Homework Due Tuesday 5/5

Assignment Instructions:

• Read The New Yorker, “Fat Man” by Louis Menand pp. 1-4 up to line 21 (at the section break). This will be passed out in class. You can also find a printable version of the article here: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/06/27/050627crbo_books
• Answer the following questions on your blog: 1) Who was Herman Kahn and what were some of the main ideas in his book, On Thermonuclear War? 2) What is your reaction to his ideas so far?

Assignment:

Who was Herman Kahn and what were some of the main ideas in his book, On Thermonuclear War?

Herman Kahn was a part of a group called the Megadeath Intellectuals during the years of the cold war. He attended UCLA where he majored in physics. Kahn was involved in the development of the hydrogen bomb and worked with Edward Tllere, John von Nuemann, and Hans Bethe.

On Thermonuclear War:

-The book was based on two assumptions; first one was that nuclear was was possible and the second was that nuclear war is winnable.

-Kahn starts his book with a table showing the number of dead (2 million - 160 million) at the bottom of this table Kahn states a question. "Will the survivors envy the dead?" Kahn believes that the answer is no.

- Kahn believes that Americans believe that nuclear war is survivable.