A Nuclear Winter’s Tale: Science and Politics in the 1980s

The Center for Science in Society and the Center for Cold War Studies and International History (CCWS) are jointly hosting this event in the Lawrence
Badash Distinguished Lecture Series.

Lawrence Badash, professor emeritus of the history of science at UCSB, will talk about his new book, A NUCLEAR WINTER’S TALE: SCIENCE AND POLITICS IN THE 1980s, published by MIT Press. Fuller descriptions of the book and the author are appended below.

After making his presentation, Prof. Badash will lead a discussion.
For this purpose he has kindly made available the first chapter of the
book, which all attendees are invited to read in advance. The chapter
has been uploaded to the Web and is available via the following url:

https://www.history.ucsb.edu/projects/ccws/papers/
Please contact the CCWS for the
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About the Book:

The nuclear winter phenomenon burst upon the public’s consciousness in
1983. Added to the horror of a nuclear war’s immediate effects was the
fear that the smoke from fires ignited by the explosions would block
the sun, creating an extended “winter” that might kill more people
worldwide than the initial nuclear strikes. In A NUCLEAR WINTER’S
TALE, Lawrence Badash maps the rise and fall of the science of nuclear
winter, examining research activity, the popularization of the
concept, and the Reagan-era politics that combined to influence policy
and public opinion.

Badash traces the several sciences (including studies of volcanic
eruptions, ozone depletion, and dinosaur extinction) that merged to
allow computer modeling of nuclear winter and its development as a
scientific specialty. He places this in the political context of the
Reagan years, discussing congressional interest, media attention, the
administration’s plans for a research program, and the Defense
Department’s claims that the arms buildup underway would prevent
nuclear war, and thus nuclear winter.

A NUCLEAR WINTER’S TALE tells an important story but also provides a
useful illustration of the complex relationship between science and
society. It examines the behavior of scientists in the public arena
and in the scientific community, and raises questions about the
problems faced by scientific Cassandras, the implications when
scientists go public with worst-case scenarios, and the timing of
government reaction to startling scientific findings.

About the Author:

Lawrence Badash is Professor Emeritus of History of Science at the
University of California, Santa Barbara. He is author and co-author of
numerous books and articles on the history of science and technology,
including KAPITZA, RUTHERFORD, AND THE KREMLIN (1985) and SCIENTISTS
AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS: FROM FISSION TO THE LIMITED
TEST BAN TREATY, 1939-1963 (1995).

hm 11/3/09