Plutonium is a strong candidate for the weirdest, most fascinating and most frightening element in the periodic table. For it to be the subject of a book by the acclaimed physicist turned science writer Jeremy Bernstein promises a great deal. Plutonium does not disappoint, even for those who think they are already familiar with the evolution of nuclear science during the 20th century.

Bernstein’s interest in plutonium was stimulated by the publication of a book called Hitler’s Bomb in 2005. Its author, the German historian Rainer Karlsch, caused a stir by claiming that Germany had succeeded in creating a nuclear explosion in the spring of 1945 (see “New light on Hitler’s bomb”) — something that Bernstein thinks would not have been possible given the level of German nuclear technology at that time. Karlsch’s book also contained the surprising revelation that the late German physicist Carl Von Weizsäcker submitted a patent in 1941 for a plutonium bomb that utilized plutonium produced in a nuclear reactor. This prompted Bernstein to search for more information on plutonium — an endeavour that eventually resulted in this book.

In the October issue of Physics World, Jack Harris discovers that Plutonium is more than just a discussion of the properties and hazards of plutonium, but is also an exciting history of nuclear science in general.

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