Synopses & Reviews
On August 29, 1949, the first Soviet test bomb, dubbed First Lightning, exploded in the deserts of Kazakhstan. The startling event was not simply a technical experiment that confirmed the ability of the Soviet Union to build nuclear bombs during a period when the United States held a steadfast monopoly; it was also an international event that marked the beginning of an arms race that would ultimately lead to nuclear proliferation beyond the two superpowers. Following a trail of espionage, secrecy, deception, political brinksmanship, and technical innovation, Michael D. Gordin challenges conventional technology-centered nuclear histories by looking at the prominent roles that atomic intelligence and other forms of information play in the uncertainties of nuclear arms development and political decision-making. With the use of newly opened archives, Red Cloud at Dawn focuses on the extraordinary story of First Lightning to provide a fresh understanding of the origins of the nuclear arms race, as well as the all-too-urgent problem of proliferation.
Michael D. Gordin is an associate professor of the history of science at Princeton University. He is the author of Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War. Nothing about the early cold war can be understood without grasping the terrifying first few years of nuclear weapons. Everything was in play: who would have them, who would control them, would they be used to enforce a pax Americana. Spies, diplomats, treaties, and detonations--nothing gripped decision makers as much as the atomic arsenal, from screaming headlines to the silent intelligence analyses on both sides of the divide. In Red Cloud at Dawn, Michael Gordin zeros in on the crucial years from Hiroshima to the first flash of 'Joe 1' in 1949, the first Russian bomb and the ninth nuclear explosion. Using a spectacular variety of sources from Soviet and American sources, Gordin gives us a book that must be read to understand how we came to the sprawling nuclear proliferation in which we now live.--Peter Galison, Joseph Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University
Beginning with Truman's revelation to Stalin that the United States had an unusually powerful weapon, Michael Gordin tells the story of the Soviet A-bomb and the origins of the Cold War arms race. The 'dialectical dance' of the superpowers entailed a deadly embrace that cost millions but miraculously avoided nuclear holocaust. This is a story of intelligence in both senses of the word--of spies and scientists, of information rather than simply fissionable material and devices. The red mushroom cloud rose on August 29, 1949, and, as Gordin's compelling narrative shows, the fallout, in its many senses, remains with us today.--Ronald Suny, Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History, University of Michigan
Michael Gordin brings vividly to life the end of the American atomic monopoly. By focusing on what each side knew--and did not know--about the other, he sheds new and original light on the origins of the U.S.-Soviet nuclear arms race. This is a stylish book, with important implications for how we think about nuclear weapons past and present.--David Holloway, author of Stalin and the Bomb
The dramatic but familiar story of how American leaders used nuclear weaponry to end World War II marks but the beginning of the little-understood period during which American leaders jealously protected their hard-won monopoly in atomic firepower while fearfully anticipating Soviet breakthroughs that would loose the dynamics of global proliferation. In his taut narrative, Gordin retraces the complex events leading up to First Lightning, the Soviets' epoch-making atomic test in August 1949--far sooner than most American experts expected. More than a tale of scientific ingenuity, this chronicle probes the human motives of those involved in a high-stakes drama. Truman and Stalin naturally command center stage, but readers also scrutinize the mercurial Oppenheimer and the irreproachable Kurchatov--and numerous other key actors. Readers will recognize parallels between the Soviet bomb effort and America's earlier Manhattan Project, but Gordin stresses the marked differences--in organization, resources, personnel, and security precautions. Readers may already know how spies--Fuchs, Hall, Hiss--passed along secrets to Soviet authorities; however, they may not realize why the Soviets relied on human espionage while their American counterparts deployed innovative technology to gather their intelligence data. A perceptive study, rich with implications for a twenty-first-century world still fraught with nuclear tensions.--Bryce Christensen, Booklist (starred review)
Gordin has crafted a quite wonderful book . . . It] greatly expands what we should know about the contest for nuclear supremacy in the early Cold War. Heartily recommended.--Ed Goedeken, Library Journal
Review
“This is a book full of great details . . . Gordin's main argument is that . . . if now so fixated on espionage and secrecy, maybe the two antagonists could have figured out a way to forestall the arms race. [A] striking, thoroughly researched book.” —Nicholas Thompson, The New York Times“Gordin brings considerable scholarship to the subject of how the Soviets succeeded in building an atomic bomb. . . . Weaves an impressively wide range of sources into a brilliant narrative about the intelligence war.” —History Today
“Gordin has crafted a quite wonderful book . . . [It] greatly expands what we should know about the contest for nuclear supremacy in the early Cold War. Heartily recommended.” —Ed Goedeken, Library Journal
“More than a tale of scientific ingenuity, [Red Cloud at Dawn] probes the human motives of those involved in a high-stakes drama . . . A perceptive study, rich with implications for a twenty-first-century world still fraught with nuclear tensions.” —Bryce Christensen, Booklist
