Prologue , The Road to Geneva, Geneva 1958, Open Systems, Pulsed Toroidal Systems and Alternative Lines, Stellarators vs. Tokamaks, The Dash to Tokamaks, The Next Generation, The Era of the Big Tokomaks, Towards a Fusion Reactor, Epilogue
"Braams and Stott write with both a first hand experience of the
history of the field and an intimate knowledge of the science… .
This broader perspective is both fascinating and essential to our
maturing discipline so I warmly recommend this book to all readers
of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion."
-I.H. Hutchinson, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, No. 44
"This work is recommended both for public and university libraries.
It is of particular interest to scientists and engineers interested
in history of science as well as those interested in the production
of new sources of energy."
-Nestor Osorio, E-STREAMS, Vol. 6, No. 2
"After introductory chapters outlining the overall path and some of
the problems of fusion research, Braams and Stott cover open
systems and pulsed closed systems with a chapter each. They then
devote about half the book to research on confining the plasma with
closed steady-state magnetic surfaces, especially in the
stellarator and the tokamak, a toriodal system originally proposed
by A.D. Sakharov and I.E. Tamm in 1951.
…they more than touch on social, economic, and political factors
while emphasizing the physics in a valuable one-volume account of
the course of fusion research, sprinkled with memorable quotes from
outstanding characters in the field. They trace the gradual merging
in the late 1970's of physics-oriented research on plasma phenomena
and performance-oriented research toward reactor design - what they
call reductionistic and holistic approaches - into the physics of
reactor-grade plasmas in reactor-like devices.
Braams and Stott begin and end with the enigmatic quotation from
Artsimovich of 1972: 'Fusion will be there when society needs it.'
They also pose the question 'Is a fusion reactor an interesting
proposition from a scientific, technical, social, and economic
point of view?' Evidently, they conclude it is scientifically and
technically feasible and it seems desirable but it will be costly
to achieve.
If commercial exploitation is realized in the projected time,
Braams and Stott (like many of us) will not be here to see it; but
they have compiled an excellent account of the principles,
background, development, and progress made during the first half of
the world-wide fusion research program."
-Derry W. Jones, Contemporary Physics, 2003, vol. 44, no. 5,
pp.455-458
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