Babbage from The Economist The bomb (part 1): were nuclear weapons inevitable?
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Jul 16, 2025 
Frank Close, a physicist and author of “Destroyer of Worlds,” dives into the origins of nuclear weapons. He highlights the critical discoveries in atomic theory made by pioneers like Curie and Rutherford. The podcast investigates the neutron's pivotal role in nuclear research and the urgency felt by scientists during WWII. Close also reflects on the collaboration between British and American scientists that birthed nuclear weapons, examining both the historical context and the awe-inspiring geography of Los Alamos.
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Nuclear Weapons From Science Curiosity
- Nuclear weapons originated from scientific curiosity about the atom, not from a desire to create weapons initially.
- The discovery and study of atomic structure and radioactivity led directly to nuclear bomb development.
Atoms Emit Energy Constantly
- Early 20th-century science revealed atoms were not indivisible and unchanging but emitted energy constantly.
- This energy emission hinted at vast latent power locked within the nucleus, changing ideas about matter.
Discovery of Atomic Nucleus
- Rutherford's gold foil experiment revealed a tiny, dense positive nucleus at the atom's center by alpha particle deflection.
- This overturned the model of atoms as solid spheres, starting the modern atomic model of a nucleus with orbiting electrons.
