Keeper of the Nuclear Conscience

Keeper of the Nuclear Conscience PDF Author: Andrew Brown
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191632945
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Joseph Rotblat was the Jewish nuclear scientist whose disillusionment with nuclear weapons encouraged him to become one of the prime architects of the anti-nuclear movement, and resulted in his lifelong efforts to promote social responsibility in science. His founding of Pugwash and his humanitarian work ultimately led to his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Rotblat's life, from his boyhood in Warsaw under siege and occupation in World War I to an active old age that brought honours and public recognition, is a compelling human story in itself. What gave it significance is the single-minded dedication to peaceful causes, particularly through his pursuit of nuclear disarmament. A key member of the British team that demonstrated the feasibility of the atomic bomb, he was so appalled by the use of the bombs against the Japanese that he founded the Pugwash organization to engage scientists from East and West to prohibit weapons of mass destruction. The story of his life reflects his global actions and his efforts were acknowledged when he was jointly awarded, with Pugwash, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995. Set against a backdrop of profound changes to the global order - World War II, the Cold War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union, we also learn of his own personal tragedy. Andrew Brown's biography sets out a life whose work poses deep and important questions about science and society. This compelling account draws on full access to Rotblat's archives and presents the full scope of his life: his childhood overcoming poverty and anti-Semitism, his efforts to become a scientist in Warsaw, his work on Britain's nuclear programme, his lifelong dedication to peaceful causes, and his determination to uphold the ethical application of science. Ultimately, we discover a great man whose profound conscience shaped his life and work, and the legacy he leaves today.

Keeper of the Nuclear Conscience

Keeper of the Nuclear Conscience PDF Author: Andrew Brown
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191632945
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Joseph Rotblat was the Jewish nuclear scientist whose disillusionment with nuclear weapons encouraged him to become one of the prime architects of the anti-nuclear movement, and resulted in his lifelong efforts to promote social responsibility in science. His founding of Pugwash and his humanitarian work ultimately led to his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Rotblat's life, from his boyhood in Warsaw under siege and occupation in World War I to an active old age that brought honours and public recognition, is a compelling human story in itself. What gave it significance is the single-minded dedication to peaceful causes, particularly through his pursuit of nuclear disarmament. A key member of the British team that demonstrated the feasibility of the atomic bomb, he was so appalled by the use of the bombs against the Japanese that he founded the Pugwash organization to engage scientists from East and West to prohibit weapons of mass destruction. The story of his life reflects his global actions and his efforts were acknowledged when he was jointly awarded, with Pugwash, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995. Set against a backdrop of profound changes to the global order - World War II, the Cold War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union, we also learn of his own personal tragedy. Andrew Brown's biography sets out a life whose work poses deep and important questions about science and society. This compelling account draws on full access to Rotblat's archives and presents the full scope of his life: his childhood overcoming poverty and anti-Semitism, his efforts to become a scientist in Warsaw, his work on Britain's nuclear programme, his lifelong dedication to peaceful causes, and his determination to uphold the ethical application of science. Ultimately, we discover a great man whose profound conscience shaped his life and work, and the legacy he leaves today.

Keeper of the Nuclear Conscience

Keeper of the Nuclear Conscience PDF Author: Andrew Brown
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199586586
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
Recounts the life and accomplishments of the nuclear physicist, who after Hiroshima promoted social responsibility within science.

Joseph Rotblat

Joseph Rotblat PDF Author: Martin Underwood
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 9781845193232
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat was a distinguished scientist who made a significant contribution to nuclear physics, worked on the development of the atomic bomb, and was suspected of being a Soviet spy. This book describes his personal background and circumstances, and summarises his life, achievements and contribution to mankind

Freedom's Laboratory

Freedom's Laboratory PDF Author: Audra J. Wolfe
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN: 1421439085
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Closing in the present day with a discussion of the 2017 March for Science and the prospects for science and science diplomacy in the Trump era, the book demonstrates the continued hold of Cold War thinking on ideas about science and politics in the United States.

British Nuclear Culture

British Nuclear Culture PDF Author: Jonathan Hogg
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1441109242
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
The advent of the atomic bomb, the social and cultural impact of nuclear science, and the history of the British nuclear state after 1945 is a complex and contested story. British Nuclear Culture is an important survey that offers a new interpretation of the nuclear century by tracing the tensions between 'official' and 'unofficial' nuclear narratives in British culture. In this book, Jonathan Hogg argues that nuclear culture was a pervasive and persistent aspect of British life, particularly in the years following 1945. This idea is illustrated through detailed analysis of various primary source materials, such as newspaper articles, government files, fictional texts, film, music and oral testimonies. The book introduces unfamiliar sources to students of nuclear and cold war history, and offers in-depth and critical reflections on the expanding historiography in this area of research. Chronologically arranged, British Nuclear Culture reflects upon, and returns to, a number of key themes throughout, including nuclear anxiety, government policy, civil defence, 'nukespeak' and nuclear subjectivity, individual experience, protest and resistance, and the influence of the British nuclear state on everyday life. The book contains illustrations, individual case studies, a select bibliography, a timeline, and a list of helpful online resources for students of nuclear history.

British Nuclear Mobilisation Since 1945

British Nuclear Mobilisation Since 1945 PDF Author: Jonathan Hogg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000395162
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
This book explores aspects of the social and cultural history of nuclear Britain in the Cold War era (1945–1991) and contributes to a more multivalent exploration of the consequences of nuclear choices which are too often left unacknowledged by historians of post-war Britain. In the years after 1945, the British government mobilised money, scientific knowledge, people and military–industrial capacity to create both an independent nuclear deterrent and the generation of electricity through nuclear reactors. This expensive and vast ‘technopolitical’ project, mostly top-secret and run by small sub-committees within government, was central to broader Cold War strategy and policy. Recent attempts to map the resulting social and cultural history of these military–industrial policy decisions suggest that nuclear mobilisation had far-reaching consequences for British life. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Contemporary British History.

The Neutron and the Bomb: A Biography of Sir James Chadwick

The Neutron and the Bomb: A Biography of Sir James Chadwick PDF Author: Andrew Brown
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 435

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Book Description
James Chadwick (1891-1974) came from a humble background: his father was a cotton spinner. He was accepted in the physics department of Sir Ernest Rutherford at Manchester University in 1908 on a scholarship, and soon started publishing new findings about radioactivity. This led to a traveling scholarship to Berlin, where he made the important discovery of the continuous spectrum of β-particles. When the World War I broke out, Chadwick was interned by the Germans as an enemy alien for the next four years, but continued experiments in the prison camp. On his return to England in broken health, Rutherford invited Chadwick to join the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge where he became Rutherford’s deputy and oversaw much groundbreaking physics research over the next 15 years. Chadwick concentrated on finding evidence for the neutron, an uncharged nuclear particle whose existence was first proposed by Rutherford in 1920. Having noticed anomalous results from the Curie laboratory in Paris in 1932, Chadwick used simple bench-top apparatus to convince himself, after weeks of intense observations, that he had definite evidence for the existence of the neutron. The Nobel Prize for physics followed in 1935; that year he moved to Liverpool University to head his own department. At the outbreak of World War II, the feasibility of atomic bombs of unprecedented explosive power was already being discussed. Chadwick drafted the British MAUD committee's historic reports in the summer of 1941 which concluded that atomic bombs were indeed feasible with sufficient industrial capacity. In wartime Britain this was impossible, but in 1943 Chadwick moved to the US as head of the British scientists working on the Manhattan Project. He formed an unlikely alliance with its leader, General Leslie Groves, and became an adroit scientist-diplomat. Witnessing the first explosion of a plutonium-fueled device at the Trinity Test shattered him. Chadwick believed that dropping atomic bombs on Japanese cities was justified but the development of nuclear weapons as an unintended consequence of his discovery of the neutron caused him deep personal anguish. “Until this excellent book by Andrew Brown, [Chadwick] has remained the most shadowy of the atomic scientists who, for better or worse, gave the human species mastery over nuclear energy.” — Nigel Calder, New Scientist “Andrew Brown’s biography beautifully reveals [Chadwick’s] scientific, diplomatic and personal achievements.” — Roger H Stuewer, Physics Today “I can warmly recommend this book to all interested in the life of a remarkable scientist who played a crucial role in a formative period of the modern world.” — Hermann Bondi, Times Higher Education Supplement “This is the biography of a physicist who made one of the most important discoveries in nuclear physics, but retained to his old age the shyness of a young lad... Andrew Brown takes us through Chadwick’s life as an adventure... I found it a very good read.” — Hans Bethe, American Journal of Physics “The tale of so sterling a character, even when told as well as in this book, may be a little short on light moments, but any reader interested in the evolution of physics from an academic passion to a leading role on the world stage will find it a fascinating story and a worthy tribute to a great scientist.” — Brian Pippard, Nature “... makes absorbing reading... more than the life story of a remarkable man... unfolds the tremendous transformation that science underwent in the 20th century.” —Joseph Rotblat “… avidly researched and artfully written... This biography... blends elegantly direct scientific descriptions with often witty episodes and character summaries.” — William Lanouette, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Rethinking the American Antinuclear Movement

Rethinking the American Antinuclear Movement PDF Author: Paul Rubinson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317514920
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
The massive movement against nuclear weapons began with the invention of the atomic bomb in 1945 and lasted throughout the Cold War. Antinuclear protesters of all sorts mobilized in defiance of the move toward nuclear defense in the wake of the Cold War. They influenced U.S. politics, resisting the mindset of nuclear deterrence and mutually-assured destruction. The movement challenged Cold War militarism and restrained leaders who wanted to rely almost exclusively on nuclear weapons for national security. Ultimately, a huge array of activists decided that nuclear weapons made the country less secure, and that, through testing and radioactive fallout, they harmed the very people they were supposed to protect. Rethinking the American Antinuclear Movement provides a short, accessible overview of this important social and political movement, highlighting key events and figures, the strengths and weaknesses of the activists, and its lasting effects on the country. It is perfect for anyone wanting to obtain an introduction to the American antinuclear movement and the massive reach of this transnational concern.

Armageddon and Paranoia

Armageddon and Paranoia PDF Author: Rodric Braithwaite
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190870311
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Former British Ambassador to the Soviet Union and author of the definitive account of the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, Sir Rodric Braithwaite offers here a tour d'horizon of nuclear policy from the end of World War II and start of the Cold War to the present day. Armageddon and Paranoia unfolds the full history of nuclear weapons that began with the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union and now extends worldwide. For decades, an apocalypse seemed imminent, staved off only by the certainty that if one side launched these missiles the other would launch an equally catastrophic counterstrike. This method of avoiding all-out nuclear warfare was called "Deterrence," a policy of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). Still, though neither side actively wanted to plunge the world into nuclear wasteland, the possibility of war by misjudgment or mistake meant fears could never be entirely assuaged. Both an exploration of Deterrence and the long history of superpower nuclear policy, Armageddon and Paranoia comes at a time when tensions surrounding nuclear armament have begun mounting once more. No book until this one has offered so comprehensive a history of the topic that has guided--at times dominated--the world in which we live.

A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks

A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks PDF Author: Raffaele Pisano
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9401796459
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 582

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Book Description
This book analyzes scientific problems within the history of physics, engineering, chemistry, astronomy and medicine, correlated with technological applications in the social context. When and how is tension between disciplines explicitly practised? What is the conceptual bridge between science researches and the organization of technological researches in the development of industrial applications? The authors explain various ways in which the sciences allowed advanced modelling on the one hand, and the development of new technological ideas on the other hand. An emphasis on the role played by mechanisms, production methods and instruments bestows a benefit on historical and scientific discourse: theories, institutions, universities, schools for engineers, social implications as well. Scholars from different traditions discuss the emergency style of thinking in methodology and, in theoretical perspective, aim to gather and re-evaluate the current thinking on this subject. It brings together contributions from leading experts in the field, and gives much-needed insight into the subject from a historical point of view. The volume composition makes for absorbing reading for historians, philosophers and scientists.