Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Common Descent of All World Nukes

All nuclear explosives owe their origins to know-how and materials passed down from the multinational effort that was the Manhattan Project, according to two new books reviewed in Tuesday's Science Times section of the NY Times. William J Broad relates a few of the eye-widening tidbits that the authors reveal about how the current distribution of nuclear technology came to pass, and about who and what really ought to worry you. A.Q. Khan? The man's a "used-car dealer"--clients of his will be lucky to make it around the block with what he gives them. Former Soviet scientists? No wanderlust. Wait until you hear about the Afrikaners. But have you been kept awake by the likelihood of some Boy Scout in Yemen working out how to make an H-bomb from materials at hand? For you this looks to be soothing reading.

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