Your Book Review: The Future Of Fusion Energy

Published: June 18, 2022, 1:33 p.m.

b'

https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/your-book-review-the-future-of-fusion

[This is one of the finalists in the 2022 book review contest. It\\u2019s not by me - it\\u2019s by an ACX reader who will remain anonymous until after voting is done, to prevent their identity from influencing your decisions. I\\u2019ll be posting about one of these a week for several months. When you\\u2019ve read them all, I\\u2019ll ask you to vote for a favorite, so remember which ones you liked - SA]

Introduction

\\xa0

Fusion is the power which lights the stars. It is the source of all elements heavier than hydrogen in the universe. Wouldn\'t it be great if we could use and control this power here on Earth?

I predict that we will get fusion [1] before 2035 (80%) or 2040 (90%). I am a professional plasma physicist, a fusioneer if you will, so I probably know more about this subject than you, but am likely to overemphasize its importance.

The Future of Fusion Energy is the best introduction to fusion that I know. I can confirm that the information it contains is common knowledge among plasma physicists. My parents, who are not physicists [2], can confirm that it is accessible and interesting to read.

Things are changing fast in fusion right now, and The Future of Fusion Energy is already out of date in some important ways. I will summarize our quest for fusion as it is portrayed in the book, describe what has happened in the field since 2018, and make some predictions about where we go from here. The predictions are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Parisi or Ball.

'