Sean F. Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199692118
- eISBN:
- 9780191740732
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199692118.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
This book follows nuclear engineers, specialists in a field described by early participants as a ‘strange journey through Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘What Buck Rogers reads about when he reads’. Their ...
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This book follows nuclear engineers, specialists in a field described by early participants as a ‘strange journey through Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘What Buck Rogers reads about when he reads’. Their hidden origins trace back to the discovery of the neutron and the cascade of knowledge and applications released by the chain reaction. Unlike the atomic bomb which motivated their creation, nuclear specialists in the USA, Britain, and Canada did not burst into visibility at the end of the Second World War. Cosseted and cloistered by their governments, they worked in secrecy for a further decade to explore applications of atomic energy at a handful of national laboratories. The identities of these unusually voiceless experts—forming a uniquely state-managed discipline—were shaped in the context of pre-war nuclear physics, wartime industrial management, post-war politics, and utopian energy programmes. Even after their eventual emergence at universities and companies, nuclear workers carried the enduring legacy of their origins. Their shared experiences shaped not only their identities, but our collective memories of the nuclear age. And as illustrated by the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident seven decades after the Manhattan Project began, they are still seen conflictingly as selfless heroes or as mistrusted guardians of an unbottled and malevolent genie. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with participants, this bottom-up account tracks these shadowy specialists and how they evolved to influence late twentieth-century science, industry, and culture.Less
This book follows nuclear engineers, specialists in a field described by early participants as a ‘strange journey through Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘What Buck Rogers reads about when he reads’. Their hidden origins trace back to the discovery of the neutron and the cascade of knowledge and applications released by the chain reaction. Unlike the atomic bomb which motivated their creation, nuclear specialists in the USA, Britain, and Canada did not burst into visibility at the end of the Second World War. Cosseted and cloistered by their governments, they worked in secrecy for a further decade to explore applications of atomic energy at a handful of national laboratories. The identities of these unusually voiceless experts—forming a uniquely state-managed discipline—were shaped in the context of pre-war nuclear physics, wartime industrial management, post-war politics, and utopian energy programmes. Even after their eventual emergence at universities and companies, nuclear workers carried the enduring legacy of their origins. Their shared experiences shaped not only their identities, but our collective memories of the nuclear age. And as illustrated by the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident seven decades after the Manhattan Project began, they are still seen conflictingly as selfless heroes or as mistrusted guardians of an unbottled and malevolent genie. Based on extensive archival research and interviews with participants, this bottom-up account tracks these shadowy specialists and how they evolved to influence late twentieth-century science, industry, and culture.
Ian Bellany
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719067969
- eISBN:
- 9781781701324
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719067969.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Nuclear energy has peaceful applications and non-peaceful applications. The centrepiece of all political efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons lies in attempting to harmonise the ...
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Nuclear energy has peaceful applications and non-peaceful applications. The centrepiece of all political efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons lies in attempting to harmonise the proliferation of nuclear reactors with the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. What all nuclear reactors have in common is nuclear fuel, which must contain at least some uranium in the form of the isotope uranium-235 (or very much more rarely 233), or plutonium, or both. This is usually described as ‘fissile material’. This chapter is about nuclear technology and the technical interconnections between commercial and military nuclear programmes. It also discusses the spread of nuclear technology and the use to which it has been put by a number of states, both inside and outside the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to bring them close to or even take them over the nuclear weapons threshold. Moreover, the chapter provides an overview on critical mass and nuclear bombs, the differences between the United States and its natural allies over nuclear proliferation, radioactive waste and nuclear accidents and uranium enrichment.Less
Nuclear energy has peaceful applications and non-peaceful applications. The centrepiece of all political efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons lies in attempting to harmonise the proliferation of nuclear reactors with the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. What all nuclear reactors have in common is nuclear fuel, which must contain at least some uranium in the form of the isotope uranium-235 (or very much more rarely 233), or plutonium, or both. This is usually described as ‘fissile material’. This chapter is about nuclear technology and the technical interconnections between commercial and military nuclear programmes. It also discusses the spread of nuclear technology and the use to which it has been put by a number of states, both inside and outside the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to bring them close to or even take them over the nuclear weapons threshold. Moreover, the chapter provides an overview on critical mass and nuclear bombs, the differences between the United States and its natural allies over nuclear proliferation, radioactive waste and nuclear accidents and uranium enrichment.
