Evening star., 1951-01-04
By Newbold Moves, Jr.


hydrogen or H-bomb, the dread
super atomic weapon which, up to
now, has been mainly the object
of a great deal of whispered
speculation and almost as much
skepticism. so far as the public
is concerned.
The book, published by Alfred
A. Knopf, is out today. Readers
will find plenty of horror in it's
less than 200 pages. If the H
bomb can be built, for instance,
it can blast to death everything
in an area of 800 square miles.
1t can burn everything within an
area of 1000 square miles. 1t can
be "rigged" with a cobalt casing
400 bombs thus rigged can destroy
all life on earth by radioactive
poisoning. =. A few of them, OBJ
viously, would suffice to kill off the
United States or Russia. And so
on.
There is, however. more than
horror in this book-and herein
considering the authors qualifica-
tions, lies its significance.
Adds Up to New Era.'
Mr.. Laurence, science reporter
of the New York Times, has a fine
reputation. There are those who
consider him the Nations top lay
authority on atomic energy. He
has not. in the past, been given
to making wild statements and
predictions. If Mr.. Laurence is
running true to form, then this
book adds up to nothing less than
the announcement of another
new era" in contemporary history
Mr., Laurence says:
l. The United States. already
has in hand all the materials
necessary to the manufacture oi
workable H-bomb.
2. It is expected that we will
assemble and test an H-bomb this
year, possibly by early summer
perhaps at the already-announced
atomic tests at Eniwetok.
8. Russia is racing in deadly
earnest to produce this super
weapon before we do, and may on
paper have jumped into an early
lead with a strong assist by
Klaus Fuchs, Britain's atom spy
4. Practically speaking, however
we have heavy overall advantage
in any H-bomb armament race
and Russia may be squeezed be-
tween the alternatives of dropping
behind in the H-bomb effort, OF
sharply curtailing her stockpiling
OF ordinary atom bombs.
Theories Summarized.
This is the essence Of Mr.
Laurence's report, SO far as its
factual claims are concerned. In
addition, certain personal con-
clusions are presented. Perhaps
they might better be called
theories. The more important of
these may be summarized as
follows:
l. The proper use of the H-bomb
is as a tactical weapon, without
cobalt rigging-against armies in
the field. that is, rather than
against the civilians who man the
industrial and communications IA
cilities which supply those armies.
Moral considerations aside, this is
because the H-bomb can annihi-
late an army, and so make it un-
necessary to worry about that
army's source of supply.
2. American possession OF the H
bomb will nullify Russia's single
great advantage over the West
her large standing army and mas
sive manpower reserve.
8. The United States must avoid
the pitfall of announcing that 1t
will never use the H-bomb first.
But we can and should announce
Immediately that we will never
use this weapon strategically
against civilian populations, unless
1t is SO used against us or our al
lies. Once in possession of the H
bomb, the United States can afford
furthermore to renounce strategic
bombing Of any kind as a military
practice.
4. In this light, for peace seek.
ing United States confronted by a
warlike Russia, the H-bonb may
properly be considered 'the great
est deterrent against war that
could possibly be devised in the
present state of affairs"-even
while it remains unchallenged as
"the greatest threat to the sur
vival of the human race since the
Black Death"
Mr.. Laurence's description of
the technical problems Of the H.
bomb. and how they are expected
to be overcome. is nothing short
OF masterful. The nonscientific
reader will find himself turning
these opening pages with bated
breath. and a strange sense that
somehow something he never was
meant to understand is being
made crystal clear to him. Gle
may find that the long last chap
ter, called "A Primer of Atomic
Energy" destroys some of the illu-
sion that he understands every
thing.)
No attempt can be made here
to reproduce Mr.. Laurence's peda-
gogical tour-de-force. It is enough
to say that. as has been pretty
generally understood, the H-bomh
has an A-bomb for it's trigger
Its energy derives from atomic
fusion. rather than fission. Like
a balloon, 1t can be blown ur
to almost any size, at least in
theory. The H-bomb Mr.. Laurence
is talking about would have 1000
times the power Of the conven-
tional A-bomb.
The problem of the H-bomb is
that deuterium, the type Of heavy
hydrogen" which is the feasible
explosive for the H-bomb. cannot