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Weapons of mass destruction : specters of the nuclear age / photographs and history by Martin Miller ; with foreword by Richard Rhodes

Author
Miller, Martin (Photographer)
Published
Atglen, PA : Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., [2017]
Copyright Date
©2017
Physical Description
224 pages : chiefly black & white illustrations ; 24 x 31 cm
Additional Creators
Rhodes, Richard, 1937-

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Contents
Foreword / Richard Rhodes -- Preface -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Second World war (Political WMD ; WWII prelude: no more limits ; First atomic bombs: the uranium bomb ; First atomic bombs: the plutonium bomb ; First atomic bombs: wartime use) -- 3. Postwar chaos and the seeds of order (War's end ; Operation Crossroads ; Sandia Z Division) -- 4. Rise of the AEC and AFSWP (1947-1951) (AEC and AFSWP established ; Growing Sandia capability ; Fissile material production ; Bomb innovations ; Operation Sandstone ; Integrated production complex) -- 5. The hydrogen bomb (1951-1954) (Truman's decision ; Teller-Ulam concept ; Ivy Mike ; Castle Bravo ; Lawrence Livermore Laboratory ; Eisenhower and the nuclear saber) -- 6. Peak production (1955-1970) (New technologies: missiles ; New technologies: ballistic missile submarines ; New technologies: nuclear bombers -- the game changer that wasn't ; Would any of this have worked? ; The role of evolving strategies ; New international crises) -- 7. Denouement (Safweguard ; MX Peacekeeper missile ; The White Train ; Chernobyl ; Demise of the production complex ; Destruction of nuclear weapons ; The future) -- 8. Epilogue: A parable -- 9. Gallery: photographs by the author.
Summary
"The Nuclear Age properly began with the discovery of the nucleus by Ernest Rutherford in 1911, but its impact on civilization began with the use of atomic bombs against Japan in WWII. The development of atomic bombs forever changed the world. From having a single bomb immediately after the Nagasaki attack, the United States would go on to build some 70,000 nuclear bombs over the course of the Cold War. The colossal brinkmanship with the Soviet Union threatened each country's people. Why were so many bombs thought to be necessary? How did the infrastructure come about to enable the delicate business of building and deploying so many bombs? This book answers these questions and more; through high quality photographs the full flowering of the warheads and delivery systems of the nuclear age are shown in chilling detail."--Book jacket.
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ISBN
9780764354403 hardcover
076435440X hardcover
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-224).
View MARC record | catkey: 25374401