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7 - The myth of the German atomic bomb
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 April 2011
Summary
myth… a story that is usually of unknown origin and at least partially traditional, that ostensibly relates historical events usually of such character as to serve to explain some practice, belief, institution, or natural phenomenon… a story invented as a veiled explanation of a truth… a person or thing existing only in imagination or whose actuality is not verifiable…a belief given uncritical acceptance by the members of a group especially in support of existing or traditional practices and institutions… a belief or concept that embodies a visionary ideal…
“Myth,” from Webste's Third New International DictionaryThe “Myth of the German Atomic Bomb” means different things to different people. A German version of this fable emphasizes that (1) the scientists involved with nuclear power in Germany did not make atomic bombs during World War II, affirms that (2) these scientists had not wanted to create nuclear weapons, asserts that (3) they were good enough to have done the job, but their efforts were hindered by forces beyond their control, and finally avows that (4) even if they had been able to create nuclear explosives and had tried to produce such weapons, they would have denied atomic bombs to the Nazis.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989