Reactions and Expectations

Before I began to read The Curve of Binding Energy, by John McPhee, I could tell right away that it was mostly going to be about nuclear physics and other scientific resources. This book is an educational source that paints a portrait of a fascinating man as he describes the poor security surrounding nuclear materials. The storyline consists of several procedures that Theodore Taylor had completed during his lifetime. Such events were the Orion Project, ways in which Taylor started his career as becoming an atomic bomb designer, bomb construction, and safeguards; however, it was the safeguards that tended to stick out to me the most. The information McPhee gives in the book about safeguards have influenced me to become more aware of what is going on in our world today.
When I read the book, I realized that McPhee came to the same agreement with Taylor for the need of nuclear safeguards. Taylor believed that anyone is capable of making a bomb; therefore, his desire for the need of safeguards was very strong. I feel that knowing that this material is accessible brings fear into people’s lives. This particular topic seemed to stick out the most since McPhee tends to keep mentioning this point to the readers. Safeguards were very laidback during Taylor’s time of contribution; access to personal material was a lot easier than it is today because the technological sources were not as high. In other words, security policies weren’t as crazy as they are during today’s day and age. No one would be checking every little object in your bag before you got onto planes, there weren’t metal detectors in as many places as there are today, police cars wouldn’t pull over big trucks just to see what they transporting, but the occurrence of the World Trade Center in 2001 was a wakeup to all security systems.
While I was reading the story, I began to think of the reason of why McPhee chose to write about Taylor’s life story? Was it because of the work on his projects, or was it his concern for the use of the bombs that positioned him apart from other theoretical physicists? These are some of the questions that came up while I was reading the book. I was curious to know what made McPhee so interested with this topic.
McPhee continues to talk about many aspects of Taylor’s life throughout the story. The way he explains Taylor’s use of bomb construction helped me comprehend reasons for why Taylor was doing this. Taylor imagined using nuclear bombs to drive massive objects into space, and when Taylor made nuclear bombs he was not just making them to just have something else on his list of accomplishments, but he was doing it to invent new, different, and positive ways for them to be used, because he was not the gullible type to think of ways to move backwards and try to abolish them. Taylor always wanted to make things bigger and better and that is something that I admired about him.
After reading this book, it has come to my attention that it seemed easy for people to make bombs back then with such limited resources, imagine what it is like now with all of this new technology. I have learned that new sources of technology play a large role in this world today. Even things such as TV and internet keep people involved and in contact with everything, where back when Taylor worked not everyone knew about everything that went on. No one knew about these little bombings or attacks because the media wasn’t as engaged and curious about what was happening because they didn’t think it was as big of a deal at the time. That is why Taylor did things without violating any of the secrets. He didn’t want it to get out because then everyone would know. Even I agree with Taylor that safeguards should be play big part in our life because without them all secrets would be let loose.
As a reader, I think McPhee gives us a full understanding of The Curve of Binding Energy. He explains in detail the threats of nuclear activity, which causes me to consider not only the harmful dangers of nuclear weapons and the way they are used, but it also made me become curious of the people who create them. This reading opened my eyes and has readied me to become more aware of what is going on in our world today. I agree with Taylor in that we need to take more safety measures when dealing with safeguarding our nuclear resources. The warning that he presents to us should enable us to grasp the idea that nuclear bombings will have less of a chance of occurring in the future and it is extremely essential that nuclear materials are safeguarded to every extent possible. If people haven’t realized by now that nuclear attacks are possible anywhere at anytime, then reading the information in McPhee’s book about Theodore B. Taylor will give them an incentive to become conscious of the potential fears and expectations of nuclear activity.