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On the way to the airport I stopped by the The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. I would say that compared to the Bradbury Musuem in Los Alamos, it is provides a broader perspective(note the word ‘history’) and does is not nearly as technical. It is definitely built for the school field trip. Never the less it has some really good gee-whiz exhibits. It has the unused shells for little boy and fat man, as well as many other weaponized nuclear payload and launch vehicles. In fact, in the outdoor display, there are real aircraft and launch vehicles of all types. Right now is good time to look at these because they are in the process of being built. One thing I find a detriment to education is students always being given the completed product, and therefore not understanding patience and process.

But this is not a travel blog, so what lesson did I take from this. First science is done as an almost context free search for knowledge. Much of the work that would create the greatest weapon of mass destruction was done stemmed from the 1899 Planck solution to the black body problem, to the Lenard’s 1902 discovery of the photoelectric effect, to the 1905 papers of Einstein detailing the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion and the special theory of relativity.  These among other discoveries set for the structure of the atom, and stated that the atom could be split with mass converted to energy, and the amount of energy might be generated.  All before World War I.  No one knew that some 35 years later a device would be created that could destroy 1/3 of a large city, and over half it population,  one minute after being deployed.

Second, science is not independent of society.  Oppenheimer, the person that managed the Manhattan Project, was a first generation American whose parents immigrated from Germany.  They were joined by other Germans who fled the oppressive German state.  That did not mean the Germany was without scientist.  Heisenberg did foundational works in Quantum Mechanics.  However, many scientist did leave and the Germans likely lost the war as a result.  My kingdom for a nail.  When one starts trading freedom for fear, one has to expect some consequences.

Third, there is significant fear concerning the impact of science, and the decisions to apply science to certain situations.  Much of the exhibit is spent justifying  the decision to kill.  This to me is very disturbing.  The science and decision to apply the science are reasonable separate.  One must make the decision to apply the science as a technology, that is write down the process of use, to realize a product.  We still see this false transference.  Genetics is cool science, geneticaly modified food is the application, so if one against genetically modified food one is against science. This is a fallacy.  The science of genetics is sound.  The decision to use genetically modified food, patent it, and sue if others use the product, is social not science.

In all, the museum provided a rather lopsided view of the issues, which is always a sad thing for a science museum.  On the other hand, at least it directly approached a subject which many avoid.