Sean F. Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199692118
- eISBN:
- 9780191740732
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199692118.003.0007
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
For practising engineers, the most pragmatic expression of technical identity was defined in the workplace. This chapter focuses on nuclear specialists via their jobs. During the 1950s, workers from ...
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For practising engineers, the most pragmatic expression of technical identity was defined in the workplace. This chapter focuses on nuclear specialists via their jobs. During the 1950s, workers from a spectrum of disciplines expanded at sites specializing in reactor development, plutonium production, and power generation. By the early 1960s these specialists were emerging as a recognized occupational speciality in the USA, but not in Britain. For early nuclear workers, representation by American labour unions was a problem for security reasons, and existing British unions aligned with chemical industry traditions, but new occupational labels were supported in Canada. The characteristics that defined the work of the specialists were disputed, although the risks of radioactivity shaped working identities in each country.Less
For practising engineers, the most pragmatic expression of technical identity was defined in the workplace. This chapter focuses on nuclear specialists via their jobs. During the 1950s, workers from a spectrum of disciplines expanded at sites specializing in reactor development, plutonium production, and power generation. By the early 1960s these specialists were emerging as a recognized occupational speciality in the USA, but not in Britain. For early nuclear workers, representation by American labour unions was a problem for security reasons, and existing British unions aligned with chemical industry traditions, but new occupational labels were supported in Canada. The characteristics that defined the work of the specialists were disputed, although the risks of radioactivity shaped working identities in each country.
Sonja D. Schmid
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262027953
- eISBN:
- 9780262326100
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262027953.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter uses nuclear physics and reactor engineering as an example to illustrate uniquely Soviet discussion over “fundamental” and “applied” research during the Cold War. Post-Stalinist ...
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This chapter uses nuclear physics and reactor engineering as an example to illustrate uniquely Soviet discussion over “fundamental” and “applied” research during the Cold War. Post-Stalinist scientists found creative strategies around Party control that involved “boundary work” emphasizing scientific universalism. These strategies involved both a public image campaign for peaceful uses of nuclear energy (which linked abstract research agendas to concrete applications and the public good), and also the creation of organizational structures that would firmly anchor fundamental science in the country’s institutional landscape. The success of these strategies ironically reinforced a symbiotic relationship between science and the state by buttressing the rhetoric of “scientific neutrality” versus state ideology. While deeply contradictory, the rhetorical demarcation between “fundamental” and “applied” science served to materialize specific organizational arrangements, which in turn shaped the kind of research deemed appropriate, and the kinds of applications regarded desirable. This rhetorical move made it possible that both an “international” design and a uniquely “Soviet” model of nuclear power reactors found resonance among Soviet decision makers.Less
This chapter uses nuclear physics and reactor engineering as an example to illustrate uniquely Soviet discussion over “fundamental” and “applied” research during the Cold War. Post-Stalinist scientists found creative strategies around Party control that involved “boundary work” emphasizing scientific universalism. These strategies involved both a public image campaign for peaceful uses of nuclear energy (which linked abstract research agendas to concrete applications and the public good), and also the creation of organizational structures that would firmly anchor fundamental science in the country’s institutional landscape. The success of these strategies ironically reinforced a symbiotic relationship between science and the state by buttressing the rhetoric of “scientific neutrality” versus state ideology. While deeply contradictory, the rhetorical demarcation between “fundamental” and “applied” science served to materialize specific organizational arrangements, which in turn shaped the kind of research deemed appropriate, and the kinds of applications regarded desirable. This rhetorical move made it possible that both an “international” design and a uniquely “Soviet” model of nuclear power reactors found resonance among Soviet decision makers.
Adriana Petryna
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151663
- eISBN:
- 9781400845095
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151663.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
On April 26, 1986, Unit Four of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in then Soviet Ukraine. More than 3.5 million people in Ukraine alone, not to mention many citizens of surrounding countries, ...
