISAAC ASIMOV received his academic degrees from Columbia University and
is Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the Boston University School
of Medicine. He is a prolific author who has written over 100 books in
the past 18 years, including about 20 science fiction works, and books
for children. His many excellent science books for the public cover
subjects in mathematics, physics, astronomy, chemistry, and biology,
such as _The Genetic Code_, _Inside the Atom_, _Building Blocks of the
Universe_, _Understanding Physics_, _The New Intelligent Man’s Guide to
Science_, and _Asimov’s Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and
Technology_. In 1965 Dr. Asimov received the James T. Grady Award of the
American Chemical Society for his major contribution in reporting
science progress to the public.
[Illustration: Photograph of night sky]