On madness and expertise: The atomic bomb and visions of global order in the 1940s’

image atomic explosion

The TORCH Crisis, Extremes, and Apocalypse network are hosting a talk ‘On madness and expertise: The atomic bomb and visions of global order in the 1940s’ with Dr Or Rosenboim (University of Cambridge). The atomic bomb led many American public intellectuals to reconsider the role of experts in politics. Should natural and social scientists help in policy making, or should they limit their activities to the lab and the library? The paper examines the writings of cultural critic Lewis Mumford and political scientist Charles E. Merriam to discuss how the bomb transformed the role of experts in making and shaping world order in the 1940s.