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Imaginary Weapons

A Journey Through the Pentagon's Scientific Underworld

Sharon Weinberger
June 2006     ISBN: 1560258497

Despite its dubious origins--a fluke experiment involving a used dental X-ray machine and a dab of radioactive material called hafnium--the isomer bomb was conceived in 1998 as the next wave of cutting-edge military technology, a futuristic weapon so powerful it would rival the nuclear bomb.

With dark humor and access to original source materials--including interviews, e-mails and internal Pentagon documents--author Sharon Weinberger exposes the ideology-driven "true believers" in the Pentagon who, for five years, ignored scientific experts to pursue this fictional weapon of mass destruction.

Imaginary Weapons exposes the decline of scientific expertise within US security agencies and the government's increasing susceptibility to outlandish claims about the technologies of war.

About the Authors

Sharon Weinberger is the editor of Defense Technology International and has reported on national security and defense technology since 2001 for publications including Slate and the Washington Post Magazine.
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