How we cite our quotes: Chapter name.(Chapter Number).Paragraph
Quote #10
In October 1949, Oppenheimer and other scientific advisors sat down to discuss the hydrogen bomb. Would the bomb really work? Probably, the scientists agreed. Would building it make Americans safer? No, they argued. The United States already had bombs powerful enough to wipe out Soviet cities. Building even bigger bombs would only heat up the arms race with the Soviets. The Soviets would respond by building bigger bombs themselves, putting Americans in greater danger. Oppenheimer argued that now was the time to step back from the arms race, not to accelerate it. (Epilogue.41)
Now that would be power: knowing that you could build an even bigger bomb, but choosing not to do so for the sake of mankind. But instead, Truman demanded they build the "super bomb" (the hydrogen bomb, which used atomic fusion instead of fission), and Oppenheimer's prediction of an accelerated arms race began.