Silencing the Bomb

The noted seismologist Lynn R. Sykes, a central figure in the development of the science and technology of nuclear test monitoring, has dedicated his career to halting nuclear testing. In Silencing the Bomb, he tells the inside story behind scientists’ quest for disarmament in a tale full of intrigue, international politics, and hard science used for the global good.

Lynn R. Sykes is Higgins Professor Emeritus of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. He is renowned for his contributions to the science of seismology, especially plate tectonic theory. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.

Frank von Hippel, cofounder, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University:
When he signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996, President Bill Clinton called it ‘the longest-sought, hardest-fought prize in arms control history.’ Lynn R. Sykes was one of the leading scientists in that half-century-long battle. Although testing has stopped—except in North Korea—Republican opposition has blocked ratification of this treaty in the U.S. Senate. Sykes’ lucid inside accounts of the science underlying the detection of nuclear testing and the battles over the test ban’s verifiability are therefore not just of historical interest but also relevant to contemporary concerns.

Daniel Davis, Stony Brook University:
Lynn R. Sykes has a long record of using seismology to study the important question of how to differentiate nuclear explosions from earthquakes. That experience makes him uniquely qualified to present this cautionary tale about the sclerotic process by which well-founded scientific insight filters its way into the politically loaded formulation of national policy—particularly defense policy.