Science news and science current events, research and discoveries.
Top science news articles and science current events stories from the past week.
Science Resources
Science RSS News Feeds
Earth, Life and Space Science RSS News Feeds.
|
 |
 |
 |
| The Truth About Chernobyl
by Grigori Medvedev, Andrei Sakharov
| | List Price: | $22.95 |  | | 24 Used starting at: | $0.01 | | 2 Collectible starting at: | $31.99 | | | | | Sales Rank: | 343361 | | Studio: | Basic Books | | | Binding: | Hardcover | | Number Of Pages: | 288 | | Publication Date: | December 31, 1969 | | Publisher: | Basic Books |
| |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 10 reviews)
|
Informative and Enjoyable 
I really enjoyed this book. As a teenager with a morbid interest in nuclear accidents like Chernobyl, Medvedev gave a perfect amount of detail and information while making his account readable. This book is very well-written, which I didn't expect when I checked it out. It reads almost like a novel rather than like a non-fiction book. However, like others have said, it doesn't give a lot of definition for things like nuclear measurements (I must admit, I looked for a glossary when I saw the word "roetgen").
All in all, a great book and a pleasant surprise.
May 25, 2007 | |
"Counting lives" meant "killing people" 
Those who wish to hide the truth delight
in creating new vocabulary to hide behind.
On p 234, Medvedev writes:
"...the phrase 'counting lives' had
acquired a new meaning." The meaning
was the number of men to be killed
in a procedure being considered.
However, I was disappointed he didn't
mention "bio-robots," the euphemism for
men sent to handle the fuel rods w/o
any protection.
I agree with other reviews that the
author (a) is a good writer and the
story moves right along, and (b) he
assumes that the readers knows a bit
more about nuclear measurements than
most of us do.
March 18, 2007 | |
An enjoyable read
Grigori Medvedev puts us on a time machine back into a nostalgic world of nuclear innocence. The world in consternation by the destructive power of the atom at the end of the World War, has forgotten quickly within 30 years of what devastation and power the atom still holds. The book is simple enough to entertain the public but also has a touch of sophistication that entices even the unimpressionable scientists and engineers. First the book surgical removes the bland details of the events that led up to the crisis in Chernobyl. It quickly gives the reader a background that he needs to get himself emerged into the crisis. It does an excellent job in taking someone like myself who has no background in the science or the history of the disaster to a nominal understanding that led to the disaster and its after effects. It not only seeks a scientific approach but also provide a statement of how politics and science can clash and lead to catastrophic accidents. The bulk of the book is spent on the events of the 2 critical days of April 1986, which is followed by his very poignant criticism of the leadership and the academia that allowed such a culture to be embedded in Russian mentality. The shift in mentality that was set in as a result of Chernobyl is the most interesting part I thought of the book. He claims that Chernobyl has brought a warning to "man not to become intoxicated with his own power, not to take [that] power lightly, and not to seek in it ephemeral gains and pleasure and the glitter of prestige." The same recurring theme of pride and power, which haunts all man in every civilization and which opens for war and destruction, fuels also the scientific and engineering achievements. Of anything, I take away from the reading that even in the scientific world, one have to examine the agenda and the truthfulness of the material presented which cleverly hides behind the complex language of science.
August 30, 2006 | |
Excellent second book to read about Chernobyl
This book is an excellent account of the accident. Besides being personally knowlegable, the author quotes NUMEROUS eye-witnesses to the disaster. He goes minute-by-minute (sometimes second-by-second) with virtually all the individuals who were present during the accident, and the politicians who, before and during the accident, made things worse.
However, in order to fully appreciate this book, some prior knowlege is needed. For example, terms like roentgens (a measure of radiation exposure) were never explained in laymen's terms - although even a layman can understand that, as the author points out, an instrument whose scale only goes up to 3.6 roentgens is inadequate to measure radiation in the range of 20,000 roentgens! Thus, most of the most important facts are fairly easy to deduce from context, although a glossery of nuclear terms would have been helpful.
Because the author has such a detailed knowlege of the subject, his account can occasionally loose the forest for the trees. For this reason, I say that it is an EXCELLENT second book to read about the disaster. If you already know the outlines of the events and have had the major terms defined for you (the "forest") by some other book, you cannot find a better book to explore every "tree" in detail. You don't need a physics doctorate, just some basic background.
But, even without any prior knowlege - my situation - the author's writing style is excellent. He captures the drama and the heroism with crackling intensity. He jumps from person to person, all around the plant, but he keeps the context, so the reader can see all these diffenerent groups and individuals working desperately in lethal conditions. And his pacing is excellent. Every person's experiences are described in detail, yet no one's account is sacrificed for anyone else's.
In conclusion, go get some basic background first, then READ THIS BOOK.
May 05, 2006 | |
Chernobyl - have the lessons been learned?
I found this report a fascinating insight into the safety of the nuclear power industry in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere. Mr Medvedev is actually pro nuclear but he makes it clear we have to take responsibility for the massive potential for destruction that this technology entails - even during everyday operations. Mr Medvedev in turn provides detailed technical analysis, describes the psychology of the individual's involved and the inervating affect on decision making of a bureaucratic culture that rewarded cronyism and did not want to know about problems. The technical details took me a couple of reads to grasp sufficiently to understand the unfolding disaster, but this was offset by the human story and emotional response of the author to the disaster and its aftermath.
September 23, 2005 | |
SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| |
|
|
|
|
