Too Dumb to Meter: Follies, Fiascoes, Dead Ends and Duds on the U.S. Road to Atomic Energy (ISBN 1466420529), 2012

In this new book, journalist Kennedy Maize takes an edgy look at some of the lesser-known corners of U.S. atomic energy history. He demonstrates the United State's obsession with atoms and how the government's technological and political arrogance has wasted billions of dollars, millions of hours of effort and much of the public's confidence, all in the pursuit of the unattainable.

The book draws a comprehensive picture of the misguided and mismanaged projects created in the name of fostering uses for atomic energy in the post-World War II era from the 1940s to today. Maize makes it clear that these poorly constructed projects demonstrated the government's incompetence at being able to create marketplace technology that could be valuable and useful.

The book also explores the intersection of science and public policy, particularly in relation to the U.S. government's energy industry. Maize explores the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, showing how the program undertaken by these institutions failed under the overall direction of the federal government.

The book is available at the CreateSpace online bookstore, at Amazon.com, both in printed form and in Kindle electronic format, and at barnesandnoble.com, in paper.

The book has received positive reviews from Kirkus Reviews and ElectricityPolicy.com. Nominated for an Indie Reader national award in the history category.


                               (web header art: Chicago History Museum, "Birth of the Atomic Age," 1964)

 

_ Masters of the Universe

1 The Madness of Nukes

2. Manhattan Transfer

3. Micro-mismanagement by Committee

4. What Friendly Atom?

5. The Atomic Chimera

Up in the Air: Flights of Radioactive Fantasy

6. The Bomber to Nowhere

7. The Road to Jackass Flats

8. Flightless Birds and Flying Elephants

9. The Devil Flies Nukes

10. Flatulence in Space

Eddie Teller’s Exploding Ambitious

11. The Atomic Earth-Blaster

12. Chariot Swings Down to Alaska

13. Sedan Side Trip to Nevada

14. A Man, a Plan, a Canal

15. The End of the Exploding Game

False Scarcity and Fools for Fuels

16. Uranium Rush and the New ‘49ers

17. Naked Shorts at Westinghouse

18. The Great Uranium Conspiracy

19. Breeding at the Turkey Farm

Waste is a Terrible Thing to Mind

20. Out of Sight and Mind

21. Holey Kansas

22. The Jimmy, Ron and Mo Show

23. Screw Nevada and Nevada Will Screw You

Epilogue: Some Dumb Ideas Never Die