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On April 26, 1986, Unit Four of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in then Soviet Ukraine. More than 3.5 million people in Ukraine alone, not to mention many citizens of surrounding countries, are still suffering the effects. This is the first book to comprehensively examine the vexed political, scientific, and social circumstances that followed the Chernobyl disaster. Tracing the story from an initial lack of disclosure to post-Soviet democratizing attempts to compensate sufferers, the book uses anthropological tools to take us into a world whose social realities are far more immediate and stark than those described by policymakers and scientists. It asks: What happens to politics when state officials fail to inform their fellow citizens of real threats to life? What are the moral and political consequences of remedies available in the wake of technological disasters? The book illustrates how the Chernobyl explosion and its aftermath have not only shaped the course of an independent nation but have made health a negotiated realm of entitlement. It tracks the emergence of a “biological citizenship” in which assaults on health become the coinage through which sufferers stake claims for biomedical resources, social equity, and human rights. The book provides an anthropological framework for understanding the politics of emergent democracies, the nature of citizenship claims, and everyday forms of survival as they are interwoven with the profound changes that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union.Less
On April 26, 1986, Unit Four of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in then Soviet Ukraine. More than 3.5 million people in Ukraine alone, not to mention many citizens of surrounding countries, are still suffering the effects. This is the first book to comprehensively examine the vexed political, scientific, and social circumstances that followed the Chernobyl disaster. Tracing the story from an initial lack of disclosure to post-Soviet democratizing attempts to compensate sufferers, the book uses anthropological tools to take us into a world whose social realities are far more immediate and stark than those described by policymakers and scientists. It asks: What happens to politics when state officials fail to inform their fellow citizens of real threats to life? What are the moral and political consequences of remedies available in the wake of technological disasters? The book illustrates how the Chernobyl explosion and its aftermath have not only shaped the course of an independent nation but have made health a negotiated realm of entitlement. It tracks the emergence of a “biological citizenship” in which assaults on health become the coinage through which sufferers stake claims for biomedical resources, social equity, and human rights. The book provides an anthropological framework for understanding the politics of emergent democracies, the nature of citizenship claims, and everyday forms of survival as they are interwoven with the profound changes that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Gawdat Bahgat
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813031668
- eISBN:
- 9780813039114
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813031668.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter examines the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. It discusses Iraq's WMD capabilities, the preemptive strikes on its nuclear reactors and the strict United ...
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This chapter examines the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. It discusses Iraq's WMD capabilities, the preemptive strikes on its nuclear reactors and the strict United Nations scrutiny of the Iraqi program to acquire and develop nonconventional capabilities for most of the 1990s and early 2000s. It argues that Saddam Hussein's aggressive foreign policy cannot be understood without fully appreciating the domestic power structure and the challenges his regime confronted within Iraq and that his removal is no guarantee that the question of Iraq's WMD has been resolved.Less
This chapter examines the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. It discusses Iraq's WMD capabilities, the preemptive strikes on its nuclear reactors and the strict United Nations scrutiny of the Iraqi program to acquire and develop nonconventional capabilities for most of the 1990s and early 2000s. It argues that Saddam Hussein's aggressive foreign policy cannot be understood without fully appreciating the domestic power structure and the challenges his regime confronted within Iraq and that his removal is no guarantee that the question of Iraq's WMD has been resolved.
Vaclav Smil
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262035774
- eISBN:
- 9780262338301
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035774.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects ...
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Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. This book provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today’s fossil fuel-driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. This book describes humanity’s energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview.Less
Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. This book provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today’s fossil fuel-driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. This book describes humanity’s energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview.
Peter Rez
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198802297
- eISBN:
- 9780191840708
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198802297.003.0005
- Subject:
- Physics, Geophysics, Atmospheric and Environmental Physics
The primary advantage of nuclear power is that a lot of energy can be generated from very little material—that too with no ongoing CO2 production. The disadvantage is the problem of dealing with ...
