The Atomic Bomb and American Society : New Perspectives

Drawing on the latest research on the atomic bomb and its history, thecontributors to this provocative collection of eighteen essays set out toanswer two key questions: First, how did the atomic bomb, a productof unprecedented technological innovation, rapid industrial-scalemanufacturing, and unparalleled military deployment shape U.S. foreignpolicy, the communities of workers who produced it, and society as awhole? And second, how has American society's perception that the the bomb is a means of military deterrence in the Cold War eraevolve under the influence of mass media, scientists, public intellectuals,and even the entertainment industry?In answering these questions, The Atomic Bomb and American Society shedslight on the collaboration of science and the military in creating the bomb;the role of women working at Los Alamos; the transformation of nuclearphysicists into public intellectuals as the reality of the bomb came intowidespread consciousness; the revolutionary change in military strategyfollowing the invention of the bomb and the development of Cold Warideology; the image of the bomb that was conveyed in the popular media; andthe connection of the bomb to the commemoration of World War II. As it illuminates the cultural, social, political, environmental, andhistorical effects of the creation of the atomic bomb, this volumecontributes to our understanding of how democratic institutions can coexistwith a technology that affects everyone, even if only a few are empowered tomanage it. Rosemary B. Mariner is formerly Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair and Professor ofMilitary Studies for the National War College.

She is currently a lecturerin history at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. G. Kurt Piehler is associate professor of history and former director of theCenter for the Study of War and Society at the University of Tennessee,Knoxville, which hosted the conference that formed the basis of this volume. He is the author of Remembering War the American Way and World War II in the American Soldiers' Lives Series as well as the coeditor, with John Whiteclay Chambers II, of Major Problems in American Military History.