The Boy Who Played with Fusion: Extreme Science, Extreme Parenting, and How to Make a Star - Softcover

Clynes, Tom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0544705025 ISBN 13: 9780544705029

Publisher: Mariner Books, 2016

Synopsis

2016 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Finalist

"The amazing story of an unbelievable boy . . . The world that opens up to us through his story is both fascinating and slightly terrifying . . . but in a good way. You won't be able to walk away from this tale." -- Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

"Imagine if cartoon whiz kid Jimmy Neutron were real and had a brainchild with MacGyver and his adolescence got told as a rollicking bildungsroman about American prodigies and DIY nuclear reactors--well, that's this book." --Jack Hitt, author of Bunch of Amateurs

By the age of nine, Taylor Wilson had mastered the science of rocket propulsion. At eleven, his grandmother's cancer diagnosis inspired him to investigate new ways to produce medical isotopes. And by fourteen, Wilson had built a 500-million-degree reactor and become the youngest person in history to achieve nuclear fusion. How could someone so young achieve so much, and what can Wilson's story teach parents and teachers about how to support high-achieving kids?

In The Boy Who Played with Fusion, science journalist Tom Clynes narrates Taylor's extraordinary journey--from his Arkansas home, to a unique public high school just for academic superstars, to the present, when Wilson is designing devices to prevent terrorists from shipping radioactive material and inspiring a new generation to take on the challenges of science.

"Clynes guides us on an engrossing journey to the outer realms of science and parenting. The Boy Who Played with Fusion is a fascinating exploration of 'giftedness' and all its consequences." --Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish and American Catch

"An essential contribution to our understanding of the most important underlying questions about the development of giftedness, talent, creativity, and intelligence." --Psychology Today

About this title

Review

Here is the amazing story of an unbelievable boy - somebody who seems more like a figure out of fiction (science fiction, to be specific) than reality. But the story is true, the boy is true, and the science is true. And the world that opens up to us through his story is both fascinating and slightly terrifying ... but in a good way. You won't be able to walk away from this tale. (Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love)

Imagine if cartoon whiz-kid Jimmy Neutron were real and had a brainchild with MacGyver and his adolescence got told as a rollicking bildungsroman about American prodigies and DIY nuclear reactors - well, that's this book. (Jack Hitt)

In this delightful book, Tom Clynes proves that when we allow young people to take risks and give them freedom, resources, and mentorship, they can do amazing things. (Nikhil Goyal)

Wow! This is a very human manual on how to deal with having a genius at home. But it also details how single individuals can drive discovery, economic growth, political change, and wonder out of a single brain. If you want to understand where true power and change comes from, read this now. (Juan Enriquez)

From the opening page, where we meet 16-year-old Taylor Wilson digging in an abandoned uranium mine, it is clear we are in remarkable company. (Rob Kingston Sunday Times Books of the Year)

A compelling study of the thrills - and burdens - of being born with an alpha intellect. (Financial Times)

This book can be read with interest by a scientific dunce like me. ... Clynes's book is as much about 'extreme parenting' as it is about nuclear science. (Charlotte Moore Spectator)

A gripping narrative ... If you have a budding genius at home, this book could be a handy companion. (Emma Smith Sunday Times)

Book Description

The incredible true story of how a teenager became the youngest person ever to build a working nuclear fusion reactor.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0544705025
• ISBN 13: 9780544705029
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 332