Fusion News: AIP- Questions and Answers with Stephen Dean and Daniel Clery
PT: Many books have been written about fusion. What made you decide to write yours, and what does it offer readers that others don’t?
Dean: Most of the books you’ve seen on fusion are general books about the science, technology, and the engineering of the program. The last book that dealt with fusion history at all was back in 1982 by Joan Bromberg [Fusion, Science, Politics and the Invention of a New Energy Source, MIT Press]. So I thought I would like to bring all of that up to date. Also I wanted to bring a slant, based on my own personal experiences in observation and management of the program over 50 years, that had to do with the politics. I don’t think there’s been a book that has dealt with all of that as comprehensively as I thought I could bring to bear.
Clery: I wanted to write a book that was really accessible to the general public, those who didn’t have any background in fusion. It’s such an important topic and not enough people seem to know about it. I also wanted to tell the story of the people involved in fusion. Rather than being a book about the science, I aimed to describe the development of fusion, mixing together the politics and history over the past 60 years. It’s just a fascinating story that hasn’t adequately been told.
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