Preliminary Inventory of the S. T. Cohen papers
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2019
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Stanford University
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Title: S. T. Cohen papers
Date (inclusive): ca. 1920s-2010
Collection Number: 2019C62
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
9 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box, 2 videocassettes, digital media
(5.5 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Samuel Theodore Cohen (1921-2010) was an American physicist best known as the father of the neutron bomb. He is credited
with development of the neutron bomb concept, based on nuclear fusion rather than fission, as a Rand Corporation analyst in
1958. Subsequently he was a staunch advocate of development and deployment of neutron bombs as a part of the American nuclear
ansenal. While others viewed this prospect with horror, Cohen maintained that neutron bombs were actually more humane than
alternative nuclear weapons. He suggested the utility of tactical low-yield nuclear explosions to create defensive radiation
barriers. In later years he warned that "red mercury" could be used to produce a miniature fusion nuclear bomb.
The largest and most important series in the S. T. Cohen Papers is that of Cohen's Speeches and Writings. They include the
voluminous transcripts of a series of interviews of Cohen conducted by Bill Froug over the course of a month in 1978. These
provide Cohen's candid accounts of his life and of his first-hand observations of associates and events in the development
of the American nuclear program. Other candid accounts are to be found in his memoir Shame: Confessions of a Nuclear Pariah,
self-published in 2000. An unexpected element of Cohen's writings is a fictional component. In his fictional compositions,
unpublished and sometimes quite lengthy, he explored thoughts of nuclear warfare and on his own life. Interviews, memoirs
and fictional writings all reflect a strong interest in psychoanalysis.
There are smaller Biographical File, Correspondence and Subject File series. An Audiovisual File consists principally of
audio recordings. These do not appear to include any of the Froug interview recordings.
The Hoover Institution Library & Archives acquired the collection in 2019.
Creator:
Cohen, S. T.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2019.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], S. T. Cohen Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Biographical note
1921 Born, New York City
1943 Graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles
1943-1945 U.S. Army service, including participation in the Manhattan Project
1947-1969 Rand Corporation analyst
1958 Developed neutron bomb concept
1978 Author, The Neutron Bomb: Political, Technological and Military Issues
1983 Author, The Truth about the Neutron Bomb: The Inventor of the Bomb Speaks Out
1985 Author, We Can Prevent World War III
2010 Died, Los Angels, California
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Nuclear weapons
Neutron bomb
Biographical File
circa 1920s-2004
Scope and Contents
Memoranda, printed matter and miscellany
box 1, folder 1
General
circa 1920s-1980s
Scope and Contents
Memoranda and printed matter. Includes academic transcript, Manhattan Project roster and antisemitic flyer naming Cohen
box 1, folder 2
Disclosure of invention
1966
Scope and Contents
Rand Corporation disclosure of low-yield fusion explosion invention by Cohen and Arnold Kramish
box 1, folder 3
Repo Man (motion picture) connection
2004
Scope and Contents
Printed article
Correspondence
circa 1972-2004
Scope and Contents
Correspondence arranged alphabetically by correspondent
box 1, folder 8
Laird, Melvin
ca. 1972
Scope and Contents
Draft letter to Laird as Secretary of Defense, probably unsent
box 1, folder 9
O'Connor, John Cardinal
1998
Speeches and Writings
1969-2004
Scope and Contents
Speeches and writings by S. T. Cohen, arranged chronologically
box 1, folder 12
"U.S. Offensive Forces," letter to the editor, Los Angeles Times
1969 June 28
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 1, folder 13
"U.S. Strategic Nuclear Weapon Policy," Air University Review
1975 January-February
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 1, folder 14
Untitled satirical writing in the form of imaginary correspondence with Soviet Minister of Defence A. A. Grechko
1975
Scope and Contents
Typescript and working material
box 1, folder 15
"The Retreat of a Strategy," letter to the editor, Los Angeles Times
1976 May
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 1, folder 16
"America's Hawks Glower at Carter," letter to the editor, Los Angeles Times
1977 January 17
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 1, folder 17
