Cardinal Choices: Presidential Science Advising from the Atomic Bomb to SDI. Revised and Expanded Edition

by Gregg Herken

Overview

This book is a history of the complex relations between scientific advisors, primarily physicists, and U.S. presidents in their role as decision makers about nuclear weapons and military strategy. The story, unsurprisingly, is one of considerable tension between the "experts" and the politicians, as scientists seek to influence policy and presidents alternate between accepting their advice and resisting or even ignoring it. First published in 1992, the book has been brought up to date to include the experiences of science advisors to President Clinton. In addition, the texts of eleven crucial documents, from the Einstein-Szilard letter to President Roosevelt (1939) to the announcement of the Strategic Defense Initiative by President Reagan (1983), have been added as appendixes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804737708
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	09/01/2000
Series:	Stanford Nuclear Age Series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.84(d)

About the Author

Gregg Herken is Historian and Curator at the Space History Department of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Table of Contents

Part I	Urgent Appeals, 1939-1952: The Advent of Nuclear Weapons
Chapter 1	"A Closely Knit Group of People" The Decision to Build the Atomic Bomb	3
Chapter 2	"No Acceptable Alternative" The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb	17
Chapter 3	"Necessarily an Evil Thing" The Debate over the H-Bomb	34
Chapter 4	"A Point of No Return" The Opportunity for a Nuclear "Standstill"	49
Part II	Fragile Hopes, 1953-1960: The Impetus toward Arms Control
Chapter 5	"Racing toward Catastrophe" Atoms for Peace and War	69
Chapter 6	"An Age of Danger" From the Killian Report to Sputnik	82
Chapter 7	"A Vested Interest in This Field" The President's Science Advisory Committee and the Test Ban	101
Part III	Guarded Futures, 1961-1988: The Perils and Promises of New Technology
Chapter 8	"Where a Fresh Start Is Badly Needed" Politics and Science in the Kennedy Administration	127
Chapter 9	"A Nation Cannot Be Built with Gadgets" Johnson, Hornig, and the Vietnam War	146
Chapter 10	"No Longer as Adviser but as Citizen" The Crisis of Science Advising under Nixon and Ford	165
Chapter 11	"We Want You to Know of Our Judgment" Science and Conflict in the Carter Administration	184
Chapter 12	"The President Doesn't Care about Wavelengths" The Reagan Revolution and the Origins of SDI	199
	Conclusion: "Speaking the Truth to Power" The Future of Presidential Science Advising	217
	Appendixes
A.	Einstein-Szilard Letter to President Roosevelt (proposal to build an atomic bomb), August 2, 1939	229
B.	Fermi-Rabi Letter to the AEC: "An Opinion on the Development of the 'Super'" (written to oppose the hydrogen bomb), October 30, 1949	231
C.	The Golden Report: "Mobilization of Science for War" (report on the president's science adviser), December 18, 1950	233
D.	The Disarmament Panel's Proposal for a Nuclear "Standstill": "The Timing of the Thermonuclear Test" (excerpts), Fall 1952	235
E.	The Teapot Report on ICBMs: "Recommendations of the Committee on Strategic Missiles," February 10, 1954	239
F.	Killian's Charter for PSAC, December 1957	241
G.	Ruina-Gell-Mann Paper: "Ballistic Missile Defence and the Arms Race" (argument against the ABM), December 1965	243
H.	Rathjens-Ruina Memorandum to Henry Kissinger: "A Moratorium on the Testing of Multiple Warheads" (proposal for a MIRV ban), June 2, 1969	247
I.	Garwin Letter to President Carter (defense of a comprehensive test ban), August 15, 1978	250
J.	The "Insert": President Reagan's Announcement of SDI, March 23, 1983	253
K.	Members of SAC/ODM and PSAC, 1951-73	256
	Notes	263
	Bibliography	341
	Index	351

Editorial Reviews

"This is an important book. . . . One strength of the work is its thoroughness in tracing the steps at which science advice has influenced momentous decisions. Another is how it delineates the gradual erosion in the impact of science advice. . . . There are many other lessons to learn from reading the book carefully, and I strongly recommend it." —Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky, Physics Today

From the Publisher

"This is an important book. . . . One strength of the work is its thoroughness in tracing the steps at which science advice has influenced momentous decisions. Another is how it delineates the gradual erosion in the impact of science advice. . . . There are many other lessons to learn from reading the book carefully, and I strongly recommend it."

Physics Today - Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky