Science writer Nigel Hey will discuss how politicians use science to achieve strategic political goals November 8 at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Bradbury Science Museum.
Hey, a retired Sandia National Laboratories employee, recently wrote The Star Wars Enigma: Behind the Scenes of the cold War Race for Missile Defense, a book about the relationship between science and politics. His talk will focus on the origins, development, and outcomes of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) of the 1980s, more popularly known as "Star Wars." He will address SDI's impact on U.S. and Soviet Cold War relations. The talk begins at 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public and free of charge.
"This is not a scientific book, and it is not a scientific lecture," Hey said. But he will discuss the notion that politicians use science to achieve strategic political goals. The lecture also will include what he has learned about the Soviets' iodine photo-dissociation laser and their Polyus-Skif military space satellite.
Hey joined Sandia National Laboratories in 1967 as a science and technology writer after a journalism career in Britain, the United States, and Bermuda. His writings include five published books, several reference works, and hundreds of articles. Hey's "Star Wars" book chronicles the real-life dramas surrounding SDI and focuses on the White House, the Kremlin, and the scientific communities that served each.
Immediately following the lecture, Hey will sign copies of the book and answer questions in the Otowi Station Bookstore and Science Museum Shop next door to the museum.
The Bradbury Science Museum is located at 15th Street and Central Avenue in downtown Los Alamos. Museum hours apart from special events are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday and Monday.
The Bradbury Science Museum is part of Los Alamos' Community Programs Office.
For more information, contact the Bradbury Science Museum at 667-3157.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.