Description
Book SynopsisThis succinct book is timely reading for anyone who wishes to understand the maze of science and secrecy at the heart of Iran's nuclear ambitions. Writing for the general reader, Jeremy Bernstein draws on his knowledge as a physicist to elucidate the scientific principles and technical hurdles involved in creating nuclear reactors and bombs.
Trade ReviewNuclear Iran is part scientific primer, part history with a dash of policy analysis. Here the reader can come to grips—as best as we nonscientific souls can—with the math behind the concept of critical mass in nuclear fission. There [Bernstein] offers a brief but illuminating portrait of Gernot Zippe, the eccentric Austrian-German engineer, captured by the Soviets during World War II, who pioneered the centrifuge model later sold by the Pakistani proliferator A.Q. Khan to North Korea and Iran. Bernstein also details the history of the Iranian nuclear program, beginning with its origins under the Shah. Letting the facts speak for themselves, Bernstein makes it very hard to maintain that the mullahs have peaceful intentions… [I] loved the book. A reader doesn’t need to master every equation to get the conceptual gist, and anyone who publicly opines about Iran would do well to spend an afternoon learning from Jeremy Bernstein. -- Sohrab Ahmari * Wall Street Journal *
This very timely book is valuable for anyone interested in learning about the real issues in the negotiations between the U.S. (and other nations) and Iran over their nuclear programs and the consequences of any agreement that is reached. -- A. M. Strauss * Choice *
A lucid and fascinating explanation of the science that allows us to think clearly about nuclear Iran. -- Walter Isaacson, author of
Steve Jobs and
Einstein: His Life and Universe
