Nuclear Fusion: Half a Century of Magnetic Confinement Fusion Research (SERIES ON PLASMA PHYSICS)

Tracing the course of fifty years of research into fusion energy, this book describes the different courses this scientific pursuit has followed. Physical and technical issues are described in detail, and the development of the current theory is analyzed with regard to the engineering and political factors which have shaped the research. Black and white diagrams, drawings, and photographs support the narrative. A glossary defines scientific terms, abbreviations, and acronyms. Braams taught plasma physics at the University of Utrecht. Stott is affiliated with the Euratom-CEA Fusion Association. Fusion Research Started Over Half A Century Ago. Although The Task Remains Unfinished, The End Of The Road Could Be In Sight If Society Makes The Right Decisions. Nuclear Fusion: Half A Century Of Magnetic Confinement Fusion Research Is A Careful, Scholarly Account Of The Course Of Fusion Energy Research Over The Past Fifty Years. The Authors Outline The Different Paths Followed By Fusion Research From Initial Ignorance To Present Understanding. They Explore Why A Particular Scheme Would Not Work And Why It Was More Profitable To Concentrate On The Mainstream Tokamak Development. The Book Features Descriptive Sections, In-depth Explanations Of Certain Physical And Technical Issues, Scientific Terms, And An Extensive Glossary That Explains Relevant Abbreviations And Acronyms. Although the task remains unfinished, the end of the road for fusion research could be in sight if society makes the right decisions. This book is a careful, scholarly account of the course of fusion energy research over the past fifty years. The authors outline the different paths followed by fusion research from initial ignorance to present under Although the task remains unfinished, the end of the road for fusion research could be in sight if society makes the right decisions. This book presents an account of the course of fusion energy research. It explores why a particular scheme would not work and why it was more profitable to concentrate on the mainstream tokamak development. With thermodynamics, nineteenth-century physics and chemistry seemed to have achieved their ultimate unifying theory and there was little doubt that its validity would extend over the neighbouring fields of astronomy and geology as well.