Arsenal, understanding weapons in the nuclear age /

The subtitle precisely describes this clear, dispassionate account of the nuclear arsenals that exist today. Tsipis, an MIT physicist, sets out to explain in lay terms the nature of fission and fusion warheads. He retraces the principal steps that led to the Manhattan Project and the engineering problems relating to critical mass, bomb assembly, and the explosive charges needed to initiate the chain reaction. Then come chapters describing the killing power of nuclear weapons--the destructive blast wave, electromagnetic pulse, delayed radioactive fallout, and the potential destruction of the ozone layer by nitrogen oxides generated by the bomb burst. There are separate analyses for situations in which bombs are detonated at ground and atmospheric levels, and for considerations of loss of life or property, and environmental effects. All this is developed in more detail and with less emotion than in Jonathan Schell's The Fate of the Earth. Tsipis is equally precise in describing the vehicles and counterattack measures that the US and the USSR either have in place or are contemplating. Thus, readers familiar with the jargon of cruise and MIRV will find how-they-work explanations that also historically document the development of ballistic missiles, rockets, guidance systems, and the various schemes for counterattack and for dispersing, hiding, hardening, or otherwise distributing one's nuclear eggs. Tsipis explicitly states that he is not out to offer policy or solutions, though he does provide information on ways nations could verify arms agreements. Here are the facts, in other words, that have led to the present ""posturing"": Tsipis' term for the arms race. Can we negotiate our way out? Can we afford to go on with more posturing? Is it conceivable that nuclear weapons can be deployed in a limited way? Clearly, Tsipis believes that these are issues for public debate, and it is toward the end of: making that debate well-informed that he has written what is indeed a mine of information. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.