Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Book Corner: Emeritus professor chronicles his quest for a black swan

The history of nuclear energy research from the height of the Cold War into space colonization of the future is detailed through one man’s career in the new book “Life at the Center of the Energy Crisis: A Technologist’s Search for a Black Swan,” published by World Scientific.

A memoir of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering professor emeritus George H. Miley, the book chronicles the 79-year-old Miley’s careerlong quest for something new and paradigm-altering in the burgeoning energy industry.

“Simply put, a Black Swan is an unexpected event which has immense direction-changing implications,” Miley writes in the book’s preface. “That is, most of my research has been aimed at finding new phenomena which would have a dramatic impact on new energy sources and their applications.”

The narrative begins as a young Miley, bright-eyed and eager, sets off to study chemical engineering and physics at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), and follows him through adventures with nuclear submarines, lasers, nuclear fusion, hydrogen fuel cells, nuclear batteries, power plant safety, teaching, starting a company and more.

“As an individual researcher I saw the immediate problem, for example, high gas process, but I chose topics to work on that often were aimed at long-term improvements to energy sources,” Miley wrote.

While somewhat chronologically organized, Miley divides his chapters into areas of research rather than historical eras. A timeline in the book’s appendix helps the reader see when in the course of Miley’s career, and more broadly in the history of energy development, certain technologies or branches of research came into play.

Miley’s storytelling gives a sense of sitting in his office listening to his account of the people and events that shaped the energy landscape, or of being a student in his classroom as he explains the principles of fusion and fission or the structure of fuel cells. Miley includes pictures and graphics to set the historical tone and illustrate scientific concepts, both of which add to his colorful narrative.

Readers with an interest in the principles or the history of nuclear energy, or of its future in a post-Cold War era – could space colonization be made possible by fusion-propelled spacecraft? – will find much to interest them in this book. Alumni and students of the Illinois NPRE program would especially appreciate the insights and reminisces of the man who spent 50 years in the department and served as program chair, helping to develop the program and hiring many of the faculty members in the department today.

While Miley has yet to find his elusive black swan, his work has furthered energy research on a number of fronts. And though now retired from full-time work, he is determined to continue his quest. As he says in the book’s optimistic final pages, “Much of the fun comes with the search.”

Read Next

Life sciences Portrait of the research team posing together.

Minecraft players can now explore whole cells and their contents

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have translated nanoscale experimental and computational data into precise 3D representations of bacteria, yeast and human epithelial, breast and breast cancer cells in Minecraft, a video game that allows players to explore, build and manipulate structures in three dimensions. The innovation will allow researchers and students of all ages to navigate […]

Arts Photo of seven dancers onstage wearing blue tops and orange or yellow flowing skirts. The backdrop is a Persian design.

February Dance includes works experimenting with live music, technology and a ‘sneaker ballet’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The dance department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will present February Dance 2025: Fast Forward this week at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. February Dance will be one of the first performances in the newly renovated Colwell Playhouse Theatre since its reopening. The performances are Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Dance professor […]

Honors portraits of four Illinois researchers

Four Illinois researchers receive Presidential Early Career Award

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Four researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. The winners this year are health and kinesiology professor Marni Boppart, physics professor Barry Bradlyn, chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Ying […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010