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The Golden Age of Science Fiction: America's Response to Nuclear

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The Golden Age of Science Fiction: America's Response to Nuclear The Golden Age of Science Fiction: America's Response to Nuclear Weaponry By: Rose Marie Wong Mentor: Jones DeRitter, Ph.D. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Honors Program at The University of Scranton 27 April 2012 1 Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Development of Atomic Theory ................................................................................................................... 8 Creation of the Atomic Bomb ..................................................................................................................... 16 The Birth of Postwar Optimism .................................................................................................................. 26 Fear of Nuclear Annihilation ...................................................................................................................... 33 Belief in Inevitable War .............................................................................................................................. 41 Apocalyptic Nature of Nuclear War ........................................................................................................... 55 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 66 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 70 2 Introduction According to Paul Boyer, in By the Bomb's Early Light: American thought and culture at the dawn of the atomic age, "For all its exotic trappings, science fiction is best understood as a commentary on contemporary issues."1 While entertaining their audience, science fiction authors also commentate on social issues through their works; in this manner, the genre provides insight into the social climate in which the author lived. Particularly, this thesis concerns American's reaction to nuclear weaponry and the science fiction of the 1940s and 1950s that commentates on this issue. Science fiction authors recognized the atomic bomb's drastic impact on American society. In the 1940s, the atomic bomb affected international relations and brought the possibility of unparalleled danger to warfare. As the Cold War intensified in the 1950s, Americans began to fear nuclear weapons.2 Their terror derived from the possibility of total annihilation from a full- fledged nuclear war with the Soviet Union. 3 This evolution of American's attitude towards nuclear weaponry, specifically the atomic bomb, remains evident within the science fiction published at the time. These literary works of the 1940s and 1950s serve as the golden age of science fiction. John W. Campbell, Jr. caused the emergence of this golden age. In 1937, Campbell began his editorship of the magazine he renamed Astounding Science Fiction. The position allowed him to change the genre by influencing how his authors wrote their fiction.4 Campbell employed writers who understood science, and prompted these writers to integrate this knowledge within their 1 Paul Boyer, By the Bomb's Early Light: American thought and culture at the dawn of the atomic age (New York: Pantheon, 1985) cited by Rob Latham, "Fiction, 1950-1963" in The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction, ed. by Mark Bould et al. (New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2009), 80-8. 2 Colin S. Gray, War, Peace and International Relations: An Introduction to Strategic History (New York: Routledge, 2007), 205. 3 Paul Williams, "Nuclear Criticism," in The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction, ed. by Mark Bould et al. (New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2009), 252. 4 Brian Attebery, "The magazine era: 1926-1960" in The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, ed. by Edward James and Farah Mendleson (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 37. 3 works. According to Isaac Asimov, Campbell’s magazine became a place where science fiction authors "dealt with reasonable advances in technology and concerned themselves with just what such advances might mean to society." 5 This served as a drastic change from the science fiction written in prior decades; earlier works often depicted fantastical situations, such as interplanetary and time travel, without any consideration about how such feats might occur. By dealing with plausible scientific events, the writers Campbell hired — such as Robert A. Heinlein and Asimov — subsequently served as masters of the genre for decades afterwards.6 This focus on credible facts, based on verisimilitude to science and technology, serves as the defining characteristic in science fiction's golden age. However, while most scholars agree that the birth of Astounding Science Fiction in 1937 serves as the beginning of the golden age, a division of opinion emerges on the issue of its conclusion. The older generation of science fiction enthusiasts often define the golden age of science fiction as one that ends in 1950.7 However, their definition creates a minor problem for literary historians: the next trend in the genre, called the New Wave, emerged in the 1960s. This leaves a decade of science fiction works without a proper classification.8 Yet, the 1950s serves as an important time for the genre. Within that decade, science fiction brought forth what Robert Silverberg has called "a torrent of new magazines and new writers bringing new themes and fresh techniques that laid the foundation for the work of the four decades that followed."9 Therefore, a logical definition of the golden age should include the 1950s to encapsulate a decade's worth of important fiction. Since the golden age of science fiction began when 5 Isaac Asimov, Asimov on Science Fiction (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1981), 116. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid., 130. 8 Damien Broderick, "New Wave and backwash: 1960-1980" in The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, ed. by Edward James and Farah Mendleson (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 49-50. 9 Robert Silverberg, "Introduction" in A Century of Science Fiction 1950-1959 The Greatest Stories of the Decade, ed. by Robert Silverberg (New York: MJF Books, 1996), 1. 4 Campbell assumed editorship of Astounding Science Fiction, it should conclude when the magazine ends; in 1960, Astounding Science Fiction finished a twenty-three year reign over the genre when its name changed to Analog. Therefore, the golden age of science fiction can be thought of as extending beyond the 1940s and into the following decade. For the purposes of this essay, I will refer to this period as "the Golden Age of the 1940s and 1950s."10 The works of this golden age of science fiction also portray American sentiment during the nuclear age, which also began in the 1940s. The nuclear age started when the American scientific community initiated the development of nuclear technology. From 1938-1942, the general American public remained uninterested in this new science; only science fiction fans, writers and the scientific community concerned themselves with nuclear technology.11 These people remained torn about such advances in science. On one hand, nuclear energy provided the potential for beneficial advances in science, such as limitless energy. On the other hand, scientists acknowledged that the same technology could create powerful weapons with great destructive power. Science fiction about nuclear power in the early 1940s reflected these concerns. For example, Lester Del Rey depicts the conflicting emotions about the possibilities of nuclear technology in "Nerves" by juxtaposing the benefits of a nuclear power plant with the dangers of the plant's possible meltdown. Throughout the novella, Del Rey's protagonist struggles to prevent a nuclear disaster, while also defending the plant against criticism. This tension mirrors the inner conflict scientists faced about the development of nuclear technology. As the threat of Germany grew during World War II, government concern over nuclear technology and its role in war widened the pool of Americans interested in nuclear technology to 10 Farah Mendleson, "Religion and science fiction" in The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, ed. by Edward James and Farah Mendleson (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 266. 11 Albert I. Berger, "Nuclear Energy: Science Fiction's Metaphor of Power (L'énergie nucléaire comme métaphore du pouvoir en science-fiction)," Science Fiction Studies Vol. 6, No. 2 (July 1979), 121, and Colin S. Gray, War, Peace and International Relations: An Introduction to Strategic History (New York: Routledge, 2007), 207. 5 include government and military officials.12 The literary works of the science fiction genre reflected this change through their shift towards political stories. For instance, Robert A. Heinlein's "Solution Unsatisfactory" specifically explores the political ramifications of atomic weaponry on international relations. After bombing Berlin in a manner predicative of the United States' actual attack on Hiroshima, Heinlein's protagonist realizes that he must become the world's dictator to maintain peace. Cleve Cartmill's "Deadline" also explores the impact of atomic weapons on politics. Cartmill shows his fear of a nuclear weapon so powerful that it will exterminate all of humanity through warring alien races that represent the United States and the Soviet Union. Most of the science fiction
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