“The J and the W, I’m sure, stand for Johann Weber. The C—capital C—and the small s, is the chemical symbol for cesium.”
“Cesium!” Understanding came to Hank Mahenili. Any informed engineer knew the importance of this element.
“Just what is cesium, Dad? And what is it used for?”
“Technically, son, its atomic number is 55, and its atomic weight is 132.91. Its use?” Mr. Brewster smiled. “I’ll tell you this, we’ll never get to the moon without it.”
“You mean it’s used in rocket propulsion?” Biff asked.
“That’s right, Biff. It’s a high-thrust, long-life rocket propulsion fuel. Most costly.”
“More than gold?” Li asked eagerly.
“Much more, Li. If you and Biff had about ten pounds of it between you, you’d have your education paid at any college you wanted to go to—M.I.T., Cal Tech—any of them.”
“Wow! Must be worth more than a thousand dollars a pound, then,” Biff said, his voice filled with amazement.
“It is, Biff. The refining process is what makes it so expensive. Scientists and explorers—like Jim Huntington—have carried on extensive searches to locate a field where the purity of the ore is high—higher than in those fields we now know about.”