The Making of the Atomic Bomb
by Richard Rhodes
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73:36
Author gives in-depth interview to Atomic Heritage Foundation
31K
334
Jul, 2014
Spoiler:
The author speaks on a variety of topics related to nuclear weapons, always weighing the question of worldwide security and risk management. He discusses in depth the fear, during World War II, that Hitler was close to having an atomic bomb, something that turned out to be far from the truth. England eventually found out, from eavesdropping on captured German scientists, that they were completely shocked, when the U.S. bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to find out that the United States had such weapons.
26:43
Author responds to written questions on nuclear weapons
5K
42
Jun, 2013
Spoiler:
The author attempts to visualize a world without nuclear weapons, saying that even a “small” nuclear event would devastate worldwide agriculture, and that the possibility of computer or human error is too great. He suggests thinking of nuclear weapons the way we used to think of disease, which was not historically politicized. He uses the example of vanquishing smallpox in the 1950s, when even countries that were hostile to each other cooperated in the name of public health.
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Publications
The Wall Street Journal: Stephen Budiansky on scientists in World War II
The Washington Post: Nuclear weapons mess: we’re all in it together but don’t know how to get out alive
The New York Times: The Men Who Made the Sun Rise
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