<i>The Making of the Atomic Bomb</i>

Rhodes, Ryan E.; Bernstein, Barton J.

doi:10.1063/1.2811681

Cited by 82 publications

(42 citation statements)

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“…During the Manhattan Project, the United States selectively exploited Britain's expertise in nuclear physics while systematically denying the British access to America's most sensitive nuclear weapons research. Official U.S. policy was to prevent Britain from obtaining the bomb in this period (Gowing 1964(Gowing , 1974Rhodes 1995). The…”

Section: United States To Greatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exporting the Bomb: Why States Provide Sensitive Nuclear Assistance

Kroenig

2009

Am Polit Sci Rev

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Why do states provide sensitive nuclear assistance to nonnuclear weapon states, contributing to the international spread of nuclear weapons? Using a new dataset on sensitive nuclear transfers, this paper analyzes the determinants of sensitive nuclear assistance. I first describe a simple logic of the differential effects of nuclear proliferation, which I use to generate hypotheses about the conditions under which states provide sensitive nuclear assistance. I then show that the strategic characteristics of the potential nuclear suppliers are the most important determinants of sensitive nuclear assistance. Explanations that emphasize the importance of economic motivations do not find support in the data. This paper presents a new approach to the study of the spread of nuclear weapons, focusing on the supply side of nuclear proliferation.

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Section: United States To Greatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exporting the Bomb: Why States Provide Sensitive Nuclear Assistance

Kroenig

2009

Am Polit Sci Rev

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“…It was originally argued that radio waves would have no practical applications, and Lord Rutherford said that the idea of applying atomic energy was 'moonshine'. It was this remark that sparked Leo Szilard to think of a nuclear reaction that led to the atom bomb (Rhodes 1986). There was, again, no way that those investigating the ability of certain bacteria to resist infection by viruses would lead to the discovery of restriction enzymes, an indispensable tool for cutting up DNA and the genetic material which is fundamental to genetic engineering.…”

Section: Social Responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Medawar Lecture 1998 Is science dangerous?

Wolpert

2005

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The idea that science is dangerous is deeply embedded in our culture, particularly in literature, yet science provides the best way of understanding the world. Science is not the same as technology. In contrast to technology, reliable scientific knowledge is value-free and has no moral or ethical value. Scientists are not responsible for the technological applications of science; the very nature of science is that it is not possible to predict what will be discovered or how these discoveries could be applied. The obligation of scientists is to make public both any social implications of their work and its technological applications. A rare case of immoral science was eugenics. The image of Frankenstein has been turned by the media into genetic pornography, but neither cloning nor stem cells or gene therapy raise new ethical issues. There are no areas of research that are so socially sensitive that research into them should be proscribed. We have to rely on the many institutions of a democratic society: parliament, a free and vigorous press, affected groups and the scientists themselves. That is why programmes for the public understanding of science are so important. Alas, we still do not know how best to do this.

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“…My reading of Richard Rhodes, for example, is that he attributes the "Los Alamos Primer" to lectures given by Robert Serber and compiled by associate lab director Edward Condon. 1 J. Robert Oppenheimer's role was evidently to convene the lectures.…”

Section: Jack Steinbergermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…He has been studying and reporting on redshift data for over two decades now, and has repeatedly found a bunching of the data around certain values. 1 When interpreted in terms of recessional velocities in the usual way, these values are integral multiples of a certain basic value-namely, 72 km/s. Although somewhat controversial initially, these basic results were later confirmed by Bruce Guthrie and William Napier of the Royal Observatory in the UK.…”

Section: Austin Texasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, Manhattan Project scientists pursued critical physics research during all bomb "engineering" phases, until final weapon assembly and shipment. 1 I also fail to understand Cranberg's comparison between Oppenheimer and Fermi. Although an outstanding scientist and leader in the physics community, Fermi never directed Los Alamos, and therefore cannot be judged in terms of a role he never played.…”

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confidence: 96%

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