Berthoud Community Library District

"As a female Jewish physicist in Berlin during the early 20th century, Lise Meitner had to fight for an education, a job, and equal treatment in her field, like having her name listed on her own research papers. Meitner made groundbreaking strides in the study of radiation, but when Hitler came to power in Germany, she suddenly had to face not only sexism, but also life-threatening anti-Semitism as well. Nevertheless, she persevered and one day made...

"Environmental journalist Fred Pearce travels the globe to investigate our complicated seven-decade long relationship with nuclear technology, from the bomb to nuclear accidents to nuclear waste. While concern about climate change has led some environmentalists to embrace renewable energy sources like wind and solar, others have expressed a renewed interest in nuclear power as an alternative source of carbon-neutral energy. But can humanity handle...

"A riveting narrative of the Atomic Age--from x-rays and Marie Curie to the Nevada Test Site and the 2011 meltdown in Japan--written by the prizewinning and bestselling author of Rocket Men. Radiation is a complex and paradoxical concept: staggering amounts of energy flow from seemingly inert rock and that energy is both useful and dangerous. While nuclear energy affects our everyday lives--from nuclear medicine and food irradiation to microwave technology--its...

On August 6, 1945, the United States of America dropped the world's first atomic bomb, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, a decision that ushered in the nuclear age and marked the end of World War II. When the atomic bomb exploded at 8:15 A.M., 70,000 people were killed instantly. Thousands more were dead of radiation sickness within weeks. More still were sick, scarred, and deformed for the rest of their lives by the chemicals in the bomb. Three...

Collection of the author's commentaries from Democracy now!, the daily grassroots global news hour that broadcasts the program via radio, satellite and cable television, and Internet.

"The final chapter in the Penguin History of Europe series from the acclaimed scholar and author of To Hell and Back After the overwhelming horrors of the first half of the twentieth century, described by Ian Kershaw in his previous book as being 'to Hell and back,' the years from 1950 to 2017 brought peace and relative prosperity to most of Europe. Enormous economic improvements transformed the continent. The catastrophic era of the world wars receded...

In this book, author Sue DiCicco and Sadako's older brother Masahiro tell her complete story in English for the first time--how Sadako's courage throughout her illness inspired family and friends, and how she became a symbol of all people, especially children, who suffer from the impact of war. Her life and her death carry a message: we must have a wholehearted desire for peace and be willing to work together to achieve it. Sadako Sasaki was two...

"This companion volume to the twenty-six-part PBS documentary is a journal of our age. It tells a tale of ten tumultuous decades - not from the towering vantage point of princes and presidents but from the modest perspective of ordinary people who found themselves swept up in dramatic events of historic proportions." "Thousands of personal recollections have been blended into a powerful narrative and enhanced by photographs, vivid illustrations, and...

As his parents finished packing the few personal belongings they were permitted to take out of Germany, the bespectacled 15-year-old stood in the corner of the apartment memorizing the details of the scene. He was a bookish and reflective child, with that odd mixture of ego and insecurity that can come from growing up smart yet persecuted. "I'll be back someday," he said to the customs inspector who was surveying the boxes. Years later, he would recall...