The story of David
Age 10: Received gift – The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.
Age 12: Digested his father’s college chemistry textbooks.
Age 14: Made nitroglycerin.
Almost 15: Earned a merit badge in Atomic Energy.
Age 17: Hit on the idea of building a model breeder reactor, a nuclear reactor that not only generates electricity, but also produces new fuel. David mixed his radium and americium with beryllium and aluminum, all of which he wrapped in aluminum foil, forming a makeshift reactor core. He surrounded this radioactive ball with a blanket of small foil-wrapped cubes of thorium ash and uranium powder, tenuously held together with duct tape. Red Green would be proud.
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