Description
Book SynopsisIn Atomic Bill, Vincent Kiernan examines the fraught career of New York Times science journalist, William L. Laurence and shows his professional and personal lives to be a cautionary tale of dangerous proximity to power.
Laurence was fascinated with atomic science and its militarization. When the Manhattan Project drew near to perfecting the atomic bomb, he was recruited to write much of the government''s press materials that were distributed on the day that Hiroshima was obliterated. That instantly crowned Laurence as one of the leading journalistic experts on the atomic bomb. As the Cold War dawned, some assessed Laurence as a propagandist defending the militarization of atomic energy. For others, he was a skilled science communicator who provided the public with a deep understanding of the atomic bomb.
Laurence leveraged his perch at the Times to engage in paid speechmaking, book writing, filmmaking
Table of Contents
Introduction: A Moth to the Flame
1. The Second Coming of Prometheus
2. On the Army's Payroll
3. Magnetic Current
4. Atomland-on-Mars
5. Trinity, Hiroshima and Nagasaki
6. Aftermath
7. Atomic Plagiarism in the South Pacific
8. Reporter Grade 8
9. The Elixir of Life
10. The Hell Bomb
11. Atomic Dialogue
12. The U-Bomb
13. King Laurence
14. Peace Through Understanding
