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Review of Jonathan M. Weisgall, Operation Crossroads: the Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll

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Review of Jonathan M. Weisgall, Operation Crossroads: the Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Department of History and Sociology of Science Departmental Papers (HSS) (HSS) 6-1995 Review of Jonathan M. Weisgall, Operation Crossroads: The Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll Susan M. Lindee University of Pennsylvannia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/hss_papers Part of the Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, History of the Pacific Islands Commons, and the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Lindee, S. M. (1995). Review of Jonathan M. Weisgall, Operation Crossroads: The Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll. Isis, 86 (2), 353-355. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/357225 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/hss_papers/18 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Review of Jonathan M. Weisgall, Operation Crossroads: The Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll Abstract The island of Bikini is at the cener of this meticulous reconstruction of the weapons tests conducted there. Jonathan Weisgall has been legal counsel to the Bikini islanders since 1975, and his narrative is most compelling when it stays close to the islanders. There is barely an analytical sentence in the book, and the author is prone to harsh adjectives for those who promulgated the tests. But the storytelling is first ate,r and Weisgall has done more than his share of combining archives and dissecting oral history interviews. Disciplines Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics | History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | History of the Pacific Islands | Military History This review is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/hss_papers/18 BOOK REVIEWS-ISIS, 86: 2 (1995) 353 ories, assessing the evidence in debates on inglyho- calledcalled forfor "balance""balance" in in the the national national labo- labo- mosexuality, pornography, and childhood sexu- ratories duringduring thethe 1960s, 1960s, Oak Oak Ridge Ridge moved moved ality (and lamenting the impossibility of doing more dramaticallydramatically away away from from its its earlier earlier focus focus on on serious research on children). An advocate nuclearof energy.energy. TheThe biology biology division division became became the the frankness in all sexual matters, he writes un-largest divisiondivision ofof Oak Oak Ridge Ridge National National Labora- Labora- flinchingly of pedophiliacs and "fuckeramas" tory andand examinedexamined a awide wide variety variety of of research research (video workshops employed to desensitize ther- questions. AlthoughAlthough the the environmental environmental and and bio- bio- apists) (p. 279). He is admirably feminist logicaland programsprograms of of the the laboratory laboratory continued continued altogether nonjudgmental. What Bullough doesduring thethe 1970s,1970s, the the energy energy crisis crisis returned returned Oak Oak not do, however, is historicize his-the sexolo- Ridge toto itsits earlierearlier focus. focus. Laboratory Laboratory scientists scientists gist's-commitment to the notion that sexual investigated recyclingrecycling efforts, efforts, solar solar energy, energy, nu- nu- openness yields the researcher essential truths clear of fusion,fusion, andand the the use use of of coal coal as as an an energy energy human nature. This notion, upon which sexology source, whilewhile continuingcontinuing their their research research on on nu- nu- is premised, is not nearly so self-evident as Bul-clear safetysafety andand environmental environmental concerns. concerns. lough assumes. Advanced by turn-of-the-century The ReaganReagan revolutionrevolution brought brought another another sig- sig- sexual modernizers, it triumphed as part of nificantthe modificationmodification to to the the laboratory's laboratory's mission. mission. process that saw a Victorian past created and Althoughre- OakOak RidgeRidge participated participated in in Strategic Strategic jected. Rooted in history, it invites the histori- Defense InitiativeInitiative endeavors, endeavors, the the more more signifi- signifi- an's scrutiny. cant changechange inin thethe 1980s 1980s was was a aredirection redirection of of ELIZABETH LUNBECK energy research.research. Support Support for for non-nuclear non-nuclear energy energy sources andand conservationconservation dropped dropped noticeably, noticeably, while thethe ReaganReagan administration administration stressed stressed tech- tech- nology transfertransfer to to private private industry. industry. In In the the early early Leland Johnson; Daniel Schaffer. Oak Ridge 1990s thethe laboratorylaboratory took took on on the the new