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The primary advantage of nuclear power is that a lot of energy can be generated from very little material—that too with no ongoing CO2 production. The disadvantage is the problem of dealing with radioactive waste—in particular,137Cs. Although somewhat challenging, it still appears to be manageable. Progress in nuclear fusion research has been slow, but the ultimate reward of almost unlimited energy would make it worthwhile to keep going.Less
The primary advantage of nuclear power is that a lot of energy can be generated from very little material—that too with no ongoing CO2 production. The disadvantage is the problem of dealing with radioactive waste—in particular,137Cs. Although somewhat challenging, it still appears to be manageable. Progress in nuclear fusion research has been slow, but the ultimate reward of almost unlimited energy would make it worthwhile to keep going.
Avi Shilon
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300162356
- eISBN:
- 9780300189032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300162356.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, Political History
Before his designated successor as prime minister of Israel could be known, Menachem Begin appointed his third finance minister, Yoram Aridor, on January 21, 1981. Aridor's appointment was a turning ...
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Before his designated successor as prime minister of Israel could be known, Menachem Begin appointed his third finance minister, Yoram Aridor, on January 21, 1981. Aridor's appointment was a turning point for the economy. As part of his economic policy, Aridor increased the range of services offered to the public, lowered taxes and prices, and increased the subsidies on basic products. As a result, the public's purchases increased, along with the state's revenues, although inflation rose and the value of the Israeli currency fell. Meanwhile, Begin declared during a gathering in Kiryat Malachi that Israel will strike the terrorists in their bases and denounced German chancellor Helmut Schmidt for his statement that Germany had a moral obligation toward the Palestinians because of the injustice they had suffered upon the establishment of the state of Israel. In October 1979, Begin instructed Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan to prepare an operation to attack the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, ignoring the psychological impact such an offensive would have upon the Arab world.Less
Before his designated successor as prime minister of Israel could be known, Menachem Begin appointed his third finance minister, Yoram Aridor, on January 21, 1981. Aridor's appointment was a turning point for the economy. As part of his economic policy, Aridor increased the range of services offered to the public, lowered taxes and prices, and increased the subsidies on basic products. As a result, the public's purchases increased, along with the state's revenues, although inflation rose and the value of the Israeli currency fell. Meanwhile, Begin declared during a gathering in Kiryat Malachi that Israel will strike the terrorists in their bases and denounced German chancellor Helmut Schmidt for his statement that Germany had a moral obligation toward the Palestinians because of the injustice they had suffered upon the establishment of the state of Israel. In October 1979, Begin instructed Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan to prepare an operation to attack the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, ignoring the psychological impact such an offensive would have upon the Arab world.
Robert McCaughey
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231166881
- eISBN:
- 9780231537520
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231166881.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter reviews developments at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) during the years 1945–1964. It first considers the leadership vacuum at SEAS in the ...
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This chapter reviews developments at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) during the years 1945–1964. It first considers the leadership vacuum at SEAS in the immediate postwar era as well as its problem with space constraints before turning to the appointment of John R. Dunning as the school's eighth dean. It then examines the controversy surrounding the TRIGA Mark II nuclear reactor installed at SEAS, along with Henry Krumb's $16 million donation to the school. It also discusses the reconstitution of the SEAS faculty; the issue over departmental rankings and the institutional rankings derived from them; and how Columbia forfeited its early prominence in the field of computers and computer science to more nimble competitors such as MIT, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon. Finally, it looks at SEAS's postwar students.Less
This chapter reviews developments at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) during the years 1945–1964. It first considers the leadership vacuum at SEAS in the immediate postwar era as well as its problem with space constraints before turning to the appointment of John R. Dunning as the school's eighth dean. It then examines the controversy surrounding the TRIGA Mark II nuclear reactor installed at SEAS, along with Henry Krumb's $16 million donation to the school. It also discusses the reconstitution of the SEAS faculty; the issue over departmental rankings and the institutional rankings derived from them; and how Columbia forfeited its early prominence in the field of computers and computer science to more nimble competitors such as MIT, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon. Finally, it looks at SEAS's postwar students.
