Bibliograph

Type

Label

The Brothers Vonnegut, science and fiction in the house of magic, Ginger Strand

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-284) and index

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Illustrations

platesillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The Brothers Vonnegut

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

908192611

Responsibility statement

Ginger Strand

Sub title

science and fiction in the house of magic

Summary

"Worlds collide in this true story of weather control in the Cold War era and the making of Kurt Vonnegut In the mid-1950s, Kurt Vonnegut takes a job in the PR department at General Electric in Schenectady, where his older brother, Bernard, is a leading scientist in its research lab--or "House of Magic." Kurt has ambitions as a novelist, and Bernard is working on a series of cutting-edge weather-control experiments meant to make deserts bloom and farmers flourish. While Kurt writes zippy press releases, Bernard builds silver-iodide generators and attacks clouds with dry ice. His experiments attract the attention of the government; weather proved a decisive factor in World War II, and if the military can control the clouds, fog, and snow, they can fly more bombing missions. Maybe weather will even be--as a headline in American Magazine calls it--"The New Super Weapon." But when the army takes charge of his cloudseeding project (dubbed Project Cirrus), Bernard begins to have misgivings about the use of his inventions for harm, not to mention the evidence that they are causing alarming changes in the atmosphere. In a fascinating cultural history, Ginger Strand chronicles the intersection of these brothers' lives at a time when the possibilities of science seemed infinite. As the Cold War looms, Bernard's struggle for integrity plays out in Kurt's evolving writing style. The Brothers Vonnegut reveals how science's ability to influence the natural world also influenced one of our most inventive novelists"--, Provided by publisher"Worlds collide in this true story of weather control in the Cold War era and the making of Kurt Vonnegut"--, Provided by publisher

Table Of Contents

Autumn fog -- Precipitating events -- Head in the clouds -- Bolt of lightning -- Eye of the storm -- Watersheds -- Rainmakers -- Out of the blue -- Cold fronts -- Shifting winds -- Epilogue: rainbow's end

Classification

Creator