Roy A(rthur) Gallant

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Penelope M. Mitchell

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Beginning with Democritus and the Greeks 2500 years ago, [Explorers of the Atom] treats the discovery of the atom, its components and behavior, and, most importantly, the results and significance of atomic research through the ages. Current and projected uses of atomic energy are discussed …, and a detailed description of the chain of radioactive contamination accumulation is especially helpful. Unfortunately, the final section on nuclear power sources and radioactive wastes will leave readers with the impression that all claims to their safety are false…. However, as a good companion to David Michelsohn's Atomic Energy for Human Needs (… 1973), this still provides an exceptionally clear explanation of atomic structure and behavior….

Penelope M. Mitchell, "Junior High: 'Explorers of the Atoms'," in School Library Journal, an appendix to Library Journal (reprinted from the May, 1974 issue of School Library Journal, published by R. R. Bowker Co./A Xerox Corporation; copyright © 1974), Vol. 20, No. 9, May, 1974, p. 64.

[In Astrology: Sense or Nonsense?] Gallant doesn't hesitate to draw the obvious conclusions from his demonstrations that today's astrology is based on Ptolemy's discredited astronomy and on observed motions of the stars and planets now known to be illusions and that a study of the precession of the equinoxes shows even the dates used to classify a Gemini, Taurus or whatever are incorrect. Yet none of this has the air of a put-down or a polemic, and Gallant tells readers more about signs and houses, the schemes relating planets, gods, days and organs, the history of astrological theory and practice, and the casting of a horoscope … than do the teasingly equivocal or gushingly promotional rip-offs that the subject usually inspires. In addition Gallant introduces a number of provocative side issues such as the speed-of-light factor in calculating influences and the extensive phenomena of biological clocks which are evidence that heavenly bodies do affect our lives after all. (pp. 1015-16)

"Young Adult Non-Fiction: 'Astrology: Sense or Nonsense?'" in Kirkus Reviews (copyright © 1974 The Kirkus Service, Inc.), Vol. XLII, No. 18, September 15, 1974, pp. 1015-16.

[Explorers of the Atom is] an exciting, sometimes dramatic, always factual, account of the atomic concept from its origin in early Greek times to its present applications, and problems…. The last and most extensive chapter "Pollution from the Atom," reveals most clearly the message of the book: a strongly expressed concern about radioactive waste and a sharply critical position statement questioning the "safe" and "clean" claims of nuclear power proponents.

"Physical Sciences and Mathematics: 'Explorers of the Atom'," in Science Books (copyright 1974 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science), Vol. X, No. 3 (December, 1974), p. 252.

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