Jean-Luc Nancy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823263387
- eISBN:
- 9780823266333
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823263387.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter discusses equivalence. The equivalence of the disaster of Fukushima and other catastrophes goes beyond the military and general use of nuclear power, but to the powers humanity has ...
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This chapter discusses equivalence. The equivalence of the disaster of Fukushima and other catastrophes goes beyond the military and general use of nuclear power, but to the powers humanity has endowed itself with. Equivalence is governing oneself with forces that dictate. Hence, a broken nuclear reactor is no less equal than the excess used to control and manipulate it. For example, coal and oil have brought problems that have exceeded the political and technological capabilities of those who are controlling them. What is inevitable to follow is an ever increasing form of interdependence, becoming more complex, so that there is no end to manipulation and techniques. These are also obviously intertwined. In this complicated state of things, equivalence exists. Relations no longer count; if there is any, it is termed incommensurable.Less
This chapter discusses equivalence. The equivalence of the disaster of Fukushima and other catastrophes goes beyond the military and general use of nuclear power, but to the powers humanity has endowed itself with. Equivalence is governing oneself with forces that dictate. Hence, a broken nuclear reactor is no less equal than the excess used to control and manipulate it. For example, coal and oil have brought problems that have exceeded the political and technological capabilities of those who are controlling them. What is inevitable to follow is an ever increasing form of interdependence, becoming more complex, so that there is no end to manipulation and techniques. These are also obviously intertwined. In this complicated state of things, equivalence exists. Relations no longer count; if there is any, it is termed incommensurable.
Pesach Malovany IDF (Ret.), Amatzia Baram, Kevin M. Woods, and Ronna Englesberg
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780813169439
- eISBN:
- 9780813169514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813169439.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Military History
This chapter deals with the second phase of the war between Iraq and Iran—the first Iranian counter attacks to drive the Iraqi forces from their territory, and the opening of the “war of attrition”. ...
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This chapter deals with the second phase of the war between Iraq and Iran—the first Iranian counter attacks to drive the Iraqi forces from their territory, and the opening of the “war of attrition”. These included two Iranian initiatives in the Khafajiya sector in central Khuzestan (January and July 1981), an initiative in the Serbil Zehab and Kolina area in the central sector of the front, and the fighting in the northern sector of the front. It deals also with the failures of the Iraqi air force to prevent the Iranian air attack on the Iraqi air base in H-3, in west Iraq, and the Israeli air attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor south of Baghdad (April-June 1981)..Less
This chapter deals with the second phase of the war between Iraq and Iran—the first Iranian counter attacks to drive the Iraqi forces from their territory, and the opening of the “war of attrition”. These included two Iranian initiatives in the Khafajiya sector in central Khuzestan (January and July 1981), an initiative in the Serbil Zehab and Kolina area in the central sector of the front, and the fighting in the northern sector of the front. It deals also with the failures of the Iraqi air force to prevent the Iranian air attack on the Iraqi air base in H-3, in west Iraq, and the Israeli air attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor south of Baghdad (April-June 1981)..
Robert McCaughey
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231166881
- eISBN:
- 9780231537520
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231166881.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter examines changes at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) during the years 1976–1980 under the deanship of Peter Likins. A professor of civil engineering ...
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This chapter examines changes at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) during the years 1976–1980 under the deanship of Peter Likins. A professor of civil engineering and associate dean of the School of Engineering at UCLA, Likins was installed in 1976 as the tenth dean of SEAS. Although his was to be the second shortest deanship up to that time, just four years, it was also the most transformational. Likins immediately overhauled SEAS's fundraising operation, successfully raising more money than his predecessor with less going to cover costs. By the end of the decade the school had struck up relationships throughout American industry that significantly increased the number of gifts, with many of these corporate-school relationships developed through a group Likins called Columbia Engineering Affiliates that still exists today. This chapter also considers Likins's initiatives with regards to the engineering and computer science faculties before concluding with an assessment of the controversy surrounding the TRIGA Mark II nuclear reactor at Columbia.Less
This chapter examines changes at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) during the years 1976–1980 under the deanship of Peter Likins. A professor of civil engineering and associate dean of the School of Engineering at UCLA, Likins was installed in 1976 as the tenth dean of SEAS. Although his was to be the second shortest deanship up to that time, just four years, it was also the most transformational. Likins immediately overhauled SEAS's fundraising operation, successfully raising more money than his predecessor with less going to cover costs. By the end of the decade the school had struck up relationships throughout American industry that significantly increased the number of gifts, with many of these corporate-school relationships developed through a group Likins called Columbia Engineering Affiliates that still exists today. This chapter also considers Likins's initiatives with regards to the engineering and computer science faculties before concluding with an assessment of the controversy surrounding the TRIGA Mark II nuclear reactor at Columbia.
