Waubonsee Community College

The bomb, a new history, Stephen M. Younger

eng

illustrationsphotographs

index present

non fiction

The bomb

232977339

Stephen M. Younger

a new history

From his years in U.S. weapons systems to his meetings with nuclear arms experts in Moscow, former weapons designer Stephen M. Younger has witnessed firsthand the making of nuclear policy. With a deep understanding of both the technology and the politics, he guides us from the Manhattan Project to the Cold War and into the present day, illuminating how nuclear weapons fit into our globalized, war-plagued world. Younger reveals the myths and realities of how these weapons work, and how our nuclear policy evolved to what it is today. Does the United States genuinely need a massive stockpile in an era of precision bombs and missile defense? Under what circumstances might we need nuclear weapons in the future? How does the proliferation of weapons in the hands of other nations affect our own nuclear policy?--From publisher description

Introduction: Why nuclear weapons in the twenty-first century? -- A short history of nuclear weapons -- How did we arrive at the theory of mutually assured destruction? -- Current nuclear arsenals -- Targets and targeting -- Replacing nuclear weapons with advanced conventional weapons -- Nuclear proliferation -- Defense against nuclear attack -- Maintaining our nuclear forces -- The role of nuclear weapons in the twenty-first century