Word: wiesner
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...plans, NASA is still having difficulty convincing its critics that it ought to be sending men even to the moon. As the lunar landing approaches, the debate over manned v. unmanned space shots has intensified. Historian Arnold Toynbee calls Apollo "moonmanship follies." John Kennedy's science adviser, Jerome Wiesner, warns that "it would be a mistake to commit $100 billion to a manned Mars landing when we have problems getting from Boston to New York City." Says Physicist Ralph Lapp: "Given a choice between $500 million for basic research and the same amount to bring back a second bagful...
...page copyrighted report was compiled by Abram Chayes '43, professor of Law, and Jerome B. Wiesner, Provost of M.I.T., at the suggestion of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54. The report states that it is an attempt to "present the other' side" of the controversial program, since the information available to Congress and the public thus far has been largely limited to Defense Department releases...
...format of the book is a panel discussion, with Jerome B. Wiesner and Senator George S. McGovern arguing against development of the ABM and Donald G. Brennan and Leon W. Johnson, General, USAF (retired), arguing for it. The introduction by former Vice-President Hubert Humphrey is a reasonably effective though slightly rhetorical attempt to place opposition to the ABM in the context of general unclear disarmament. The epilogue, by Associate Justice William O. Douglas, is similar, arguing against the ABM from the standpoint of a man committed to total disarmament and the rule of international law. It is much less...
...Wiesner disposes of the first argument in short order. The figures Brennan cites are highly suspect on technological grounds, and he admits they are applicable only "assuming that the Soviets do not make a major increase in their offensive forces in response to our improved defense." The ABM would be the most incredibly complex electronic-mechanical system ever built, with all the fallability such complexity implies. The ABM's reliability could never be tested under conditions approximating those of a nuclear attack, simply because there is no way of simulating all the conditions of a nuclear attack. For example...
...Wiesner points out, even if the system works as well as the Pentagon's feasibility studies predict, we have no assurance that the Soviets will be content to maintain a static offensive force. There is every reason to believe the Soviets will increase their offense if we build an ABM system, just as we did when we discovered them deploying an ABM system around MosCow. So long as it costs more to purchase an ABM than it does to build the offensive weaponry to offset it, the ABM is tenable only if your are willing to spend some multiple...