Avi Shilon
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300162356
- eISBN:
- 9780300189032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300162356.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, Political History
Three months prior to the 1981 elections, public opinion polls showed that Menachem Begin's Likud party would lose to Hamaarach by more than twenty-five percent. Three weeks before, the two parties ...
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Three months prior to the 1981 elections, public opinion polls showed that Menachem Begin's Likud party would lose to Hamaarach by more than twenty-five percent. Three weeks before, the two parties were expected to figure in an extremely tight race. Begin launched a tirade against Hamaarach, the Arabs, and the Gentiles, especially the Germans. A week after Israeli forces bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, Begin spoke at a meeting in Netanya and was greeted by more than 10,000 enthusiastic fans who chanted “Begin, King of Israel.” He talked about the missiles deployed by Syria in the Lebanese Beqaa Valley and the efforts of American mediator Philip Habib to settle the dispute between Israel and Syria.Less
Three months prior to the 1981 elections, public opinion polls showed that Menachem Begin's Likud party would lose to Hamaarach by more than twenty-five percent. Three weeks before, the two parties were expected to figure in an extremely tight race. Begin launched a tirade against Hamaarach, the Arabs, and the Gentiles, especially the Germans. A week after Israeli forces bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, Begin spoke at a meeting in Netanya and was greeted by more than 10,000 enthusiastic fans who chanted “Begin, King of Israel.” He talked about the missiles deployed by Syria in the Lebanese Beqaa Valley and the efforts of American mediator Philip Habib to settle the dispute between Israel and Syria.
Jennifer Robertson
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520283190
- eISBN:
- 9780520959064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520283190.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
Innovation 25 was introduced in 2007 as Prime Minister Abe’s visionary and futuristic blueprint for robotizing Japan by 2025. This policy proposal was supported by subsequent administrations and then ...
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Innovation 25 was introduced in 2007 as Prime Minister Abe’s visionary and futuristic blueprint for robotizing Japan by 2025. This policy proposal was supported by subsequent administrations and then revamped following Abe’s reelection in 2012. The conservative sociopolitical aspects of the proposal are elaborated and the use of graphic propaganda to promote Abe’s nationalist policies is reviewed. Members of the Innovation 25 Strategy Council are identified, and opposition to Innovation 25 is summarized. Corporate mismanagement in the aftermath of the trifold disaster of March 11, 2011 (3/11), is critiqued. Contrary to pre-disaster expectations, robots proved incapable of navigating the tsunami-damaged nuclear reactors in Fukushima. The Abe administration’s fostering of “robot dreams” among children and the general public is reviewed and characterized in terms of reactionary postmodernism.Less
Innovation 25 was introduced in 2007 as Prime Minister Abe’s visionary and futuristic blueprint for robotizing Japan by 2025. This policy proposal was supported by subsequent administrations and then revamped following Abe’s reelection in 2012. The conservative sociopolitical aspects of the proposal are elaborated and the use of graphic propaganda to promote Abe’s nationalist policies is reviewed. Members of the Innovation 25 Strategy Council are identified, and opposition to Innovation 25 is summarized. Corporate mismanagement in the aftermath of the trifold disaster of March 11, 2011 (3/11), is critiqued. Contrary to pre-disaster expectations, robots proved incapable of navigating the tsunami-damaged nuclear reactors in Fukushima. The Abe administration’s fostering of “robot dreams” among children and the general public is reviewed and characterized in terms of reactionary postmodernism.
