EVERYMAN’S GUIDE TO THE ATOMIC AGE

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27736, 13 August 1955, Page 3

EVERYMAN’S GUIDE TO THE ATOMIC AGE

The Man J» the Thick Lead Sett. By Daniel Lapr GoUancs. 2OT pp. f This interesting little book could well be called an everyman’s guide to the atomic age. Its author, who is on the staff ofthe “New Yorker," has presented his facts' in a breezy series of sketches, sometimes of people, sometimes of places,., and through them conveys to the reader a general summary of-the implications of the Atomic age in America.; Intended only to stimulate thought, . the sketches cover all the common aspects of the new force. The widescale search for uranium, the “tapersniffer” geiger counter which lights up and clicks, the reaction to bomb testing at nearby Las Vegas, flying saucers, atom bombs and the work and opinions of refugee Germans from Peenemunde, make ut> some of their contents. The general impression conveyed is that Americans are, vividly conscious of the new age and .the power it has brought them.' - There is a most interesting -chapter on physicists and physics, a sub-] ject which has taken bn an emotional significance for the community. The realm of the scientist bis- now been cloaked with the greatest secrecy; the string and sealing waot of former \ years have driven nlace to -mart exoensive apparatus. Collaboration can no longer exist between scientific groups. i There is no longer freedom to discuss nature’s secrets. These secrets are now government secrets. f ' Not all that Daniel Lang reports of the adjustments, hopes and fears of those in dose contact with the pioneering moves of the atomic makes for peace of mind. But his last sketch of Dr. Pollard, director of the Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies who took Holy orders :and now divides his time between 'the Church and his work as a physicist, is : an example with moral implications. ~