“Michael Gordin brings vividly to life the end of the American atomic monopoly. By focusing on what each side knew—and did not know—about the other, he sheds new and original light on the origins of the U.S.-Soviet nuclear arms race. This is a stylish book, with important implications for how we think about nuclear weapons past and present.” —David Holloway, author of Stalin and the Bomb
“Nothing about the early cold war can be understood without grasping the terrifying first few years of nuclear weapons. Everything was in play: who would have them, who would control them, would they be used to enforce a pax Americana. Spies, diplomats, treaties, and detonations—nothing gripped decision makers as much as the atomic arsenal, from screaming headlines to the silent intelligence analyses on both sides of the divide. In Red Cloud at Dawn, Michael Gordin zeros in on the crucial years from Hiroshima to the first flash of ‘Joe 1 in 1949, the first Russian bomb and the ninth nuclear explosion. Using a spectacular variety of sources from Soviet and American sources, Gordin gives us a book that must be read to understand how we came to the sprawling nuclear proliferation in which we now live.” —Peter Galison, Joseph Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University
“Beginning with Trumans revelation to Stalin that the United States had an unusually powerful weapon, Michael Gordin tells the story of the Soviet A-bomb and the origins of the Cold War arms race. The ‘dialectical dance of the superpowers entailed a deadly embrace that cost millions but miraculously avoided nuclear holocaust. This is a story of intelligence in both senses of the word—of spies and scientists, of information rather than simply fissionable material and devices. The red mushroom cloud rose on August 29, 1949, and, as Gordins compelling narrative shows, the fallout, in its many senses, remains with us today.” —Ronald Suny, Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History, University of Michigan
Review
and#8220;A striking portrait of the emergence of Cold War science. The book contributes to a growing historical literature that has begun to reconfigure our understanding of the period and its enduring legacies. . . . Creagerand#8217;s deft attention to the ironies that have accompanied efforts to harness the atom is history of science at its best: a crystal clear portrait of just how untidy the impacts of science can be.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;The Manhattan Projectand#8217;s impact reverberated beyond the atomic bomb, reveals Angela Creager in this lucid scientific history. . . . Creager deploys radioisotopes as and#8216;historical tracersand#8217; to explore shifts in medicine, perceptions of cancer risk, and the porous and#8216;civilian-military divide.and#8217;and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Angela Creagerand#8217;s deeply researched and elegantly written new book is a must-read account of the history of science in twentieth-century America. . . . Not only is it a historiographically important and meticulously crafted work based on exhaustive research, but itand#8217;s also a great set of stories. The pages of Life Atomic are full of guinea pigs, scientific vaudeville, and stories and characters from many different fields of the modern life sciences, expertly weaving them together into a compelling set of arguments.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Radioisotopes are a cornerstone of technology, facilitating basic research and augmenting medical treatment. As a biochemist familiar with such isotopes, decorated historian Creager is well qualified to examine the expansion of radioactive power. Her Life Atomic is a strikingly complete narrative of the social and scientific factors sparking such expansion in the peaceful realm. . . . Students and seasoned professionals alike will gain significant insight into the foundations of this central technology, making it a critical resource for academic and professional libraries. Essential.and#8221;
Review
"Creager's Life Atomic will serve as a benchmark for outstanding scholarship and as an essential point of reference on the use of radioisotopes in science and medicine for many years to come."
Review
"It would be hard to ask for a better history of radioisotopes than Creager's Life Atomic."
Review
andldquo;A fascinating portrait of the use and meaning of radioisotopes in twentieth-century science and medicine, Angela N. H. Creagerandrsquo;s
Life Atomic is serious, high-quality scholarship that contributes to our understanding of science over the last century. This long-awaited volume justifies the wait.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;
Life Atomic is the first comprehensive history of radioactive tracing, a key research technology without which a science such as molecular biology would not have come into being. Through this technology, the life sciences and medicine came into deep resonance with the atomic Cold War era. Angela N. H. Creager beautifully unfolds this web before our eyes, and does so by making use of a rich variety of archival sources.andrdquo;
Review
and#8220;Angela N. H. Creagerand#8217;s book is breathtaking in scope, a lucid, original account of how radioisotopes came to suffuse and, in many ways, transform research in fields ranging from the experimental life sciences to biomedicine and ecology. It evenhandedly reveals the close coupling between their exploitation and the dynamics of the Cold War, illuminating how they served at once the purposes of health and security, pressing against the ethical boundaries of research with human subjects while helping to tie together the laboratory and the clinic. In all, a masterful work of historical scholarship.and#8221;
Review
"Historians of the physical and biological sciences will find this book indispensable, but Creagerand#8217;s thorough explication of both the science and the institutional context in which it was pursued makes this work accessible to and useful for audiences interested in postwar nuclear culture writ large. Fact-dense but not pedantic, and argumentatively nuanced without being overly subtle, Life Atomic is a first-rate work in the history of science."
