By the Bomb's Early Light

by Boyer, Paul S.

• ISBN13: 9780807844809
• ISBN10: 0807844802
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

Originally published in 1985, By the Bomb's Early Light is the first book to explore the cultural "fallout" in America during the early years of the atomic age. The book is based on a wide range of sources, including cartoons, opinion polls, radio programs, movies, literature, song lyrics, slang, and interviews with leading opinion-makers of the time. Through these materials, Boyer shows the surprising and profoundly disturbing ways in which the bomb quickly and totally penetrated the fabric of American life, from the chillingly prophetic forecasts of observers like Lewis Mumford to the Hollywood starlet who launched her career as the "anatomic bomb". In a new preface, Boyer discusses recent changes in nuclear politics and attitudes toward the nuclear age.

Author Biography

Paul Boyer is Merle Curti Professor of History and director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
First Reactions	p. 1
"The Whole World Gasped"	p. 3
Overture: The World-Government Movement	p. 27
The Summons to Action	p. 29
Atomic-Bomb Nightmares and World-Government Dreams	p. 33
The Atomic Scientists: From Bomb-Makers to Political Sages	p. 47
The Political Agenda of the Scientists' Movement	p. 49
"To the Village Square": The Public Agenda of the Scientists' Movement	p. 59
The Uses of Fear	p. 65
Representative Text: One World or None	p. 76
The Mixed Message of Bikini	p. 82
The Scientists' Movement in Eclipse	p. 93
Anodyne to Terror: Fantasies of a Techno-Atomic Utopia	p. 107
Atomic Cars, Artificial Suns, Cancer-Curing Isotopes: The Search for a Silver Lining	p. 109
Bright Dreams and Disturbing Realities: The Psychological Function of the Atomic-Utopia Visions	p. 122
The Social Implications of Atomic Energy: Prophecies and Prescriptions	p. 131
Optimistic Forecasts	p. 133
Darker Social Visions	p. 141
Experts and Ideologues Offer Their Prescriptions	p. 151
Social Science into the Breach	p. 166
The Crisis of Morals and Values	p. 179
Justifications, Rationalizations, Evasions: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the American Conscience	p. 181
"Victory for What?" - The Voice of the Minority	p. 196
Atomic Weapons and Judeo-Christian Ethics: The Discourse Begins	p. 211
Human Nature, Technological Man, the Apocalyptic Tradition	p. 230
Culture and Consciousness in the Early Atomic Era	p. 241
Words Fail: The Bomb and the Literary Imagination	p. 243
Visions of the Atomic Future in Science Fiction and Speculative Fantasy	p. 257
Second Thoughts About Prometheus: The Atomic Bomb and Attitudes Toward Science	p. 266
Psychological Fallout: Consciousness and the Bomb	p. 275
The End of the Beginning: Settling in for the Long Haul	p. 289
Dagwood to the Rescue: The Campaign to Promote the "Peaceful Atom"	p. 291
Secrecy and Soft Soap: Soothing Fears of the Bomb	p. 303
The Reassuring Message of Civil Defense	p. 319
1949-1950: Embracing the Bomb	p. 334
Epilogue: From the H-Bomb to Star Wars: The Continuing Cycles of Activism and Apathy	p. 352
Notes	p. 369
Index	p. 423
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