"Calutron Girls" is a graphic novel by author and artist Anu Anand, released in 2023. It tells the story of a group of women who worked at the California Institute of Technology's (Caltech) Calutron facility during World War II. These women, often referred to as "Calutron girls," played a crucial role in the development of the atomic bomb by operating the calutrons, devices used to separate isotopes of uranium and other elements.
Enriched uranium refers to uranium in which the percentage of the isotope uranium-235 (U-235) has been increased compared to natural uranium. Natural uranium consists primarily of about 99.3% uranium-238 (U-238) and only about 0.7% U-235. Enrichment processes increase the proportion of U-235 to levels suitable for various applications, particularly nuclear power generation and weapons.
Racks and quandles are concepts from the field of algebra, particularly in the study of knot theory and algebraic structures.
The Girdler sulfide process is a method used for the extraction of uranium from its ores, primarily applied in the context of uranium recovery from phosphate rock and other sources. Named after the researcher who developed it, the process selectively extracts uranium by using a combination of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide in a series of chemical reactions.
Plutonium-238 (Pu-238) is an isotope of plutonium, which is a heavy and radioactive metallic element. It has a half-life of about 87.7 years, making it relatively short-lived compared to some other isotopes of plutonium. Pu-238 is primarily used as a heat source in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) — devices that convert the heat released by the decay of radioactive material into electrical energy.
K-25 was a significant facility in the history of the Manhattan Project, which was the United States' World War II effort to develop atomic weapons. Located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, K-25 was a large factory built for the purpose of uranium enrichment, specifically using the gaseous diffusion process. Constructed in the early 1940s, K-25 was one of the largest buildings in the world at the time, covering over 1 million square feet.
Indium-111 (^{111}In) is a radioactive isotope of indium. It has a half-life of about 2.8 days and decays primarily via electron capture to stable tin-111 (^{111}Sn). Indium-111 is of significant interest in the field of nuclear medicine, particularly for its applications in diagnostic imaging and targeted therapy.
The term "Schrödinger field" typically refers to a specific type of quantum field theory where the dynamics of the field are governed by the Schrödinger equation, which is fundamental to non-relativistic quantum mechanics. In quantum mechanics, the Schrödinger equation describes how the quantum state of a physical system changes over time.
Krypton-85 (Kr-85) is a radioactive isotope of the element krypton, which is a noble gas. It has a mass number of 85, meaning it has 36 protons and 49 neutrons in its nucleus. Krypton-85 is produced naturally in the atmosphere through the interaction of cosmic rays with stable krypton isotopes and is also released into the environment from certain human activities, primarily from nuclear reactors and radiological applications.
Uranium-234 (U-234) is an isotope of uranium, which is a heavy metal known for its use in nuclear fuel and weapons. U-234 is a radionuclide, meaning it is radioactive and undergoes decay over time. It has a relatively long half-life of about 245,500 years, which allows it to exist in significant quantities in nature, albeit at low concentrations.
Uranium-236 (U-236) is a radioactive isotope of uranium. It is one of the isotopes that can be produced through the capture of neutrons by uranium-235 (U-235), which is a more abundant isotope commonly used in nuclear reactors and weapons. U-236 has a relatively low occurrence in nature and is generally the result of nuclear reactions, such as those that occur in nuclear reactors or during the detonation of nuclear weapons.
Louis Guttman (1920–2014) was a prominent American sociologist and psychometrician known for his contributions to the fields of sociology, statistics, and measurement theory. He is best known for developing the Guttman scale (also known as the cumulative scale), which is a unidimensional scale used to measure a person's attitudes, opinions, or behaviors.
Michael Lin is an American mathematician known for his work in the field of number theory, particularly in relation to modular forms and algebraic geometry. He has made contributions to various areas, including arithmetic geometry and the study of automorphic forms. Lin has also been involved in various mathematical research projects and educational initiatives.
Mikhail Samuilovich Livsic (also known as Mikhail Livsic) is a notable mathematician known for his contributions to various areas in mathematics, particularly in the fields of dynamical systems, topology, and the theory of differential equations. His work has influenced both theoretical aspects of mathematics and applications in other scientific disciplines.
Moshé Machover is an Israeli philosopher and mathematician known for his contributions to the philosophy of mathematics and political activism. He has been a vocal critic of Israeli policies, particularly regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Machover is associated with leftist and Marxist movements and has participated in various political efforts advocating for justice and peace in the region. In the realm of mathematics, he has made significant contributions, though he is perhaps more widely known for his political writings and viewpoints.
Naum Meiman is a notable Russian-born American mathematician, primarily known for his contributions to various areas of mathematics, including number theory, mathematical logic, and set theory. His work has had an impact on both theoretical and applied mathematics. However, it is worth noting that details about particular mathematicians can sometimes overlap, and specific contributions might vary.
Oded Regev is an Israeli computer scientist known for his contributions to the fields of theoretical computer science, cryptography, and quantum computing. He is particularly recognized for his work on lattice-based cryptography, which is a field of encryption that relies on the mathematical structure of lattices in higher-dimensional spaces. This area of research is significant for developing cryptographic systems that are believed to be resistant to attacks by quantum computers.
The "Samson Option" refers to an alleged Israeli military strategy regarding its nuclear arsenal. The term is derived from the biblical figure Samson, who destroyed a temple and killed himself along with his enemies, symbolizing a last-resort option of massive retaliation. In the context of Israel, it implies that if the state were ever faced with an existential threat, it might resort to using its nuclear weapons as a means of ensuring that any adversary that attacked Israel would also face catastrophic consequences.
Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project
Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
Intro to OurBigBook
. Source. We have two killer features:
- topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculusArticles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
- a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
- a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.Figure 1. Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page. View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivativeVideo 2. OurBigBook Web topics demo. Source. - local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
- to OurBigBook.com to get awesome multi-user features like topics and likes
- as HTML files to a static website, which you can host yourself for free on many external providers like GitHub Pages, and remain in full control
Figure 3. Visual Studio Code extension installation.Figure 4. Visual Studio Code extension tree navigation.Figure 5. Web editor. You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.Video 3. Edit locally and publish demo. Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.Video 4. OurBigBook Visual Studio Code extension editing and navigation demo. Source. - Infinitely deep tables of contents:
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact





