Book ID: CBB001551957

Scientists at War: The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research (2015)

unapi

Bridger, Sarah (Author)


Harvard University Press


Publication Date: 2015
Physical Details: x + 350 pp.; bibl.; index
Language: English

Scientists at War examines the ethical debates that severely tested the American scientific community during the Cold War. Sarah Bridger highlights the contributions of scientists to military technologies and strategic policymaking, from the dawning atomic age in the 1940s through the Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”) in the 1980s, which sparked a cross-generational opposition among scientists. The Manhattan Project in the early 1940s and the crisis provoked by the launch of Sputnik in 1957 greatly enhanced the political clout of American scientists. Yet many who took up government roles felt a duty to advocate arms control. Bridger investigates the internal debate over nuclear weapons policy during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, when scientific advisors did not restrict themselves to technical assessments but made an impassioned moral case for a nuclear test ban. The relationship between government and science began to fray further during the Vietnam War, as younger scientists inside and outside of government questioned the morality of using chemical defoliants, napalm, and other non-nuclear weapons. With campuses erupting in protest over classified weapons research conducted in university labs, many elder statesmen of science, who once believed they could wield influence from within, became alienated. The result was a coalition that opposed “Star Wars” during the 1980s---and a diminished role for scientists as counselors to future presidents.

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Reviewed By

Review John Forge (2015) Review of "Scientists at War: The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research". Metascience: An International Review Journal for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (pp. 449-451). unapi

Review Simone Turchetti (2016) Review of "Scientists at War: The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research". British Journal for the History of Science (pp. 314-315). unapi

Review Daniel Volmar (2016) Review of "Scientists at War: The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research". Endeavour: Review of the Progress of Science (p. 137). unapi

Review Rebecca Slayton (July 2016) Review of "Scientists at War: The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research". Technology and Culture (pp. 696-698). unapi

Review Ronald E. Doel (2017) Review of "Scientists at War: The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 491-493). unapi

Review David K. Hecht (2016) Review of "Scientists at War: The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research". Journal of American History (pp. 1255-1256). unapi

Review Sean L. Malloy (2016) Review of "Scientists at War: The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research". American Historical Review (pp. 605-606). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001551957/

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Authors & Contributors
Bini, Elisabetta
Chiaricati, Federico
Vezzosi, Elisabetta
Konta, Carla
Ridler, Jason S.
Bridger, Sarah
Concepts
Cold War
Science and war; science and the military
Military technology
Atomic bomb
Nuclear weapons; atomic weapons
Science and politics
Time Periods
20th century
20th century, late
21st century
Places
United States
Soviet Union
Netherlands
Russia
Europe
Canada
Institutions
United States Air Force (USAF)
Strategic Defense Initiative
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