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It's about 'when' more than anything. We live in a world today with mostly free information sharing on most scientific subjects. But picture a time when cutting
by mabbo 6y ago
It's about 'when' more than anything. We live in a world today with mostly free information sharing on most scientific subjects. But picture a time when cutting edge science like the nuclear programs were veiled heavily in secrecy. Every single development took time, effort, work, science. And the result is... an answer that can probably be written down in a single piece of paper. Easily shared.
The USSR would have developed the same bombs eventually, but not as quickly, I would guess.
- WalterBright 6y agoOnce there's knowledge of the possibility, it becomes inevitable.
- ant6n 6y agoLike fusion. It’s just 10 years away. For the last 50 years.
- mabbo 6y agoWe have not yet figured out how to make fusion work yet. A lot of money and scientific effort is being spent to find out. We aren't talking about things that are 10 years away, we're talking about research that has succeeded being shared. But as soon as someone does figure out fusion (ITER looks good) and publishes, everyone will know, and everyone will have it.
- ant6n 6y agoI thought GP was talking about 'knowledge of the possibility'
- WalterBright 6y agoIt's not like fusion, because nobody has done it.
- est31 6y agoBasic science is done in the open, but science relevant to military goals is still kept secret. For example, do you know how stealth fighter jets are made?
- HideousKojima 6y agoThere's actually quite a bit of information about the development of the F-117, as well as the science and math that made it possible: https://www.f117sfa.org/f117-development https://www.f117sfa.org/f117-development
- zandor 6y agoIt gets even better. The base of the research was deemed to be of no significant military or economic value by the USSR so it was published internationally. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petr_Ufimtsev#The_father_of_stealth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petr_Ufimtsev#The_father_of_st...
- mabbo 6y agoBut how much of that information was available to the public in the 1970s? Sure, 40 years later its all out in the open, but that's because there's no longer a reason to keep it secret.