Book ID: CBB410531058

Atomic Junction: Nuclear Power in Africa after Independence (2019)

unapi

After Atomic Junction, along the Haatso-Atomic Road there lies the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, home to Africa's first nuclear programme after independence. Travelling along this road, Abena Dove Osseo-Asare gathers together stories of conflict and compromise on an African nuclear frontier. She speaks with a generation of African scientists who became captivated with 'the atom' and studied in the Soviet Union to make nuclear physics their own. On Pluton Lane and Gamma Avenue, these scientists displaced quiet farming villages in their bid to establish a scientific metropolis, creating an epicentre for Ghana's nuclear physics community. By placing interviews with town leaders, physicists and local entrepreneurs alongside archival records, Osseo-Asare explores the impact of scientific pursuit on areas surrounding the reactor, focusing on how residents came to interpret activities on these 'Atomic Lands'. This combination of historical research, personal and ethnographic observations shows how Ghanaians now stand at a crossroad, where some push to install more reactors, whilst others merely seek pipe-borne water.

...More
Reviewed By

Review John Krige (2021) Review of "Atomic Junction: Nuclear Power in Africa after Independence". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 436-437). unapi

Review Jeffrey S. Ahlman (2021) Review of "Atomic Junction: Nuclear Power in Africa after Independence". American Historical Review (pp. 1350-1351). unapi

Review Damilola Adebayo (April 2021) Review of "Atomic Junction: Nuclear Power in Africa after Independence". Technology and Culture (pp. 586-587). unapi

Review Austin R. Cooper (2020) Review of "Atomic Junction: Nuclear Power in Africa after Independence". Journal of the History of Biology (pp. 315-317). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB410531058/

Similar Citations

Book Jacob Darwin Hamblin; (2021)
The Wretched Atom: America's Global Gamble with Peaceful Nuclear Technology (/isis/citation/CBB105394498/)

Thesis Osseo-Asare, Abena Dove Agyepoma; (2005)
Bitter Roots: African Science and the Search for Healing Plants in Ghana,1885--2005 (/isis/citation/CBB001561890/)

Article William Beaver; (2017)
Can Nuclear Power Come Back? (/isis/citation/CBB815521622/)

Article Tolliday, Steven; (2012)
Crumbling Dream: Japan's Nuclear Quest, 1954--2011 (/isis/citation/CBB001211687/)

Book Yuko Fujigaki; (2015)
Lessons From Fukushima: Japanese Case Studies on Science, Technology and Society (/isis/citation/CBB681578186/)

Article Moon, Suzanne; (2010)
Introduction (/isis/citation/CBB001033653/)

Article Vieira, Cássio Leite; Videira, Antonio Augusto Passos; (2014)
Carried by History: Cesar Lattes, Nuclear Emulsions, and the Discovery of the Pi-meson (/isis/citation/CBB001421016/)

Book Joshua Grace; (2021)
African Motors: Technology, Gender, and the History of Development (/isis/citation/CBB668478842/)

Book Hecht, Gabrielle; (2012)
Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade (/isis/citation/CBB001210364/)

Book Alex Wellerstein; (2021)
Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (/isis/citation/CBB433725241/)

Article Velikhov, Ye. P.; Gaponov, Yu. V.; (2009)
Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov---Scientist and Creator (1903--1960) (/isis/citation/CBB001211335/)

Article Stephanie Decker; (Winter 2018)
Africanization in British Multinationals in Ghana and Nigeria, 1945–1970 (/isis/citation/CBB634924349/)

Article Sahm, Astrid; (2013)
Atomenergie in Ost- und Westeuropa: Reaktionen auf Tschernobyl und Fukushima (/isis/citation/CBB001200600/)

Article Johnston, Sean F.; (2011)
Making the Invisible Engineer Visible: DuPont and the Recognition of Nuclear Expertise (/isis/citation/CBB001230737/)

Authors & Contributors
Hart, Jennifer
Decker, Stephanie
Jun 淳 Tateno 舘野
Joshua Grace
Wellock, Thomas Raymond
Wellerstein, Alex
Concepts
Nuclear industry
Atomic, nuclear, and particle physics
Nuclear reactors
Nuclear power; atomic energy
Colonialism
Technology and politics
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
20th century, late
19th century
Places
Africa
Ghana
United States
Japan
Nigeria
Tanzania (Tanganyika, Zanzibar)
Institutions
United States. Atomic Energy Commission
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment