A Science Fiction Novel about the Polywell;
A Polywell Powerpoint for Group Presentations and Two Polywell Books: One for Kids, age 9-13,
and One for Adults, are Available for Download Here
A Green Sun by Charles Gray, is a science fiction novel about the Polywell, and I recommend it highly. It is available for $1.99 in Kindle format at Amazon. I did my best to write the Polywell novel that Charles Gray has actually written. I wrote a Prologue, 6 Chapters, and an outline; sent them out for review, and got back a resounding "Forget it!" My story was better (of course), and my Prologue was WAY better; but Gray's writing is MUCH better - especially his dialogues - and best of all, he actually finished HIS story! I am not sure why Mr Gray's novel avoids use of the word "Polywell," or why the novel does not credit Robert Bussard (however Gray does both in a note at the end of the novel). Most of Gray's technical detail is right on the money - though he is somewhat hazy on the direct conversion of the Alpha particle kinetic energy to HVDC. Also, I seriously doubt that that a commercial Polywell power plant significantly larger than 100 megawatts is within our nation's present capability - plus the wear and tear on the Polywell's parts from high energy alpha particle impacts will be significant. But these are trivial problems and do not detract from the story. Oh, one more thing - don't judge this book by its Prologue! I very much enjoyed the book.
Curtailing the Carbon Catastrophe: the Problem and Some Proposed Solutions is a Powerpoint addressing essentially the same issues as this website. It can be presented in a minimum of 25 minutes; but 50 minutes would be much more realistic. There is some exponential notation and unit cancelation. Click HERE to download. I would be pleased and honored to present the Powerpoint to your class or group. Please contact me to consider the possibilities: 360-739-4511 or bflint@polywellnuclearfusion.com
Earth’s Big Energy Problem and How to Fix it (age 9–13) begins with many pictures demonstrating the extent of our dependence on carbon-based fuels. Molecular models show how the burning of each different carbon-based fuel produces carbon dioxide. The greenhouse effect, evidence for global warming, and other problems with carbon-based fuels are summarized. There is some discussion of the number of wind turbines, extent of solar installations, and money required to replace fossil fuel energy. The fallacies of bio-fuel are explained. Uranium fission, D-T fusion and p-B fusion are outlined; then fission reactors, D-T fusion reactors, and the Bussard Fusion Reactor are described. Several people have already pointed-out that the title needs work. Suggestions for a better title will be much appreciated. And -as always- any other comments, suggestions, criticisms, etc are more than welcome as well! Click HERE to download. And plese let me know what you think: email: bflint@polywellnuclearfusion.com
Safe, Clean, Green - the p-B Polywell: a Different Kind of Nuclear Energy (for adults) explains why the Bussard polywell fusion reactor is the best hope for survival of our civilization at this time. It reviews the need for us to get ourselves off fossil fuels ASAP; and suggests that the conventionally proposed alternatives to fossil fuels (wind, solar, etc) are not sufficient. It explains how the polywell reactor works, and why it is the best (but certainly not perfect) answer at this time. The PDF has blank pages scattered here and there because I am anticipating that some people will want to use both sides of their paper when they print the book out. (It's 299 pages, if you only print on one side.) And -if you print it properly, and put the two-sided pages in a 3 ring binder - each new chapter, appendix, section, etc. will begin on an odd numbered page; that is, if you have the binder open, each new chapter, appendix, section, etc. will always begin on the right side - the same as a real book! Also - as you may have noticed with other PDF documents - my page numbering is not the same as the PDF page numbering; so if you are using the book's table of contents or the index, you will have to use MY page numbers at the bottom of each page and NOT the PDF page numbers. Yes, the official title stinks: I REALLY need some help with finding a better title. And yes, the book is 18 months out of date, but it is still a great source of in-depth info on the polywell. As always- all comments, suggestions, criticisms, etc are more than welcome as well! Click HERE to download. And please let me know what you think: email: bflint@polywellnuclearfusion.com
The author William W. Flint is a retired physics teacher, and nuclear weapons certified veteran combat crew member, seeking to save Earth from human excess. In addition to his two recent books about the Polywell, he has written a high school physics textbook, and a computer self-help book. He has reconstructed a 1895 house from the studs out, retrofitted it for solar; and completed a similar project with a second house. He is a certified flight instructor and recipient of the 1990 WWU Woodring College Award for Professional Excellence, and the Sigma Xi Research Society Certificate of Recognition for Dedication to the Teaching of Science. He holds a masters in science education from Western Washington University and is a graduate of Physics, Nuclear and Chemical Instrumentation Institutes at Wisconsin State University and Montana State University.
He has no personal memory of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or the Japanese surrender; but he does remember at about age 6 asking his mom how atomic bombs worked. (She told him, “They split atoms - the smallest particles of matter.” Immediately, he was at work with a knife, trying to reduce a particle of a sawdust to atomic dimensions...) He remembers listening to the first Eniwetok tests on the radio, and studying diagrams of Rickover’s nuclear subs in Life magazine in 1951- trying to figure out how nuclear energy could make a sub go. He still remembers the “aha” moment when he finally got it.
He was (and still is) an avid reader (and sometime writer) of science fiction. He remembers his first encounter with Polywell inventor Robert Bussard's ramscoop interstellar drive, probably in a Larry Niven Known Space novel in the early 1970s - he knew, even then, that the Bussard ramscoop had been patented by a real physicist.
He was very much interested in early tokamak fusion efforts, remembers reprinting tokamak readings for his high school physics students; and still remembers his profound disappointment when it became evident in the early ‘80s that tokamak was probably not the answer. But he kept checking up on the state of fusion research from time to time.
And then -maybe in the spring of 2007- he was doing another fusion search on the internet, and stumbled onto Dr Bussard’s Google Tech Talk. Stressed already about global warming, and fully cognizant of the limitations of solar and wind, he immediately saw the promise of the Polywell. After several attempts to alert his Congressman (Norm Dicks) to its potential, he realized that the public would need a lot of education about the Polywell and related issues, before Congress would take a serious interest in it.
Since then, he has been presenting Curtailing the Carbon Catastrophe to school and civic groups, working on this website, the Safe, Green, Clean polywell book, and Earth’s Big Energy Problem and How to Fix it. ...trying to learn Russian and working on his family's genealogy.