Cardinal Choices: Presidential Sciences Advising from the Atomic Bomb to SDI

This book is a history of the complex relations between scientific advisors, primarily physicists, and U.S. presidents in their role as decision makers about nuclear weapons and military strategy. The story, unsurprisingly, is one of considerable tension between the experts and the politicians, as scientists seek to influence policy and presidents alternate between accepting their advice and resisting or even ignoring it. First published in 1992, the book has been brought up to date to include the experiences of science advisors to President Clinton. In addition, the texts of eleven crucial documents, from the Einstein-Szilard letter to President Roosevelt (1939) to the announcement of the Strategic Defense Initiative by President Reagan (1983), have been added as appendixes.

Author: Gregg Herken
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 09/01/2000
Pages: 376
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.09lbs
Size: 8.92h x 6.01w x 0.93d
ISBN: 9780804737708

Review Citation(s):
Scitech Book News 03/01/2001 pg. 15

About the Author
Gregg Herken is Historian and Curator at the Space History Department of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.