Book Review- The Hunt for Zero Point by Nick Cook
August 15th 2007 07:33
The Hunt for Zero Point by Nick Cook explores the concept of anti-gravity which goes against all the accepted theories of physics, including those of Einstein.
Written by Jane's Defense Review reporter Nick Cook, "The Hunt for Zero Point: Inside the Classified World of Antigravity Technology" is a modern bible featuring the latest information on antigravity research and a complete historical background on its secret origins and development - both in the United States and abroad.
The book begins when Cook jokingly calls the possibility of antigravity drives "the ultimate quantum leap in aircraft design" in one of his Jane's pieces more than 10 years ago. A few years later, someone anonymously slips him an article, dating to the 1950s, that shows officials at Lockheed Martin and other big contractors claiming they were close to exactly that.
What unfolded for Nick Cook, however, and what he reveals in his book, was a 10 year intercontinental search for the truth. A work of investigative journalism, his book reads like a thriller.
"There were times when I thought I was a little crazy, so I had to keep reminding myself of the facts."
And at every turn, every dead-end, something,or someone, would appear and lead him back on the trail. The most startling finding surrounded the origins of anti-gravity research in Nazi Germany.
Intrigued, Cook takes the bait and follows the trail to the wildest territory imaginable: destroyed or pulled reports; disappearing battleships; silent, glowing flying discs; time distortion; Nazi slave labor. To simplify in the extreme: Cook has found evidence that Nazi scientists had tapped into zero point energy the quantum energy that possibly exists within vacuums in amounts that make nuclear energy look like a joke (enough energy in the space of a coffee cup, Cook explains, to boil the world's oceans six times over).
When WWII ended, Nazi secrets were plundered by the U.S. Army, which spirited them, along with many of the German scientists themselves, into "black" programs not acknowledged by the government and which may have produced working aerospace technology based on zero point. Through his cover as a Jane's reporter, Cook seeks out the stealthy wonks of this top-secret world, but readers will have to wade through some opaque thumbnail descriptions of the science and arcane WWII history to understand what he and others are getting at. It is well worth it.
(net sourced)
I read this book quite a few years ago but as I wandered around our local libaray, I thought might a well give it another go. I like a good non fiction book although it is a real balancing act of the author to present dry scientific knowledge in such a way that the reader doesn't lose interest. This book manages it very well, with the story starting on his return from a coffee break to find a photocopied article placed on his office desk. But it was the headline that caught his eye 'The G-Engines are coming!' And after looking around the open plan office to find the joker only to see everyone busy with their own tasks, this ignited Nick's curious nature into finding out more.
This would be a long road travelled in which names like Area 51, Shiva Star, Aurora and Han Kammler crop up again and again as Nick travelled to the US before following a lead to Europe and going back to WW2 and the SS secret weapons programs.
Now there is a lot of info and I should imagine that what we read in the book is only a small fraction of what had to be sorted through to seperate the chaff from the real mccoy.
It certainly raises some questions about just what tech did the allies salvage from the Germans at the end of WW2? And it makes you realise just what could be out there.
The only thing I found with this book, is that you get the impression that the author was trying to create more drama and tension and you are left wondering just what is fact and what is fiction.
One part for example is where he is close to the Skunk Works( do a net search on key words) and he is asleep in a motel when armed troops burst in and place a gun to his head. This turns out to be a dream sequence and I was left wondering if that really happened or that the author was trying to make it sound more sinister??
Overall, an interesting book and well worth a read. I had a quick look on the net under the key words Shiva Star, Aurora etc and there is a great deal of info on there in which you can while away a wet afternoon.
kiwiauthor rating 6/10
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