STS 350 Atomic Consequences Spring 2002

Michael Aaron Dennis
620 Clark Hall
Office Hours: M 2-4, and by appointment
TA: Anuradha Chakravarty
Office Hours: R 10-11AM, 3-4PM; B27 McGraw Hall

This is a course about the 'fallout' from the history of nuclear weapons. The course might also be seen as a study in proliferation; that is, how have nuclear weapons, to which few people have actually had access, come to colonize so much of the post World War II social, technical, political and cultural landscape. Understanding these issues demands that we examine not only politics and science, but also popular culture through the use of magazine articles, newspapers, films, and novels. We travel from the Smithsonian's Enola Gay exhibit and the surrounding controversy through the actual history of the Manhattan Project and the nuclear history of the Cold War to the precarious present where the proliferation of nuclear weapons has created multiple potential flash-points. Students are encouraged to bring materials of interest to the professor's attention. A class web page will offer other resources.

Requirements: Attendance at lecture is essential for understanding the class and the materials. There will be one in-class midterm examination, a writing assignment, and a final project. These three 'opportunities' will provide much of the basis for your final grade. Two optional discussion sections will be organized during the first two weeks of class; attendance is optional, but attendance will provide you with an opportunity to discuss the readings and lectures with our teaching assistant, Anuradha Chakravarty.

Films: Films are an essential element of this course. Atomic culture manifested itself most visibly in motion pictures and television programs. We will view several films. Screenings are on Wednesday nights at 7PM in 700 Clark Hall. I realize that many of you will have other obligations; all the movies are on reserve at Uris for your viewing pleasure. Watch the films; they are essential to the course.

Required Books: [Available at the Campus Store, many online booksellers, and on Reserve in Uris Library].

Kai Bird, Hiroshima's Shadow
John Hersey, Hiroshima
Fred Kaplan, Wizards of Armageddon
Nevil Shute, On the Beach
E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed
Leo Szilard, Voice of the Dolphins
J.S. Walker, Prompt and Utter Destruction
Course Reader, available at the Campus Store.

Tentative Syllabus:

22 January Introduction: Catch and Release

24 January
Who's afraid of the past? The Enola Gay Controversy
Start reading Bird, 317-364; newspaper articles in Reader; skim exhibit script in Judgment at the Smithsonian [Uris Reserve]. Discussion of different drafts of exhibit. The Air Force Association, Parts I, II

29 January
The problem with history
Finish Bird readings on exhibit and articles in reader.
Historians on the Enola Gay exhibit

30 January
700 Clark @ 7PM Hiroshima--Why we dropped the bomb

31 January
Imagining the Bomb
Heinlein in Reader.

5 February
Physics Becomes Destructive; or the Problem of Fission6 February
700 Clark @ 7PM The Atomic Cafe
Jayne Loader's other atomic materials7 February
Deciding to Build a Bomb
Conant in Reader.
Einstein's Letter

12 February
Building Manhattan: Oak Ridge
Walker, 1-19; Sherwin, A World Destroyed [Uris Reserve], Part 1.

13 February
700 Clark @ 7PM Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie

14 February
Building Manhattan: The Met Lab and Hanford
Atomic Spaces - documents, photographs and other materials drawn from a cultural history of the Manhattan Project.
Costs of the Manhattan Project, The - statistics from the Brookings Institute's Nuclear Weapons Costs Project.
Manhattan Project documents on-line.

19 February
The Magic Mountain: Los Alamos
Hoddeson essay in Peter Galison (ed), Big Science (Uris)
Interesting Exhibit on Children of the Manhattan Project
On Louis Slotkin's 1946 accident

20 February
700 Clark @ 7PM Why we fight: War comes to America

21 February
A German Bomb?
M. Walker, German National Socialism and the quest for nuclear power, Chapters 1-2, 7 (Uris)
Newly Released Letters on Heisenberg's 1941 visit to Bohr

26 February
The War in the Pacific
Sledge, Edgar in Reader; Walker Chapters 3-5.

27 February
700 Clark @ 7PM The Purple Heart28 February
Racing to the Finish
Bird, 99-130; "Before Hiroshima" in Reader

5 March
The Great Decision?
Walker, Chapters 6-7; start Bird, 130-306, plus documents

6 March
700 Clark @ 7PM Black Rain

7 March
Baker 200 Midterm [Please note room]
Sample identification.

12 March
Manhattan over Tokyo
Start Hersey; Bird, 415-485
Fifty Years from Trinity: Ground Zero of the Atomic Age - site built around a section published in the Seattle Times.
Trinity and Beyond (The Atomic Bomb Movie) - an unsettling yet visually fascinating documentary presenting the history of nuclear weapons development and testing between 1945 and 1963.
Trinity: 50 Years Later - a report on the nuclear age's blinding dawn by the Albuquerque Journal.
Unofficial Trinity Site - Information on Trinity Site, New Mexico, where the first atomic bomb was exploded July 16, 1945. Tips for the visitor, links, references, and photos.
The official Enola Gay web site.

13 March
700 Clark @ 7PM Them!
14 March On the ground
Finish Hersey, Siemes in Reader, A-Bomb WWW Museum - includes a description of the first atomic bomb, photos from the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, and interviews with A-bomb survivors.
Damages Caused by Atomic Bombs - outlines the immediate effects of the explosion.
Excellent materials and photographs on the Nagasaki bomb
Official Manhattan Project Report

26 March
The Debate Begins
Walker, Chapter 7; Cousins to Truman in Reader
" Excellent Collection from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

27 March
700 Clark @ 7PM Godzilla

28 March
The Strategic Bombing Survey
Survey and Bernstein in Reader

2 April
Writing Assignment
A New World?
Kaplan, Chapters 1-4
CNN Cold War Site
Conelrad, a must see site.
Cold War history on-line
RAND History 3 April
700 Clark @ 7PM Dr. Strangelove

4 April
The Problem of Super
Kaplan, Chapters 5-7
Map your very own thermonuclear blast!

9 April
Final Project Guidelines
Oppenheimer and Loyalty Question
Bernstein in Reader.
On Atomic Spies
The Rosenberg Trial
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer

10 April
700 Clark @ 7PM Fail Safe

11 April
Strategy in the Missile Age
Cohn in Reader, finish Kaplan.

16 April
Fear of a Garrison State: Eisenhower's Farewell Address

17 April
700 Clark @ 7PM On the Beach

18 April
Apocalyptic Fictions
Start Shute

23 April
Writing Assignment Due [Note date change] In the beginning was the end?
Finish Shute

24 April
700 Clark @ 7PM Seven Days in May

25 April
The problem of civil defense
Szilard, "Voice of the Dolphins"

30 April

Proliferation and the other bombs
Avner Cohen, Israel and the Bomb, Chapters 1-3. (Uris)

1 May
700 Clark @ 7PM Day the world ended

2 May Our present predicament