Burning the Sky: Operation Argus and the Untold St

Category: History: U.S.: Military: Cold War

Publishing Information: 2018 by The Overlook Press

ISBN: 1468314173

Binding: hardcover

Description: The summer of 1958 was a nerve-racking time. Ever since the ì Soviet Union proved that it possessed an operational ì intercontinental ballistic missile with the launch of Sputnik, ì the world watched anxiously as the two superpowers engaged in a ì game of nuclear one-upmanship. Tensions escalated between the ì United States and the Soviet Union over their respective nuclear ì weapons reserves, both sides desperate for a solution to the ì threat of the massive, instant destruction the one could cause on ì the other.

In the midst of this rising tension, Nicholas Christofilos, an ì eccentric Greek-American physicist, brought forth an outlandish, ì albeit ingenious, idea to defend the US from a Soviet attack: ì launching atomic bombs from the South Atlantic Ocean, about 1,100 ì miles from Cape Town, to detonate in outer space to fry incoming ì Soviet ICBMs with an artificial radiation belt. Known as Project ì Argus, this plan is the biggest, most secret, and riskiest ì scientific experiment in history, and classified details of this ì operation have been long obscured. In Burning the Sky, ì Mark Wolverton tells the unknown and controversial story of this ì scheme to reveal a fascinating narrative almost completely ì forgotten by history?one that still has powerful resonances ì today. Drawing from recently declassified sources, Burning the ì Sky chronicles Christofilos's unconventional idea from its ì inception to execution--when the so-called mad scientist ì persuaded the military to carry out the most grandiose scientific ì experiment ever conceived, using the entire Earth's atmosphere as ì a laboratory. With over a decade of experience researching and ì writing about the sociological and political impacts of the ì science of the Cold War, Wolverton is the ideal authority on this ì risky experiment.

Meticulously researched, with the pacing of a thriller and the ì language of science fiction, Burning the Sky will intrigue any ì lover of scientific or military history and will remind readers ì why Project Argus remains frighteningly relevant nearly sixty ì years later.

Condition Information: This is a used book and is in ' like new' condition.

Quantity currently in Stock: 1

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