The Scientist in Politics: On Top or on Tap?

A Timely Prophet? The Doomsday Clock as a Visualization of Securitization Moves with a Global Referent Object

“…The discussion of the role of scientists, or 'whether scientists should be on top or on tap' in political deci sionmaking, has also been a major feature of the Bulletin through the decades of its publication; see, for example,Simpson (1960).24 In BernardBrodie's (1947) assessment at the time, it would take the Soviet Union 8-15 years to develop the bomb. However, the Soviet Union carried out its first test explosion already in 1949, which was reflected in the first reset of the Bulletin Clock and most of the contents of the October 1949 issue of the Bulletin.…”