The Boy Who Played with Fusion: Extreme Science, Extreme Parenting, and How to Make a Star, by Tom Clynes
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The Boy Who Played with Fusion: Extreme Science, Extreme Parenting, and How to Make a Star, by Tom Clynes
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How an American teenager became the youngest person ever to build a working nuclear fusion reactor By the age of nine, Taylor Wilson had mastered the science of rocket propulsion. At eleven, his grandmother’s cancer diagnosis drove him to investigate new ways to produce medical isotopes. And by fourteen, Wilson had built a 500-million-degree reactor and become the youngest person in history to achieve nuclear fusion. How could someone so young achieve so much, and what can Wilson’s story teach parents and teachers about how to support high-achieving kids? In The Boy Who Played with Fusion, science journalist Tom Clynes narrates Taylor Wilson’s extraordinary journey—from his Arkansas home where his parents fully supported his intellectual passions, to a unique Reno, Nevada, public high school just for academic superstars, to the present, when now nineteen-year-old Wilson is winning international science competitions with devices designed to prevent terrorists from shipping radioactive material into the country. Along the way, Clynes reveals how our education system shortchanges gifted students, and what we can do to fix it.
The Boy Who Played with Fusion: Extreme Science, Extreme Parenting, and How to Make a Star, by Tom Clynes- Amazon Sales Rank: #406534 in Books
- Brand: Clynes, Tom
- Published on: 2015-06-09
- Released on: 2015-06-09
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x 1.22" w x 6.00" l, 1.00 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 320 pages
Review "Here is the amazing story of an unbelievable boy — somebody who seems more like a figure out of fiction (science fiction, to be specific) than reality. But the story is true, the boy is true, and the science is true. And the world that opens up to us through his story is both fascinating and slightly terrifying...but in a good way. You won't be able to walk away from this tale." --Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and The Signature of All Things "Imagine if cartoon whiz-kid Jimmy Neutron were real and had a brainchild with MacGyver and his adolescence got told as a rollicking bildungsroman about American prodigies and DIY nuclear reactors—well, that’s this book." --Jack Hitt, author of Bunch of Amateurs. "Clynes guides us on an engrossing journey to the outer realms of science and parenting, "The Boy Who Played with Fusion" is a fascinating exploration of "giftedness" and all its consequences. --Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish and American Catch Popular Science contributing editor Clynes (Music Festivals From Bach to Blues: A Travellers Guide, 1996, etc.) uses the story of Taylor Wilson—who, at age 14, became "one of only thirty-two individuals on the planet to build a working fusion reactor, a miniature sun on Earth"—to illustrate the potential for improving our educational system. "What does it take to identify and develop the raw material of talent and turn it into exceptional accomplishment? How do we parent and educate extraordinarily determined and intelligent children and help them reach their potential?" These are the questions the author seeks to answer in this enlightening book. Clynes first learned about Taylor in 2010 when he was interviewing members of a small community of "nuclear physics enthusiasts." At the time, Taylor was attending the Davidson Academy, an experimental secondary school in Reno that offered students the opportunity to attend classes at the University of Nevada-Reno. Taylor enrolled in physics seminars and had successfully completed a project to build a tabletop fusion reactor that allowed him to study the properties of different materials. The family had moved to Reno so that Taylor could take advantage of the Davidson opportunity. His father was a successful entrepreneur who had fostered Taylor's developing interest in science, beginning at age 6, with his fascination with rocket propulsion. Although he had no technical training himself, Wilson enlisted the help of more knowledgeable friends from the community to help his son safely pursue experiments with rockets. Clynes chronicles Taylor's development since their first meeting, during which time he invented a prototype for a "hundred-thousand-dollar tabletop nuclear fusion device that could produce medical isotopes as precisely as the multimillion-dollar cyclotron or linear accelerator facilities could," as well as a highly sensitive, low-dose device for identifying nuclear terrorists. Clynes makes a persuasive case for allowing gifted children the freedom and resources to pursue their interests. ---KIRKUS Reviews
From the Inside Flap How an American teenager became the youngest person ever to build a working nuclear fusion reactor By the age of nine, Taylor Wilson had mastered the science of rocket propulsion. At eleven, his grandmother’s cancer diagnosis inspired him to investigate new ways to produce medical isotopes. And by fourteen, Wilson had built a 500-million-degree reactor and become the youngest person in history to achieve nuclear fusion. How could someone so young achieve so much, and what can Wilson’s story teach parents and teachers about how to support high-achieving kids? In The Boy Who Played with Fusion, science journalist Tom Clynes narrates Taylor Wilson’s extraordinary journey—from his Arkansas home where his parents fully supported his intellectual passions, to a unique Reno, Nevada, public high school just for academic superstars, to the present, when now twenty-one-year-old Wilson is winning international science competitions with devices designed to prevent terrorists from shipping radioactive material into the country. Along the way, Clynes reveals how our education system shortchanges gifted students, and what we can do to fix it.
