War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with William Golden, 1986
Description:
William Golden was a banker by profession who became integrally involved in the development of U.S. science policy. He served as an assistant on the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), working closely with Lewis Strauss. The interview focuses extensively on Strauss's activities and views, including on the following: the role and objectives of the AEC, the establishment of long-range nuclear detection, the push to develop the hydrogen bomb, the beliefs of members of the General Advisory Committee, and concerns over Soviet espionage. He praises Strauss's "vision, initiative, and persistence." Golden also discusses the important Sandstone nuclear test in 1948, the "guilt" factor affecting the views of a number of scientists who worked on the original atomic program, and the tensions between Congress's Joint Atomic Energy Agency and the AEC.