The Magic Furnace: The Search for the Origins of Atoms

"It often happens that the mind of a person who is learning a new science, has to pass through all the phases which the science itself has exhibited in its historical evolution." (Stanislao Cannizzaro, Italian chemist, 1826 - 1910). Marcus Chown, astronomer and cosmology consultant to "New Scientist" recapitulates the discovery of the elements and the building blocks of these elements in a remarkably lucid account that zooms from the smallest to the largest scale of our Universe. Scientific breakthroughs such as Hoyle's brash prediction of the 7.65 MeV energy state of Carbon-12, or for that matter the prediction of the existence of atoms by Greek philosopher, Democritus are among the historical building blocks of "The Magic Furnace." The fire in the `Furnace' is the actual creation of the elements. Chown takes his readers on a journey back to the beginning of our Universe where hydrogen and helium were born in inconceivable fury. How these elements are transmuted into the rest of the periodic table was a puzzle that 20th Century scientists couldn't begin to solve until the atom was broken down into its constituent parts. This challenge leads to one of the author's most interesting biographical portraits: who is the only scientist to date who has "made a successful prediction from an anthropic argument in advance of an experiment?" It was astronomer, Sir Fred Hoyle, who challenged nuclear physicists to prove that there was an energy state of carbon-12 very close to 7.65 MeV. Without this precise energy state of carbon, the creation of elements heavier than beryllium seemed to be impossible. Yet, they existed. Of course, Hoyle and the nuclear physicists did collaborate, and the rest is history, plus a round of Nobel Prizes and a knighthood. I was fascinated to learn of Sir Fred's many discoveries concerning the creation of the heavier elements, especially since this astronomer's reputation became somewhat tarnished in the latter decades of the 20th Century. "The Magic Furnace" teaches the basics of astronomy, chemistry, and nuclear physics in such a clear and interesting fashion that it should be tarted up with photographs and diagrams, and used in place of textbooks that don't give students nearly such a coherent and exciting view into the workings of our Universe.

This book is just completely the most incredible science book I have ever read. I could not put it down, and believe me, I can put down a LOT of books that other people say they can't put down. Totally inspiring, exciting. It's not like reading a book, it's like travelling in a time machine. You're not reading about the discovery of the electron, you're there in that dark laboratory with J.J. Thomson and his glowing cathode ray tubes.

The title is an allusion to the dream of the alchemists of old who sought a magic kiln in which to transform base metals into gold. That dream remained intact until the discovery in the twentieth century of how the elements are actually built up from hydrogen and exactly what kind of "magic furnace" would be required to turn base metals into gold. In a most engaging narrative, science writer Marcus Chown tells that fascinating story through the lives and ideas of the scientists who made the discoveries. Chown begins, as one must, with the Greeks and Democritus who opined, "...in reality there are only atoms and the void." Chown shows how it was impossible for the Greeks without the scientific method to go any further than Democritus's intuition. But Chown does not dwell on the alchemy but ratchets us directly to modern science and the growing realization that "Atoms Are Not the Smallest Things" (Chapter Two), and that therefore "it must be possible to transform an atom of one element into an atom of another." (p. 21)And with that, the race was on to account for how hydrogen became helium which became, through crucibles unimaginable to man, carbon, iron and eventually the heaviest elements. The story culminates in the work of Fred Hoyle, Margaret and Geoffrey Burbidge, and Willy Fowler who explained the nuclear processes operating inside stars and supernovae. Chown finishes with a chapter on the discovery of the cosmic background radiation, the "afterglow of creation" which confirmed how helium was manufactured in the Big Bang, and a chapter on how the elements are strewn into space and end up in Population I stars and eventually in our bodies. There is a Glossary and a Selected Bibliography.The value of this book lies not only in the fascinating story told but in the magical way that Chown is able to painlessly teach us a little chemistry and physics along the way. I learned more about the nature of atoms and the various forces in nature in these pages, almost incidentally, than I have in any other single book. So intrigued was I in learning more that I turned to the Periodic Table of the Elements as I read the text.But Chown's style is not didactic. Instead he illuminates the personalities and the flow of ideas. We see Marie Currie with her radiation swollen fingers and Fred Hoyle truant at the back of the local cinema teaching himself to read. We see how the vision of meteorites falling into the sun became the vision of the sun falling in upon itself, shrinking and, as the elements got closer and closer together, heating up, and how that idea coursed after some meandering into the discovery of atomic energy. But perhaps the most beautiful "turn" (as in a poetic change of perception, as in a sonnet) in the book is on page 107 where Chown's writes about the sameness of all the atoms of an element, and then suddenly asks, thinking about the mysterious behavior evidenced by the phenomenon of the half-life: "How could radium atoms all

I have owned a copy of this book for some time before I got around to reading. And when I did I could not put it down. Marcus Chown spins an enthralling historical account of how we learned about the cosmic synthesis of elements.My favorite account is about Fred Hoyle's pursuit to solve the riddle of how carbon - the stuff of life - was manufactured in the bowls of stars. The problem was that the thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen to heavier elements could not bridge the gap from beryllium-8 to carbon-12. But Hoyle knew it had to happen because humans existed! We are carbon-based beings and Hoyle argued that after two helium-4 atoms fused to beryllium-8, a third helium-4 quickly fused to give carbon-12. He calculated that in the bowls of a red giant star the energies of beryllium-8 and helium-4 matched a resonance energy that produced carbon-12. Tests by Willy Fowler confirmed Hoyle's prediction: carbon-12 has indeed the predicted energy resonance! Never, according to Chown, has an anthropic argument been used to make a scientific prediction.When you start reading this book, make sure you have no other pressing engagements. You won't want to stop reading. Chown has a wonderful, lucid style.

Marcus Chown is an incredibly gifted author. He somehow manages to impart (what could otherwise have been hard boring facts) into a compelling and passionate account of man's unquenchable thirst for knowledge - and in particular the search for the atom. From the very first page, the reader is gripped and taken on an incredible journey, back through time as we follow early scientists in their sometimes heartbreaking endeavours to discover the atom. Marcus Chown has the ability to make science appealing and enormously exciting. Readers will not be intimidated (nor patronised) by the subject matter, instead they will be left wanting more. This book lends itself brilliantly to either a television documentary or indeed a drama serialisation where it can reach an even wider audience. More please, Mr. Chown!