From the Back Cover “Here is the amazing story of an unbelievable boy—somebody who seems more like a figure out of fiction (science fiction, to be specific) than reality. But the story is true, the boy is true, and the science is true. And the world that opens up to us through his story is both fascinating and slightly terrifying . . . but in a good way. You won’t be able to walk away from this tale.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and The Signature of All Things “Imagine if cartoon whiz-kid Jimmy Neutron were real and had a brainchild with MacGyver and his adolescence got told as a rollicking bildungsroman about American prodigies and DIY nuclear reactors—well, that’s this book.” —Jack Hitt, author of Bunch of Amateurs “Clynes guides us on an engrossing journey to the outer realms of science and parenting, The Boy Who Played with Fusion is a fascinating exploration of ‘giftedness’ and all its consequences.” —Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish and American Catch
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful. Several Fascinating Books in One By Karie Hoskins I realized when I was about 3/4 of the way through this book that author Tom Clynes actually had to write this fascinating story for several different audiences. Some readers picked this up to read about the incredible life of Taylor Wilson, some readers were interested in the experiments and discoveries he'd made - those interested in the science and then there are readers like me - interested in the "extreme parenting" that allowed Taylor to follow his dreams and to thrive. As the parent of a very smart child, trying to find a way for a gifted child to succeed within the public school system has been challenging at best.With all of the audiences that might have an interest in this book - Clynes must have done a huge amount of research. The science that he describes goes far above my head (and I found myself skimming these sections a bit) - but the details of Taylor's family and school life was fascinating. Also - the information he provides on gifted children, the studies done of them and how best to help them learn and interact with the world - was extensive and very interesting.He also brings up some excellent points regarding our society and how rare it is becoming for children to even get the chance to invent and explore the scientific world.“The trend away from do-it-yourself science began in the 1980’s, says Bob Parks, author of Makers: All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things in Garages, Basements, and Backyards. As cheap, well-sealed electronic gadgets became easier and cheaper to replace than to repair, interest in building things and taking them apart plummeted.”“Today you’d be hard-pressed to find a child who is motivated to get under the screen of a smartphone to figure out what makes it light up – and you’d be even hard pressed to find a parent who would encourage it.”“Those who are motivated to do their own science say that, even as the Internet made it easier to learn how to do things, the hyperfocus on safety and security often made it harder to actually do them.”“The Porter Chemical Company, maker of the popular Chemcraft labs in a box (each of which had enough liquids, powders, and beakers to conduct more than eight hundred experiments), closed its doors in the 1980s amid liability concerns.”The story of Taylor Wilson and his life (so far) was so interesting on so many levels. Even imagining what he has accomplished takes one's breath away - even when one leaves out his youth. And as a parent - I kept trying to picture myself in his mother and father's shoes - and saying 'yes' to the things they said yes to - and I just couldn't do it. But for Taylor, and for our world, most likely, it is an excellent thing that they did. They raised a happy, brilliant, potentially game changing person - no mean feat.Taylor's perspectives on the world, on science, and on his potential future make me want to keep him on my radar as I am sure this is not the last time I will read about him.“I want to grow a business that allows me to create really useful things. But hopefully I’ll never have to grow up too much,” he says. “Because what makes really good scientists is a healthy disregard for limits and conventions that say you can’t do this or that. I hope I never lose that.”I hope he never loses that either - and I doubt he will.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Along with a fascinating story of a genius, this book is a cry for better education of the gifted. By Suzanne Amara How far would you go to support a child with a huge talent and big dreams? Taylor Wilson's parents were faced with that question when it became obvious Taylor was the kind of genius in the area of applied physics that comes along once in a generation. They made the choice to support him fully, even those this involved moving to a new state, allowing him to work with radioactive materials and finding him mentors that could help him build his dream nuclear fusion device.Tom Clynes does a wonderful job writing about Taylor and his parents, and more broadly, about nuclear science and also the sad state of the education of the gifted in the United States. You finish the book feeling very convinced that we are hugely selling the children short that could lead us into the future as the world leader in science.The parenting lessons here are many. Taylor's parents, without calling it such, practiced "intellectual spoiling" They let their two sons (Taylor's brother is also very gifted) discover their passions, and then moved heaven and earth to let them be the best they could. They in no way pushed their kids---they allowed them to grow.An interesting part of the book is Taylor's decision not to attend college for now, contrasted with the decision of the special school he attended in Reno to start making their curriculum more Ivy League friendly. There's an argument to be made that today's obsession with college admissions is actually dumbing down a generation.Clynes is a great writer, and I loved how he explained the scientific aspects of this book in a way that didn't talk down to the reader, but was very clear. This isn't just a homage to Taylor, either; Clynes raises some tough questions about his personality and his future. A highly recommended read.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste By Antigone Walsh This is the interesting tale of a boy genius and his devoted parents who support his dreams, no matter how outlandish and unlikely. It also serves as an indictment of the US educational system. Despite funneling billions of dollars to school systems, the emphasis always seems to be on the lowest common denominator. Rarely are kids enlightened, inspired or encouraged. Teachers are hobbled by expectations of false achievement and must focus on training kids how to successfully test. Smart kids, especially those without behavior problems, get short shrift in this world of limited resources.This is a nicely written autobiography that takes a good look at the state of education today. It is inspiring and depressing at the same time. Hopefully Taylor, the boy at the center of the story, will continue his upward trajectory and be able to resist the clutches of the corporate/government machine. An enjoyable book to be enjoyed by parents, teachers and just about everyone else.
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