elt@astrovax.UUCP (Ed Turner) (07/05/84)
I have just finished reading Freeman Dyson's new book WEAPONS AND HOPE about the nuclear arms problem. I recommend it very strongly to anyone interested in this topic. It is, in my experience, absolutely unique in its point of view and approach. I expect that essentially everyone will find themselves stimulated and challenged by some of the arguments Dyson advances, particularly from the historical metaphors and comparisons he presents. Basically the book refuses to take either of the two familiar points of view about nuclear weapons which it identifies as the warrior's (detached, rational, and perhaps fasinated) and the victim's (involved, emotional, and perhaps despairing). It instead seeks some middle ground upon which these two views can meet and relate to one another. Neither view is taken to be "correct" but the strengths and inadequacies of both are explored. This is the best I can do at a *general* description of the book. It also is full of fascinating material about the evolution of our current situation, the Soviet view of nuclear war, civil defense, high tech defenses, militarization of space, disarmament negotiations, the history of previous peace and disarmament movements, etc. If you have read it already, what did you think of it? Ed Turner astrovax!elt