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1941: Campbell on Radioactive "Death Dust" Weapon in PIC
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beamjockey
Centennial Attendee
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:46 am Posts: 545 Location: Aurora, IL, USA, Terra
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1941: Campbell on Radioactive "Death Dust" Weapon in PIC
I was just looking at an interesting 2014 discussion which I probably should have mentioned here.
Alex Wellerstein's fascinating Restricted Data blog, devoted to the history of nuclear secrecy and related matters, discovered by researcher Gene Dannen.
John W. Campbell, Jr. wrote "Is Death Dust America’s Secret Weapon?" in the July 1941 issue of Pic. This was not long after he was kicking around ideas with Heinlein that became his death-dust story, "Solution Unsatisfactory."
In 2014 a bunch of us found this intriguing, and there's a great conversation in the comments, including remarks by Heinlein's biographer Bill Patterson, written about a month before Bill's untimely death.
If this sounds interesting, click the link above.
_________________ Bill Higgins bill.higgins@gt.org http://beamjockey.livejournal.com
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Mon Jun 15, 2015 4:17 pm |
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mostlyclassics
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 5:33 pm Posts: 131 Location: Evanston, IL
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Re: 1941: Campbell on Radioactive "Death Dust" Weapon in PIC
Bill, this post came to me a few weeks after I read the exchanges between Heinlein and Campbell in the Virginia Edition's Letters, Volume I. Thanks for the extra background.
_________________ Tom Kendall www.mostlyclassics.net tom.kendall@mostlyclassics.net
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Tue Jun 16, 2015 11:38 am |
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RobertPearson
Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 2:10 pm Posts: 445 Location: Juneau, AK
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Re: 1941: Campbell on Radioactive "Death Dust" Weapon in PIC
I'd add that the entire "Restricted Data" blog is absolutely fascinating, at least to someone of my interests. Reading the complete archive is a lot more entertaining than anything you will find on TV...
_________________ "There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk 'his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor' on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else."
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Wed Jul 01, 2015 1:32 pm |
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PeterScott
Heinlein Nexus
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:10 am Posts: 2236 Location: Pacific NorthWest
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Re: 1941: Campbell on Radioactive "Death Dust" Weapon in PIC
Interesting aside in the comments that basically we have Campbell to thank for the title and essential plot pivot of Solution Unsatisfactory. (That it was previously submitted as Foreign Policy, and Campbell found the presented solution weak and unsatisfactory, and suggested framing the story around that very fact.)
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Thu Jul 02, 2015 12:22 pm |
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beamjockey
Centennial Attendee
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:46 am Posts: 545 Location: Aurora, IL, USA, Terra
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Re: 1941: Campbell on Radioactive "Death Dust" Weapon in PIC
_________________ Bill Higgins bill.higgins@gt.org http://beamjockey.livejournal.com
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Fri Jul 03, 2015 8:17 am |
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