Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 46 — page 83: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION for only a tiny fraction of a second, but it lasts longenough to get a few conjoining re- actions going. These then re- lease enough energy to main- tain the reaction, and the whole thing becomes a chain of rapidly increasing numbers of collisions—similar in many ways to the chain reaction in the atomic bomb. In time—an incredibly short time, by our standards—enough energy is produced within the chain to support the sudden conjoining of all the other particles. Then the balloon goes up! Yet although all these things have been happening, millions of collisions occurring, the time from the explosion of the atomic bomb to the explosion of the fusion section would still be less than a second. The actual figure is a secret, but experts believe that the inter- val of time is so short that it could not be measured in the ordinary way. It may be of the order of a few millionths of a second! | The destructive power of the hydrogen bomb, as ob- served in the Pacific, has been broadcast far and wide, and has given rise to a certain amount of -disquietude. Yet the main danger of this _weapon has not, as far as we know, been mentioned for a 82 long time. True, the hydrogen bomb tends to destroy every- thing within up to ten or so miles of the explosion centre. _ True, it sends radioactive clouds half-way, or even all the way, round the world. True, it poisons the water and kills the fish and burns un- suspecting fishermen and generally wreaks havoc all around. But these things are but pin-pricks to what it might do if given the chance. Can you imagine this whole planet acting as a hydrogen bomb? Just as in the man- made device there are fusion materials and a detonator, so the Earth hangs in space as a huge mass of fusion material— and the hydrogen bomb re- poses in stockpiles as the detonator. . What is the theoretical back- ground to this? Is it mere exaggeration and sensational speculation? Who knows? Maybe somebody does, but if so, then he isn’t talking. But there definitely is a sound physical basis for the fear that the hydrogen bomb—or its near successors—may start a chain reaction involving the whole world. Thisisthetheory: It is quite simple. We have already pointed out that if you raise the temperature of fusion conmmicloooks.comn)