9781422285640

Chapter One HISTORY

D aren habe ich gar nicht gedacht!” Albert Einstein exclaimed in his native German. Translated into English, this means, “I never thought of that!” It was a startling admission by Einstein, one of history’s greatest scientists and thinkers. Einstein sat in his summer cottage on Long Island, responding to the fantastic tale spun by two of his friends, the Hungarian physicists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner. The men were visiting Einstein on a matter of grave urgency: to discuss the technical aspects of splitting atoms.

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compound: two or more elements chemically bound together. fission: splitting the nucleus of an atom, which then releases energy. isotope: each of two or more forms of a chemical element with the same atomic number but different numbers of neutrons. neutron: an elementary particle without an electrical charge. radiation: energy emitted in the form of particles by radioactive substances. theoretically: dealing with a theory, or based on a theory. Words to Understand

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