How a truck driver learned to build an atom bomb

By at 2:43 pm Tuesday, Dec 23

200812231439

Joshuah Bearman says:

A New Yorker story about home grown atom bombs! Or really, a home grown atom bomb researcher -- a truck driver who single-handedly reconstructed the still classified construction of Little Boy and Fat Man.

What I love about this particular piece is the motivational parallels between Coster-Mullen and the origins of the bomb he wants to recreate. It was the pure pursuit of knowledge that led to the atom bomb. Physicists wanted to understand how the universe worked at the atomic level, and there happened to be some very serious consequences to unlocking the secrets of the grand watchworks. Now, Coster-Mullen, has dedicated himself to understanding the mechanical watchworks of Little Boy. There is no motivation beyond knowing, but that pursuit too has some potentially serious consequences.

How A Truck Driver Learned to Build An Atom Bomb

Where not otherwise specified, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Boing Boing is a trademark of Happy Mutants LLC in the United States and other countries.