new task task of of National Laboratory: The First Fifty Years. environmental xii restoration. Various reviews had + 270 pp., illus., bibls., index. Knoxville: Uni- disclosed major environmental problems at nu- versity of Tennessee Press, 1994. $30. clear facilities, most of which resulted from ear- Because of its origins in the Manhattan Project, lier techniques of nuclear waste disposal. Rather the Oak Ridge complex remains identified with than pursuing new projects, many Oak Ridge nuclear weapons and energy research. As the scientistsau- found themselves attempting to correct thors of this volume emphasize, however, past the mistakes. The expansion of the laboratory's laboratory has pursued a much broader agenda mission continued, however, with other scien- and has long represented a multifaceted scientific tists involved in global warming studies, the hu- institution. Its nuclear program has been aug-man genome project, analysis of acid rain, and mented by research in various biological topics, preliminary work on the superconducting super- energy conservation, science education, and,collider. more recently, environmental recovery and Based on numerous interviews, various pub- waste management. Although "sponsored" lishedby sources, and selected manuscript and ar- Oak Ridge National Laboratory and occasionally chival collections, Oak Ridge National Labora- displaying the shortcomings of "in house" tory:his- The First Fifty Years provides a valuable tory, this overview of the laboratory's first half- survey of the development of this facility. Its century describes the multidimensional research value as a historical account is somewhat limited program of Oak Ridge. by the lack of footnotes or other citations, but as The end of World War II began a significant a descriptive overview the volume makes an im- transition in the role and mission of the labora- portant contribution and provides an outline for tory. During the late 1940s reactor design pro- more detailed studies. jects, isotope production for medical research, GEORGE E. WEBB and the expansion of the basic science program defined the laboratory mission. The escalation of the cold war and Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace Jonathan M. Weisgall. Operation Crossroads: initiative further expanded the role of Oak The Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll. xx + 415 pp., Ridge. The laboratory staff doubled in size and frontis., illus., figs., app., bibl., index. Annapolis, pursued such programs as boiling-water reactors Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1994. $31.95. for civilian power production, reactors for sub- marine propulsion, research in genetics and med- The island of Bikini is at the center of this me- icine, nuclear fusion, and the investigation ticulous of reconstruction of the weapons tests con- various environmental topics. ducted there. Jonathan Weisgall has been legal As the Atomic Energy Commission increas- counsel to the Bikini islanders since 1975, and 354 BOOK REVIEWS-ISIS, 86: 2 (1995) Sailors scrubbing the deck of the Prinz Eugen to reduce radiation levels after Operation Crossroads. The ship had been part of the "target fleet" in the 1946 atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll (reprinted from Weisgall, Operation Crossroads). his narrative is most compelling when it stays port ships, and the planned destruction of ninety- close to the islanders. There is barely an analyt- five target ships valued at either $4 million or ical sentence in the book, and the author is prone $400 million, depending on whose testimony to harsh adjectives for those who promulgated can be believed. the tests. But the storytelling is first rate, and Drawing on extensive government archives Weisgall has done more than his share of comb- and on the personal papers of scientists and po- ing archives and dissecting oral history inter- litical leaders involved in these events, Weisgall views. documents the decision-making process through Weisgall's account focuses on a fifteen-month which this phenomenon came to be. He shows period, from August 1945 to November 1946, that the Crossroads tests were a consequence of during which Operation Crossroads was con- rivalries between the army air force and the ceived, defended, carried out, and then assessed navy, that they had very little scientific value, as proving that if an atomic bomb came close that they were a public relations disaster, and that enough to a ship, the ship would sink. Lewis they threatened the fragile negotiations then un- Strauss, later chairman of the Atomic Energy der way for the control of atomic energy. He also Commission, dreamed up the idea in August examines the events at Bikini from many differ- 1945 that atomic bombs should be tested on the ent perspectives, considering the experiences not navy's fleet, in order to prove the continuing im- only of the islanders, but also of military crews portance
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