Nuclear Power

Perhaps no other technology has served to highlight the ambiguous relationship between science and society as clearly as has nuclear power. On one hand, the ability to harness the power of the atom seemed to represent the zenith of human efforts to control and shape nature and to offer cheap and limitless energy. On the other hand, the dread potential of that power in warfare and the difficulties associated even with its peaceful use brought home to society the risks that people must run if they are to realize such great rewards. In other words, nuclear power, more starkly than any foregoing technology, presents a vision of science not as unalloyed good and the provider of solutions for society's ills, but as a potential source ...