A comprehensive survey of the nuclear arms race from a technological point of view, which will appeal to the scientist and non-scientist alike. Provides information for the layman on this current topic and is designed for undergraduate courses in political science, history, international studies, as well as physics courses on the subject. Explores the motivation behind the development of various nuclear arms technologies and their deployment and examines the effects these technologies have on military, political and social strategies. Discusses the nature of deterrence and alternatives to it, arms control, and disarmament.

Physics and Nuclear Arms Today is a collection of the best articles written about the arms race which appeared in Physics Today between 1976 and 1989. The articles explore a wide variety of topical issues such as the effects of nuclear weapons, nuclear testing, offensive strategic weapons, defensive SDI or Star Wars weapons, nuclear nonproliferation and the social responsibility of scientists as well as a wide selection of articles which chronicle the history of nuclear weaponry. The authors also represent a broad spectrum of well known names in the physics community including Andrei Sakharov, Sidney Drell, Wolfgang Panofsky, Edward Teller, Frank von Hippel, Victor Weiskopf, and Freeman Dyson. Of interest to physicists interested in arms control issues, nuclear weapons, and international relations; science and defense policy makers.

This new edition of a very current interdisciplinary book covers both technical material and social issues, to give readers of all backgrounds a sense of the overall implications of the arms race. Weapons are the primary focus of the book, with the history of their development and nuclear politics included in the introductory chapters. There is a thorough discussion of global nuclear exchange, which considers the consequences of an all-out nuclear war, the psychological impact of the threat and actual nuclear war; the atomic bombings of Japan; and the biological effects of radiation from nuclear weapons.