"Don't Judge Whats On The Outside Its Whats On The Inside That Counts"

When it comes to reading I only find an interest in reading gossip and juicy love stories about celebrities and other famous icons. I enjoy flipping through the colorful pages of magazines that are filled with hot new fashion tips, new and improved makeup products, and drama stories about the crazy lives of my favorite celebrities. However, over Spring break my English class was assigned to read the book The Curve of Binding Energy written by John McPhee When I first picked up the book and saw the cover, which did not have a gorgeous male model on it I thought to myself I am never going to be able to get through this book. To my surprise after reading the first page I was drawn to the book because the author clearly stated the purpose of the book which was never brought to my attention before. Moreover, since the main purpose of the book is of great importance I was interested to see how the author would provide a book that would answer all my eerie questions that where racing through my mind.

In this book, McPhee provides historical information about the dangers of nuclear energy. McPhee has written the life story and career of Theodore B Taylor, who is one of the most well known theoretical physicists. During the book Taylor walks McPhee through a nuclear energy journey and through his interviews McPhee excessively describes the dangerous of nuclear energy. Due to the dangers that McPhee has encountered and learned about through Taylor’s observations, he sends a message warning his audience about the issue of nuclear energy and uses the life story of Theodore B. Taylor to emphasize the importance of the message. In addition, McPhee speaks about the poor security of the nuclear materials and the easy access of the materials.

As the book, The Curve of Binding Energy, opens up McPhee states both the main point and theme of this book, which is to stress the dangers of nuclear bombs. McPhee immediately in the beginning of the book warns the audience that not only the six nations that have been tested have access to nuclear bombs but smaller groups of people that may not have good intentions do as well. The tone and mood of this book is posed in a sense like a desperate cry out for help and concern to alert others that their safety may be jeopardized by the lack of nuclear control. Moreover, McPhee continues to inform the audience that the issue of nuclear control is not a subject that should be taken lightly because not only physicists but one person alone can build a bomb, due to the fact that the materials are easily accessible.

As the book progresses McPhee introduces his main character Theodore B. Taylor, who was one of the most ingenious engineers of the nuclear age. Taylor’s life story and career is essential to the purpose of the book. He was born in the nineteen-twenties in Mexico City and lived in an extremely religious home. When Taylor was ten years old he received a chemistry set which showed that at a young age he had a strong connection with the subject. While he was growing up Taylor became interested in music, chemistry, and billiards. He developed a true passion for the game of billiards and played for ten hours a week. Taylor was an intellectual individual and even when he was playing billiards he relates it to the fields of science. He states that “I have thought of billiards ball as the examples in physics as long as I can remember, as examples of types of collisions from Newton’s mechanics to atomic particles.” To strengthen his argument, McPhee shows that science is a subject that has always been present throughout Taylor’s life.

In 1948 in the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Taylor began to build atomic bombs that were said to be the most creative designs. His motivation and determination for both building and improving atomic bombs stemmed from the explosion of the bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After these bombs McPhee implies that Taylor was inspired to put an end to the cycle of violence but ironically he never rejected nuclear energy. He built the miniature atomic bomb known as the Davy Crocket, which was less then 50 pounds. The Davy Crocket was the smallest and lightest fission bomb ever created in its time. In addition, he also created the largest-yield fission bomb that has ever exploded anywhere, which was called Super Oralloy Bomb. As a bomb designer he built the most sufficient fission bomb that was created in the Kiloton range. This powerful bomb was named Hamlet. Each time he constructed a bomb Taylor states to McPhee that he can not go into detail for various security purposes.

Taylor became fascinated that weapon-graded uranium and plutonium are alarmingly available to anyone who wants to get their hands on these materials. McPhee states that the main reason why plutonium is easily accessible and can be used as a main element in building a bomb, because it is a product of uranium based nuclear power industry. In addition, he warns the readers that it is not hard to steal plutonium because uranium is extremely abundant in nature. During this part of the book the chemical progress that is needed to build a deadly bomb out of plutonium is described. The availability of uranium is portrayed as a main concern because it can lead to the rise of terrorist acts that can inevitably affect the world. Taylor tries to put an end to allowing individuals to have the ability to access these materials by starting the International Research and Technology firm, which main function involves safeguards. Taylor want’s to increase awareness to better the safeguards, which as a result will prevent to some extent the dangers of bombs and availability of nuclear materials.

McPhee’s main purpose in writing this book that is based on the life and observations made my Taylor is to inform and warn the audience. Although he tries to alert the world that the access of nuclear weapons is available to all individuals he concludes that it will always be an existing problem. In the world, terrorist’s attacks unfortunately, are events that individuals will always have to face, but by warning the audience of how close we actually are to these events, allows individuals to take certain safety precautions.