- “When you’re a physicist and you know how a
nuclear weapon works and what all the parts are, it’s no more strange than a
vacuum cleaner…”. I know that Peter
views working with nuclear weapons as normal because of his training, but his
excuse that he doesn’t see a contradiction between his liberal views and his
work because he doesn’t think they will be used seems very flimsy to me. I feel that if I were him, I would have to
find a better way to justify my work.
Then again, if he were to decide not to work for Lawrence labs where in
the area would someone with his skills go?
There are no nuclear plants and the other route would be academia.
- Going off of my point above, I think that the
ways that the Livermore scientists justified their work is fascinating. Designing a weapon is one thing, “figure[ing]
out what to do with them…” is quite another.
I think that overall, the people who work there do not do it for a moral
reason, I really think that they design and build nuclear weapons because it is
interesting work, done on “state-of-the-art equipment” and they all love the
unfettered access to resources and ideas.
-
I find the transition of Livermore from a small
nuclear-focused town to a more conventional town to be extremely interesting. It is quite amazing how quickly the
transition from complete secrecy to a much more open and political system of
administration occurred. I am curious as
to what the lab does in the current does or if it still is in Livermore. I am from around that area in California and
I have definitely heard of Lawrence Livermore labs. I would also like to hear about how the lab personnel
adapted to new projects and new limitations that were not there during the Cold
War.
No comments:
Post a Comment