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Our rapidly industrializing world has an insatiable hunger for energy and conventional sources are struggling to meet demand. Oil is running out, coal is damaging our climate, many nations are abandoning nuclear, yet solar, wind, and water will never be a complete replacement. The solution, says Daniel Clery in this deeply researched and revelatory book, is to be found in the original energy source: the Sun itself. There, at its center, the fusion of 620 million tons of hydrogen every second generates an unfathomable amount of energy. By replicating even a tiny piece of the Sun’s power on Earth, we can secure all the heat and energy we would ever need.
Nuclear fusion scientists have pursued this simple yet extraordinary ambition for decades. Skeptics say it will never work but, as A Piece of the Sun makes clear, large-scale nuclear fusion is scientifically possible—and has many advantages over other options. Fusion is clean, green and virtually limitless and Clery argues passionately and eloquently that the only thing keeping us from proving its worth is our politicians’ shortsightedness. The world energy industry is worth trillions of dollars, divert just a tiny fraction of that into researching fusion and we would soon know if it is workable.
Timely and authoritative, A Piece of the Sun is a rousing call-to-arms to seize this chance of avoiding the looming energy crisis.
Daniel Clery has a long pedigree in science journalism, having worked as a news writer and editor for magazines such as Physics World, New Scientist and Science since 1986. The son of media parents (journalist father and TV producer mother), Clery's childhood was split between Toronto, Canada, and rural Essex in the U.K., leading to an accent that seems to come from somewhere west of Rockall. Clery went on to study theoretical physics at the University of York. He now splits his time between being a European news editor for Science and freelance writing for magazines including Physics World, Popular Science, Cosmos, and The European.
