{"id":976,"date":"2013-01-12T15:26:55","date_gmt":"2013-01-12T23:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deepspace.ucsb.edu\/?page_id=976"},"modified":"2023-08-20T15:53:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T22:53:18","slug":"int-184-pl-interdiscpilinary-honors-seminar-weapons-of-mass-destruction-spring-2013","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/128.111.23.62\/wordpress\/classes\/int-184-pl-interdiscpilinary-honors-seminar-weapons-of-mass-destruction-spring-2013","title":{"rendered":"INT 184 – PL Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar – Weapons of Mass Destruction – Spring 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Weapons of Mass Destruction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Professor: Philip Lubin<\/p>\n

Office 2015C Broida<\/p>\n

Email: prof@deepspace.ucsb.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

Classes: Th 5-7 PM in Broida 3302<\/p>\n

Class Gmail account:<\/p>\n

User: ucsb.physicswmd<\/p>\n

Pass: @phys…<\/p>\n

Synopsis<\/strong>: This is an interdisciplinary course that is designed to explore the science and policy of nuclear weapons. This course is not designed to be a science course but rather we will explore multiple aspects of weapons of mass destruction and the nuclear doctrine upon which our policies of deterrent are based. This course is open to honors majors with a goal of bringing together students from various background in the humanities and the sciences.<\/p>\n

Weapons of Mass Destruction: Science and Policy<\/p>\n

Like it or not the world is filled with weapons of vastly increased destructive potential than could have been imagined even 70 years ago. For example, the total amount of Allied bombs dropped during all of WW II was about 3 MT (megatons TNT) or the equivalent of one medium sized thermonuclear device. To put this in perspective, at the height of the Cold War, the world’s nuclear arsenal was about 10,000 times larger than the total used in WW-II and most of it could be deployed in a matter of hours or less. These weapons dominate much of the geopolitical landscape of the world. In this seminar we will discuss and explore the scientific issues behind these weapons and the role of policy (or lack thereof) in preventing them from being used in anger. Being ignorant of these devices, how they work and how we make policies in light of their existence is not in the best interests of a peaceful world. At the moment they both threaten stability and enable an unstable stability. In the long term these same devices and the science behind them may enable us to explore other stars, protect ourselves from threats such as Earth crossing asteroids or pursue inertial confinement fusion but at the moment they are a threat worth understanding. Ignorance may be bliss but the consequences are too great to ignore.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If we fight a war and win it with H-bombs, what history will remember is not
\nthe ideals we were fighting for but the methods we used to accomplish them.
\nThese methods will be compared to the warfare of Genghis Khan who ruthlessly
\nkilled every last inhabitant of Persia.\u00a0 Hans A. Bethe<\/b><\/p>\n

…And these atomic bombs which science burst upon the world that night were strange even to the men who used them.\u00a0 H. G. Wells, The World Set Free<\/i>, 1914<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reading List:<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Making of the atomic Bomb<\/b><\/p>\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Making_of_the_Atomic_Bomb<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/aw\/d\/1451677618<\/a><\/p>\n

Dark Sun<\/b><\/p>\n