102. Jahresbericht des Bundes-Realgymnasiums Steyr 1984/85

'No st renger than what you're going to pul in your book, apparently. 1thoughl that what you were after was a fair, objective biographyof Felix Hoenikker- certain ly as sign ificant a task as a young wri ter could assign him- self in this day and age. But no, you come here with pre- conceived notions about rnad scientists. Where did you ever get such ideas? From the funny papers? ' [ ... [ 1did my best to calm down Dr. Breed , to convince him that I was really interested in an accurate portrait of Dr. Hoenikker. [ ... ] 'l'm sick of people misunderstanding what a scientist is, what a scientist does '. '1'11 da my best to clear up the misunderstanding.' ' In this country most people don't even understand what pure research is.' 'l 'd appreciate it if you'd tel1 me what it is.' 'lt isn't looking for a better cigarette filter or asofter face tissue or a longer-lasting hause paint, God help us. Eve- rybody talks about research and practicall y nobody in this country's doing it. We're one of the few companies 8. C-Klasse (Mag. Erich Karg/) THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE that actually hires men to do pure research. When most other companies brag about their research, they're tal- king about industrial hack technicians who wear white coats, workou tof cookbooks,and dream up an improved windshield wiper for next year's Oldsmobi le.' 'But here ...?' 'Here, and shockingly fewother places in this country, men are paid to increase knowledge, to work towards no end but that'. 'That's very generous of General Forge and Foundry Company'! 'Nothing generous about it. New knowledge is the most valuable commodity an earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become .' There were no smell s.There was no movement. Every step I took made a gravell y squeak in blue-white frost. And every squeak was echoed loudly. The earth was locked up light. lt was winter, now and forever. (18 Kandidaten) 1) SUMMARY: Writeasummaryofthetextgiven belowin about 150words. 2) INTERPRETATION: Try to analyse the various points of the text and dis- cuss the arguments in favour and against the nuclear arms race. In your conclusion you should also express your own opinion and give reasons for your own point of view. lmmediately afterWorld War 11 , the United States was the only countrywhich possessed the atomic bomb, and the- re was prolonged debate withi n the Uni ted States government abou t whether to carry on with the develop- ment of atomic weapons, or whether to ban thei r use and control atomic power through international agreements. Secretary of War Henry Stimson argued against further developments of the bomb. The Cold War Because most people in the American government fea- redthe new post-warenemy, the Soviet Union ,more than they feared the bomb, Stirnsan lost hi s argument. The Americans pressed ahead with nuclear weapons in a Cold War climate of fear and tension - and so did the Ru ssians. The Soviet Un ion exploded its flrst atomic bomb in 1949, and American paranoia" dramatically increased. In 1952, the United States exploded a vastl y more powerful weapon - a hydrogen bomb. The Rus- sians exploded one in 1953. And the nuclear arms race was an in eamest. Since the early 1950s, both the Un ited States and the Soviet Union have poured huge amounts of money and resources into developing more powerful bombs, and more sophi sti cated means of ensuring that the bombs reach their targets. Mutual Assured Destruction The logic of this arms race, with eac h side trying to keep in step - or ahead - of the other has been summed up by the initials MAD: Mutual Assured Destruction . The 70 arms race prevents nuclear war, it is argued, because each side has enough weapons to destroy the other many times over. So the threat of such destruction wi ll detereither side fromstarting a nuclearconflict. But this logic has led to more and better weapons being continu- ously developed, so that no side gains an advantage that might lead it to think it could win a nuclear war. Supporters of MAD point out that no nuclear weapons have been used since 1945, and they give their policies credit for keeping the nuclear peace. Butcritics pointout that the very existence of vast numbers of weapons and weapons systems means that a nuclear war is 1ikely to start at some point through accident or miscalcu lation , if not by design·. There have been a disturbing number of accidents an both sides which have sei the wheels of nuclear war in motion , even though - so far- the pro- cess has always been halted in time. Another disturbing featu re of the arms race is that a num- ber of other cou ntries besides the United States and the Soviel Union have acquired , or are acquiring, the capa- city to make nuclearweapons, partly because the super- powers have not hesitated to seil nuclear technology around the world . The latest development in the nuclear arms race is an ominous departure from the basic philosophyof MAD. As weil as long-range weapons to ensure mass destruction in the event of nuclear war, the superpowers are also developing shorter-range and less powerful nuclear weapons for use in a specific 'theatre of war', such as Europe, or even inaspecific battlezone.Whi lesuch wea- pons are less deadly, they actually make nuclear war more likely by leading people to believe in the possibility