“That’s an intriguing idea. Your STEM background shows through.” “My studies were in nuclear energy, which is why I like nuclear bombs. I’ve got a good feeling about them.” Allen laughed. “I almost forgot: It’s ridiculous to discuss issues like this with a Wallfacer.” The two men laughed, but Rey Diaz quickly grew serious and said, “Dr. Allen, like

Von Neumann was worried about global warming long before most people were—but mostly he worried about nuclear war, fearing that “mankind might not survive another twenty-five years but instead would become the victim of its own self-destructive inclinations.” However, charged with less abstract

learned “how not to fight a war.” In the high-stakes competition between weapons and counterweapons, the weak link was not the supply of new ideas. It was the transfer of those ideas to the field. Transfer requires trust and respect on both sides. But officers “made it utterly clear that scientists or engineers employed in these laboratories were o