Review
andquot;Enjoyable not only for those and#39;in the tradeand#39; but for all scientific and health professionals.andquot;
Review
andquot;A thorough and fascinating account of the challenges that the US Atomic Energy Commission faced in the course of trying to remake nuclear radiation into a scientific and medical tool, as well as a profitable product. . . . Life Atomic is an enjoyable and important book, which should top the reading list of any scholar interested in the development of postwar science and medicine.andquot;
Review
andquot;Exhaustively documented and sharply written, with no place for anecdote, Life Atomic provides a coherent narrative about the industrialisation, regulation, and scientific and medical impact of radioisotopes in the United States during the Cold War.andquot;
Review
andquot;A landmark achievement. . . . Well researched and masterfully narrated, Life Atomic is a must-read book for anyone who is interested in the instrument-driven development of life sciences following the WWII.andquot;
Review
andquot;Novel and engaging. . . . With its dedication to tracing the diverse, recent, and now mostly forgotten trajectories of radioisotopes in American biomedicine, Life Atomic abounds with historicist insights.andquot;
Synopsis
On August 29, 1949, the first Soviet test bomb, dubbed First Lightning, exploded in the deserts of Kazakhstan. The startling event was not simply a technical experiment that confirmed the ability of the Soviet Union to build nuclear bombs during a period when the United States held a steadfast monopoly; it was also an international event that marked the beginning of an arms race that would ultimately lead to nuclear proliferation beyond the two superpowers.
Following a trail of espionage, secrecy, deception, political brinksmanship, and technical innovation, Michael D. Gordin challenges conventional technology-centered nuclear histories by looking at the prominent roles that atomic intelligence and other forms of information play in the uncertainties of nuclear arms development and political decision-making. With the use of newly opened archives, Red Cloud at Dawn focuses on the extraordinary story of First Lightning to provide a fresh understanding of the origins of the nuclear arms race, as well as the all-too-urgent problem of proliferation.
Synopsis
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE
On August 29, 1949, the first Soviet test bomb, dubbed "First Lightning," exploded in the deserts of Kazakhstan. This surprising international event marked the beginning of an arms race that would ultimately lead to nuclear proliferation beyond the two superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States.
With the use of newly opened archives, Michael D. Gordin folows a trail of espionage, secrecy, deception, political brinksmanship, and technical innovation to provide a fresh understanding of the nuclear arms race.
Synopsis
After World War II, the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) began mass-producing radioisotopes, sending out nearly 64,000 shipments of radioactive materials to scientists and physicians by 1955. Even as the atomic bomb became the focus of Cold War anxiety, radioisotopes represented the governmentandrsquo;s efforts to harness the power of the atom for peaceandmdash;advancing medicine, domestic energy, and foreign relations.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;In Life Atomic, Angela N. H. Creager tells the story of how these radioisotopes, which were simultaneously scientific tools and political icons, transformed biomedicine and ecology. Government-produced radioisotopes provided physicians with new tools for diagnosis and therapy, specifically cancer therapy, and enabled biologists to trace molecular transformations. Yet the governmentandrsquo;s attempt to present radioisotopes as marvelous dividends of the atomic age was undercut in the 1950s by the fallout debates, as scientists and citizens recognized the hazards of low-level radiation. Creager reveals that growing consciousness of the danger of radioactivity did not reduce the demand for radioisotopes at hospitals and laboratories, but it did change their popular representation from a therapeutic agent to an environmental poison. She then demonstrates how, by the late twentieth century, public fear of radioactivity overshadowed any appreciation of the positive consequences of the AECandrsquo;s provision of radioisotopes for research and medicine.
About the Author
Angela N. H. Creager is the Thomas M. Siebel Professor in the History of Science at Princeton University. She is the author of
The Life of a Virus and coeditor of
Feminism in Twentieth-Century Science, Technology, and Medicine, both published by the University of Chicago Press. She lives in Princeton, NJ.
Table of Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
1.and#160;Tracers
2.and#160;Cyclotrons
3.and#160;Reactors
4.and#160;Embargo
5.and#160;Dividends
6.and#160;Sales
7.and#160;Pathways
8.and#160;Guinea Pigs
9.and#160;Beams and Emanations
10.and#160;Ecosystems
11.and#160;Half-Lives
Bibliography
Index