A thorough and enlightening history of your favourite fissionable material!

Who would have thought that a biography of uranium and its role in human history could be so diverting? Spanning the early Industrial Revolution to now, it's not only a history of uranium and its role in nuclear warfare, but also all the other weirder and unexpected stories along the way that make this book an enjoyable read. Famous names in science, industry and even entertainment have their moments in Santos's spotlight, and the places that uranium pops up are as diverse as Bikini Atoll (and the evolution of the bikini) and Las Vegas, Chernobyl (of course) and Sellafield.

Overall, it's an uneven book, with different flavours of history coming forward in different parts but not consistently throughout. Science history, obviously, but also some popular history, military and politics, social history and literary references to uranium's tumultuous history. The chapter of the mid-century uranium rush is a hoot.

Three stars: more on the Simpsons wouldn't have gone amiss.