The Nuclear Age: Historical Introduction

This course provides an historical narrative—constructed in a highly interdisciplinary fashion—of the nuclear age from the discovery of fission in the late 1930s until the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The course will trace the primary milestones—concepts, strategic doctrines, political and legal agreements, democratic and moral puzzles, and personalities—that were all involved in the making of the nuclear age. Our interest is twofold: the science and technology as well as the international and domestic politics of the bomb. As such the course provide basic familiarity with the history of the bomb—its invention, use, vertical and horizontal proliferation—and the history of the efforts to constrain, limit and even banning it. The course will be organized by looking at concrete historical milestones and their historical manifestation as well as by examining specific themes.