James B. Conant: Harvard to Hiroshima and the Making of the Nuclear AgeJames B. Conant (1893-1978) was one of the giants of the American establishment in the twentieth century. President of Harvard University from 1933 to 1953, he was also a scientist who led the US government's effort to develop weapons of mass destruction, and his story mirrors the transition of the United States from isolationism to global superpower at the dawn of the nuclear age. 'This splendid portrait of Conant ... illuminates the life of a pivotal figure in the making of US nuclear, scientific, educational, and foreign policy for almost half a century. But the book is much more: it is not only an insightful narration of Conant's life, it is also a brilliant and important account of the making of the nuclear age, a chronicle that contains much that is new.' TheWashington Post 'The bomb would be as much Conant's as it was anyone's in government. His inner response to that burden of responsibility has long been obscured, but it is illumined here ... This is a model of historiography that is evocative reading.' The New York Times Book Review 'Vibrantly written and compelling, it breaches Conant's shield of public discretion in masterly fashion ... |
Contents
One of the Outstanding Kibitzers of the Age | 3 |
Harvard College 19101913 | 20 |
Conant and World War I 19141918 | 35 |
Professor of Chemistry 19191933 | 49 |
President Conant Goes to War 19391940 | 111 |
Conant Bohr | 194 |
Shaping Hiroshimas Legacy 19451947 | 279 |
Building Bombs Again 1947 | 305 |
Conant and the Militarization of American Science 19501952 | 554 |
God and Man at Harvard | 578 |
Cold War Educator Part | 606 |
Ambassador to West Germany 19551957 | 687 |
Educational Statesman 19571965 | 706 |
Winter for the Conant Family | 739 |
Appendixes | 757 |
Principal Sources | 773 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
academic Acheson Adenauer administration American atomic bomb atomic energy atomic weapons believed Berlin British Bundy Bush Cambridge chemist chemistry Cold War College Commission Committee Communist Compton Conant wrote danger decision defense diary draft Eisenhower Europe faculty fear File folder forces German Grenville Clark H-bomb Harvard Harvard Corporation Hewlett and Anderson Hiroshima hope idea international control interview issue James JBC PERP JBC PREP JBC to VB JBC's June later Lilienthal Manhattan Project ment military Moscow National nuclear weapons officials Oppenheimer OSRD Papers physicists political postwar president proposal Richards Robert Oppenheimer Roosevelt Russians schools scientific scientists secret Secretary Sept social Soviet Union speech Stimson tion told Truman United University urged Vannevar Bush warfare Washington West West Berlin West German World World War II York