Perseus Academic: Imaginary Weapons by Sharon Weinberger

Despite its dubious origins—a fluke experiment involving a used dental X-ray machine and a dab of radioactive material called hafnium—the isomer bomb was conceived in 1998 as the next wave of cutting-edge military technology, a futuristic weapon so powerful it would rival the nuclear bomb.

With dark humor and access to original source materials—including interviews, e-mails and internal Pentagon documents—author Sharon Weinberger exposes the ideology-driven true believers in the Pentagon who, for five years, ignored scientific experts to pursue this fictional weapon of mass destruction.

Imaginary Weapons exposes the decline of scientific expertise within US security agencies and the government's increasing susceptibility to outlandish claims about the technologies of war.

Sharon Weinberger is the editor of Defense Technology International and has reported on national security and defense technology since 2001 for publications including Slate and the Washington Post Magazine.

Sharon Weinberger writes regularly for the Washington Post magazine and Slate. She is the editor in chief of Defense Technology International, a new magazine that covers a full range of defense technologies. Previously she was a foreign service officer in the State Dept., a defense reporter for Aviation Week Group's Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, and a defense research analyst for Systems Planning Corporation. She blogs at www.imaginaryweapons.com