UNDERSTANDING RADIOACTIVE WASTE - LATEST DEVELOPMENTS,
by Raymond L. Murray, 3rd edition, 1989, 182p., published by Battelle Press, ISBN 0-935470-41-7, Soft Cover $12.50, Sale Price $8.95

Prepared originally for the U.S. Department of Energy. Deals with the nature of radioactivity, biological effects, standards and protection, uses of isotopes, classification, disposal treatment, recycling of wastes, transportation, health protection, laws and regulations, societal aspects. Glossary, references, index.

ENGINES OF CREATION, The Coming Era of Nanotechnology,
by K. Eric Drexler, with Foreword by Marvin Minsky, 1986, 310p, Anchor Press, ISBN 0-385-19972-2, Soft Cover $10.95

This is a futuristic look at technology, what it has been and what it can become. It brings out the principles of change in technology and predicts and projects. In the author’s profiles of the possible he deals with engines of abundance, thinking machines, healing machines, long life in an open world, the world beyond the Earth, the door to the future, and limits to growth. In his section on dangers and hopes he discusses engines of destruction, strategies and survival, the search for facts, and knowledge networks. References, glossary, index. A must for the technically oriented futurist. “Engines of Creation is the best attempt so far to prepare us to think of what we might become, should we persist in making new technologies” (Marvin Minsky).

THE WONDERFUL APPARITION, THE STORY OF HALLEY’S COMET,
by Richard B. Peterson, 1985, 204p, published by Lighthouse Writer’s Guild, ISBN 0-935125-00-0, Hard Cover $18.95.

An authoritative book on Halley’s Comet tracing the history of its apparition from observations in ancient times to the present. Includes background on conics and comets, the nature of the comet, and appendices on tracking, positions and magnitudes of Halley’s Comet 1986.

This book is a merger of the scientific facts concerning a most interesting celestial object with the equally fascinating personal account of these men and women who have illuminated the history of this comet. This book details the human story of search and personal sacrifice, of discovery and deception, of international competition, and of a pervasive fear and sometimes panic among the populace. Thoroughly researched with a bibliography, glossary, and index, and containing over forty diagrams and photographs, this book may well be the most comprehensive history yet written of this celebrated visitor to the earth.