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As an aside, if you're interested in these sort of issues read Command and Control [1]. Far too many accidents have happened and we've been lucky that there hav

As an aside, if you're interested in these sort of issues read Command and Control [1]. Far too many accidents have happened and we've been lucky that there have been no accidental detonations. We've leaned heavily into safety systems that were hard to test and often poorly built. Plane crashes, fires, lost inventory, it's all in this book. An entertaining read. 1 - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/303337/command-and-control-by-eric-schlosser/9780143125785/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/303337/command-and-...

moosedev 4y ago
Seconding this recommendation - great (and scary) book.
qbasic_forever 4y ago
It was turned into a fantastic documentary by PBS too. Very much a must watch: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/command-and-control/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/command-an...
readonthegoapp 4y ago
i keep hearing this is a good book, and i'm sure it is. i kept trying to remember the 'nuclear author' i saw at a reading somewhere many-ish years ago, but couldn't figure out who, where, when. This is the book, if i had to guess: Nuclear Nightmares Securing the World Before It Is Too Late Joseph Cirincione Columbia University Press https://cup.columbia.edu/book/nuclear-nightmares/9780231164047 https://cup.columbia.edu/book/nuclear-nightmares/97802311640... I never read it, but I came away with the impression the guy knew what he was talking about. This video of the author doing a reading in DC seems familiar, but it doesn't fit my timeline: https://www.politics-prose.com/video/nuclear-nightmares https://www.politics-prose.com/video/nuclear-nightmares I do remember asking whatever author it was this question: What is more dangerous, nukes or global warming? And this could have been 8 or 15 years ago, not sure. But Global Warming was def not on the radar of regular people like it is today, in 2023. Author said 'nukes' and i thought to myself, 'Wrong'. Today I've changed my mind -- it's def nukes. Or global warming. I saw Daniel Ellsberg talk about nukes once, too -- he had the audience close our eyes, then he counts down from 30 seconds (the approximate amount of time from when the bomb is dropped until it detonates -- tho i guess it was actually 45 seconds) -- and he counts down, am about we set it to go off about about 8.15am, so it might inflict maximum damage and terror, kids and moms might still be rushing to/from school, people headed to work, etc. -- just kind of like another regular slow war day in Japan -- until it wasn't.
kraussvonespy 4y ago
C&C is excellent. Restricted Data by Alex Wellerstein is a fascinating history of nuclear secrecy. Also known as the NUKEMAP guy. The Dead Hand by David Hoffman is also amazing and covers chemical and bio weapons as well. It has a good bit on the struggle to contain all of the chem/bio/nuke weapons when the USSR was falling apart.

moosedev 4y ago

Seconding this recommendation - great (and scary) book.

qbasic_forever 4y ago

It was turned into a fantastic documentary by PBS too. Very much a must watch: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/command-and-control/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/command-an...

readonthegoapp 4y ago

i keep hearing this is a good book, and i'm sure it is. i kept trying to remember the 'nuclear author' i saw at a reading somewhere many-ish years ago, but couldn't figure out who, where, when. This is the book, if i had to guess: Nuclear Nightmares Securing the World Before It Is Too Late Joseph Cirincione Columbia University Press https://cup.columbia.edu/book/nuclear-nightmares/9780231164047 https://cup.columbia.edu/book/nuclear-nightmares/97802311640... I never read it, but I came away with the impression the guy knew what he was talking about. This video of the author doing a reading in DC seems familiar, but it doesn't fit my timeline: https://www.politics-prose.com/video/nuclear-nightmares https://www.politics-prose.com/video/nuclear-nightmares I do remember asking whatever author it was this question: What is more dangerous, nukes or global warming? And this could have been 8 or 15 years ago, not sure. But Global Warming was def not on the radar of regular people like it is today, in 2023. Author said 'nukes' and i thought to myself, 'Wrong'. Today I've changed my mind -- it's def nukes. Or global warming. I saw Daniel Ellsberg talk about nukes once, too -- he had the audience close our eyes, then he counts down from 30 seconds (the approximate amount of time from when the bomb is dropped until it detonates -- tho i guess it was actually 45 seconds) -- and he counts down, am about we set it to go off about about 8.15am, so it might inflict maximum damage and terror, kids and moms might still be rushing to/from school, people headed to work, etc. -- just kind of like another regular slow war day in Japan -- until it wasn't.

kraussvonespy 4y ago

C&C is excellent. Restricted Data by Alex Wellerstein is a fascinating history of nuclear secrecy. Also known as the NUKEMAP guy. The Dead Hand by David Hoffman is also amazing and covers chemical and bio weapons as well. It has a good bit on the struggle to contain all of the chem/bio/nuke weapons when the USSR was falling apart.