The Book Prize Index

The Curve of Binding Energy

John McPhee

Theodore Taylor was one of the most brilliant engineers of the nuclear age, but in his later years he became concerned with the possibility of an individual being able to construct a weapon of mass destruction on their own. McPhee tours American nuclear institutions with Taylor and shows us how close we are to terrorist attacks employing homemade nuclear weaponry.

ScienceScience · medium confidenceScience81 signalsLlm Classifier: Science -> ScienceOpen Library: Scientists, biography -> BiographyOpen Library: Non-Classifiable -> Society & CultureGroup Biography

Award History

0 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
National Book Award for NonfictionMajor1975FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    • Theodore Taylor82%

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    32 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 74%.