Overview

Based on fieldwork at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - the facility that designed the neutron bomb and the warhead for the MX missile - this text examines the secret culture of a nuclear weapons lab. Exploring the scientists' world of dark humour, ritualized secrecy and disciplined emotions, the author uncovers some of the beliefs and values that animate their work. The book discusses the fact that many of the scientists are Christians, deeply convinced of the morality of their work, and some are liberals who opposed the Vietnam War and the Reagan-Bush agenda. The text also considers the anti-nuclear movement, concluding that the scientists and protesters are alike in surprising ways, with both cultures reflecting the hopes and anxieties of an increasingly threatened middle class.

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9780520213739

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Reviews

Reading this fascinating and fairly written book is the best way to understand the moral dilemma that has haunted the inventors of high explosives, from Alfred Nobel to J. Robert Oppenheimer. . . . An anthropologist with a keen sense of humor, Gusterson illuminates this thorough study with poignant details. --Roger Rapoport, San Francisco Chronicle

If you've ever wondered what it is that makes nuclear weapons scientists - as opposed to their products - tick, look no further than this excellent and original study from an authority in the field, anthropologist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Hugh Gusterson. After becoming an anti-nuclear activist in the 1980s, in San Francisco, Gusterson soon realized that he was more interested in studying the whys and wherefores of nuclear weaponry than in winning his argument. This book sets out his findings, starting with his arrival at the US nuclear site Livermore in 1987 to conduct fieldwork. He includes numerous accounts from those working in the industry, such as that of a young US weapons designer, Richard, who reveals: 'If you get a degree in physics, there's almost nowhere to get a job where you're not part of the military-industrial complex.' Gusterson deals with the process of becoming a nuclear scientist, the secrecy involved, the traumas of testing and the touchpoints of crisis. His work is not designed so much to enlighten those already knowledgeable about nuclear science, but rather to develop a much wider critique of the way in which the industry has evolved, and why it functions in the way that it does. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Hugh Gusterson is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Science Studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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