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Filtering for posts categorized as ‘Meditations’
2012
April 2012
Meditations
In February 1951, the Atomic Energy Commission reported on the "pleasant" experience of rooting out a high-placed homosexual.
16
Meditations
Incredible secrecy plus boring jobs equaled a morale problem. Manhattan Project administrators found an unusual solution: sports.
2
Meditations
People are often calling for a "new Manhattan Project," but does that make any sense?
March 2012
12
Meditations
There's been a lot of talk about the Fukushima accident being an example of nuclear secrecy. But it's really about regulatory capture.
5
Meditations
Vannevar Bush had a problem: French physicists had filed for a patent on the nuclear reactor. A novel form of secrecy was his answer.
February 2012
27
Meditations
Recently, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the work of US scientists in helping the Soviet Union get the atomic bomb. Why?
20
Meditations
New footage has been found of scientists romping around Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. What does that get us, intellectually?
Meditations
Should we try to show that people in the past were just like us, or lived in another country? Each direction has its perils.
6
Meditations
New NUKEMAP features, plus a discussion of the first 1,500 "detonations."
January 2012
30
Meditations
A summary of a sticky historical issue: whether civilians or military personnel would physically control the atomic bomb.
23
Meditations
New nuclear tidbits from eight just-declassified secret transcripts of the Congressional committee charged with atomic oversight issues.
16
Meditations
Reflections on the use of assassination as a means of counter-proliferation, with insights from the history and sociology of science.
9
Meditations
Live-blogging from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' 2012 "Doomsday Clock Symposium." The outlook is... doomy.
2
Meditations
There are two flavors of war today: war from "above" and war from "below." Danger abounds when they cross paths.
2011
December 2011
26
Meditations | Redactions
Describing my archival techniques, plus a document about the H-bomb's development.
23
Meditations
Excerpts from previously-undigitized secret hearings of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy.
Meditations
Initial thoughts on the H5N1 censorship debate.
20
Meditations | Redactions
I discuss my archival techniques, plus showcase a curious memo about whether Ted Hall was a "second Fuchs" at Los Alamos.
19
Meditations
Exactly how secret was the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy? I try to put some numbers on it.
12
Meditations
What was Dr. Strangelove's proposal for up-staging the Soviets after Sputnik? Shooting an atomic bomb at the moon. Seriously.
5
Meditations
November 2011
28
Meditations
21
Meditations
14
Meditations
An attempt at a comprehensive list of online primary source resources for nuclear history.
8
Meditations
