War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Solly Zuckerman, 1987

Item Information

Title:
War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Solly Zuckerman, 1987
Description:
Lord Solly Zuckerman served as Chief Scientific Adviser to the British Ministry of Defence from 1960-1966 and as Chief Scientific Adviser to the British Government from 1964-1971. In the interview he discusses the developing British nuclear program and strategy. He describes the beginnings of that program during and just after World War II, specifically the political players in charge of deciding how to proceed. The program was so secret that even Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee did not learn about it until the Potsdam Conference. He describes the McMahon Act and it's effect on British-American collaboration. He also discusses the war games he undertook to conceptualize the consequences of tactical nuclear battles in Europe, which would have led to "chaos of a fantastic kind" and rampant escalation. He argues that it is the scientists behind the weapons technology who drive the arms race, because without their work the military and political leaders would have no basis to move forward. One example of this phenomenon offered is the work at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories on nuclear-powered lasers, which he understands is what prompted Edward Teller to approach President Reagan, which in turn led to the idea of SDI. He also describes Harold MacMillan's support of a comprehensive test ban treaty, and his disappointment in the American system, powered substantially by military and related scientific circles, each with their own powerful constituencies in Congress, that would only allow a limited test ban.
Author:
Zuckerman, Solly Zuckerman, Baron, 1904-1993
Date:
February 11, 1987
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
WGBH
Collection (local):
American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection
Series:
WGBH > War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
Subjects:
Global Affairs
Military Forces and Armaments
Gromyko, Andrei Andreevich, 1909-1989
Harriman, W. Averell (William Averell), 1891-1986
Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971
Groves, Leslie Richard
Teller, Edward, 1908-2003
Land, Edwin Herbert, 1909-1991
McMahon, Brien, 1903-1952
United States. Atomic Energy Act of 1946
United Nations
United States. Congress
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
Strategic Defense Initiative
World War II
Hiroshima-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945
Nagasaki-shi (Japan)--History--Bombardment, 1945
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)
Nuclear weapons
Polaris (Missile)
Intermediate-range ballistic missiles
Nuclear weapons--Testing
Physicists
Nuclear nonproliferation
Nuclear arms control
Nuclear Energy
Edicia Sputnik
Great Britain
United States
Soviet Union
France
Germany
Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965
Attlee, C. R. (Clement Richard), 1883-1967
Waverley, John Anderson, Viscount Westdean, 1883?-1958
Tizard, Henry Thomas, 1885-1959
Macmillan, Harold, 1894-1986
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeevich, 1894-1971
Reagan, Ronald
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Perrin, Michael, 1905-1988
Bevin, Ernest, 1881-1951
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Extent:
00:54:28
Link to Item:
https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-x34mk65j89
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
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Publisher:
WGBH Educational Foundation