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By the bomb's early light: American thought and culture at the dawn of the atomic age
Paul S. Boyer
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Frontmatter
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Preface (page ix)
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Acknowledgments (page xiii)
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Introduction (page xvii)
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Part One First Reactions (page 1)
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1. "The Whole World Gasped" (page 3)
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Part Two Overture: The World-Government Movement (page 27)
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2. The Summons to Action (page 29)
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3. Atomic-Bomb Nightmares and World-Government Dreams (page 33)
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Part Three The Atomic Scientists: From Bomb-Makers to Political Sages (page 47)
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4. The Political Agenda of the Scientists' Movement (page 49)
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5. "To the Village Square": The Public Agenda of the Scientists' Movement (page 59)
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6. The Uses of Fear (page 65)
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7. Representative Text: One World or None (page 76)
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8. The Mixed Message of Bikini (page 82)
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9. The Scientists' Movement in Eclipse (page 93)
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Part Four Anodyne to Terror: Fantasies of a Techno-Atomic Utopia (page 107)
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10. Atomic Cars, Artificial Suns, Cancer-Curing Isotopes: The Search for a Silver Lining (page 109)
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11. Bright Dreams and Disturbing Realities: The Psychological Function of the Atomic-Utopia Visions (page 122)
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Part Five The Social Implications of Atomic Energy: Prophecies and Prescriptions (page 131)
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12. Optimistic Forecasts (page 133)
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13. Darker Social Visions (page 141)
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14. Experts and Ideologues Offer Their Prescriptions (page 151)
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15. Social Science into the Breach (page 166)
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Part Six The Crisis of Morals and Values (page 179)
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16. Justifications, Rationalizations, Evasions: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the American Conscience (page 181)
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17. "Victory for What?" — The Voice of the Minority (page 196)
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18. Atomic Weapons and Judeo-Christian Ethics: The Discourse Begins (page 211)
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19. Human Nature, Technological Man, the Apocalyptic Tradition (page 230)
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Part Seven Culture and Consciousness in the Early Atomic Era (page 241)
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20. Words Fail: The Bomb and the Literary Imagination (page 243)
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21. Visions of the Atomic Future in Science Fiction and Speculative Fantasy (page 257)
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22. Second Thoughts about Prometheus: The Atomic Bomb and Attitudes Toward Science (page 266)
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23. Psychological Fallout: Consciousness and the Bomb (page 275)
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Part Eight The End of the Beginning: Settling in for the Long Haul (page 289)
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24. Dagwood to the Rescue: The Campaign to Promote the "Peaceful Atom" (page 291)
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25. Secrecy and Soft Soap: Soothing Fears of the Bomb (page 303)
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26. The Reassuring Message of Civil Defense (page 319)
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27. 1949-1950: Embracing the Bomb (page 334)
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Epilogue: From the H-Bomb to Star Wars: The Continuing Cycles of Activism and Apathy (page 352)
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Notes (page 369)
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Index (page 423)
Journal Abbreviation | Label | URL |
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ISIS | 79.2 (Jun. 1988): 352-354 | http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-1753%28198806%2979%3A2%3C352%3ABTBELA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Y |
JPR | 24.4 (Dec. 1987): 418 | http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-3433%28198712%2924%3A4%3C418%3ABTBEL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3 |
AHR | 91.4 (Oct. 1986): 1018-1019 | http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8762%28198610%2991%3A4%3C1018%3ABTBELA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W |
AQ | 38.4 (Autumn 1986): 686-691 | http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0678%28198623%2938%3A4%3C686%3AAHNHOT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O |
CS | 16.1 (Jan. 1987): 15-17 | http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0094-3061%28198701%2916%3A1%3C15%3ANF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R |
JAH | 73.1 (Jun. 1986): 247-248 | http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8723%28198606%2973%3A1%3C247%3ABTBELA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Y |
Citable Link
Published: 1994
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
- 9780807844809 (paper)
- 9780807875704 (ebook)