Thanks for writing this up, both as a lesson-learning exercise and just as an inspiring example.
It was cited a bunch of times in this post, but for anyone who missed it, I think Schlosser’s book “Command and Control” (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/303337/command-and-control-by-eric-schlosser/) is a fascinating read for anyone concerned with the bureaucratic management of safety technologies and global catastrophic risk. Not always encouraging — though examples like Peurifoy are — but definitely educational.
Thanks! And +1 on Command and Control—there’s also a documentary version, which focuses mostly on the events of the 1980 Damascus explosion. I recommend the documentary Always/Never—it was made by Sandia, so they gloss over/downplay some aspects relative to Schlosser (e.g. disagreements between the engineers and the military). But it’s an accessible and fascinating (IMO) overview with a ton of first-hand Sandia accounts from e.g. Peurifoy, Spray, Stevens, Howard, as well as senior government and policy folks like Robert McNamara, James Schlesinger, Fred Iklé.
Thanks for writing this up, both as a lesson-learning exercise and just as an inspiring example.
It was cited a bunch of times in this post, but for anyone who missed it, I think Schlosser’s book “Command and Control” (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/303337/command-and-control-by-eric-schlosser/) is a fascinating read for anyone concerned with the bureaucratic management of safety technologies and global catastrophic risk. Not always encouraging — though examples like Peurifoy are — but definitely educational.
Thanks! And +1 on Command and Control—there’s also a documentary version, which focuses mostly on the events of the 1980 Damascus explosion. I recommend the documentary Always/Never—it was made by Sandia, so they gloss over/downplay some aspects relative to Schlosser (e.g. disagreements between the engineers and the military). But it’s an accessible and fascinating (IMO) overview with a ton of first-hand Sandia accounts from e.g. Peurifoy, Spray, Stevens, Howard, as well as senior government and policy folks like Robert McNamara, James Schlesinger, Fred Iklé.