"Something Is Uglier than a Neutron Bomb," Washington Star
1977 July 10
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 1, folder 18-19
"Trev" [alternate title "Gardner"]
1978 January 7
Scope and Contents
Lengthy synopsis of projected motion picture script about Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Trevor Gardner and his role
in development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Typescript
box 1, folder 20-21
Series of interviews with Bill Froug
1978 June 23-July 20
Scope and Contents
Typed transcripts of recordings
box 2
Series of interviews with Bill Froug
1978 June 23-July 20
box 3
Series of interviews with Bill Froug
1978 June 23-July 20
box 4, folder 1
Series of interviews with Bill Froug
1978 June 23-July 20
box 4, folder 2
"Soviets 'Should Give a Damn' about SALT II," letter to the editor, Los Angeles Times
1980 January
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Printed copy
box 4, folder 3
"Whither the Neutron Bomb? A Moral Defense of Nuclear Radiation Weapons," Parameters: Journal of the U.S. Army War College
1981 June
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
"Nuclear Barrier Defenses," International Security Review
1981 Fall
box 4, folder 7
"Collateral Damage from Tactical Nuclear Weapons,"
1982 November
Scope and Contents
Technical report for U.S. Defense Nuclear Agency. Processed
box 4, folder 8
"Arms Limits from Open Skies to Open 'Spies'" (with Laurence Beilenson), Wall Street Journal
1983 June 29
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 4, folder 9
"Wall against War," Reason
1984 March
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 4, folder 10
"What if Soviet Silos Are Empty?" (with Joe Douglass), Wall Street Journal
1986 July 18
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 4, folder 11
"Technological Prescriptions for U.S. National Security," Global Affairs
1988 Summer
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 4, folder 12
"Competitive Strategies: A Sow's Ear from a Silk Purse?" two-part article, Defense Science
1989 November and 1989 December
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 4, folder 13
"Let's Restart START"
1991 September 27
Scope and Contents
Typescript. Includes holograph comment on draft by former President Jimmy Carter
box 4, folder 14
Article on red mercury, Spin
1995 January
Scope and Contents
Title obscured. Printed copy (photocopy)
box 4, folder 15
"Murrah: Iranian Style"
ca. 1995
Scope and Contents
Typescript
box 4, folder 16
"Was TWA Flight 800 Mini-Neutron Bombed?"
ca. 1996
Scope and Contents
Typescript
box 4, folder 17
"Save the Nukes," National Review
1997 February 10
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 5, folder 1-2
"The Invisible Jew: A Neutron Bomb Spy Story"
1998 April
Scope and Contents
Book-length fictional writing. Typescript
box 5, folder 3
The Automat: Gambling Genius of the Century
2000
Scope and Contents
Self-published memoir about Jess Marcum, Rand Corporation analyst and professional gambler. Typescript
Shame: Confessions of a Nuclear Pariah
2000
Scope and Contents
Self-published memoir
box 6, folder 3
"The Rogue Nuclear Threat" (with Joseph D. Douglass, Jr.), Financial Sense Online
2002 April 12
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 6, folder 4
"Jesus in Brentwood"
2002
Scope and Contents
Fictional writing. Typescript
box 6, folder 5
"Ring around a Mosque" (with Joe Douglass), Financial Sense Online
2004 August 18
Scope and Contents
Typescript and printed copy
box 6, folder 6
"Lazar's Beam"
undated
Scope and Contents
Book-length fictional writing. Typescript
box 6, folder 7
"Ten Common Pitfalls to Paranoia, or They Loved Me in Hoboken"
undated
Scope and Contents
Fictional writing. Typescript
Subject File
1950-2010
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, memoranda and printed matter, arranged by topic
box 7, folder 1
Kroesen, Frederick J.
2003
Scope and Contents
Memoir by General Kroesen, General Thoughts: Seventy Years with the Army. Printed copy
box 7, folder 2
Marshall, Andrew
2001
Scope and Contents
Printed articles
box 7, folder 3
General
1996-1999
Scope and Contents
Printed articles
box 7, folder 4
Aquino, Michael A., "The Neutron Bomb"
1980
Scope and Contents
University of California, Santa Barbara, doctoral dissertation. Typescript
box 7, folder 5
Nuclear energy
1992-2001
Scope and Contents
Printed matter
box 7, folder 6
Nuclear physics
1982
Scope and Contents
Study by R. G. Breene, Jr., "An Introduction to the Group Theory of Elementary Particles." Processed
box 8, folder 1-2
Nuclear physics
1982
Scope and Contents
Study by R. G. Breene, Jr., "An Introduction to the Group Theory of Elementary Particles."
box 8, folder 3
General
1963-2010
Scope and Contents
Printed matter
box 8, folder 4
Memoranda
1972-1976
Scope and Contents
Includes H. A. Sandmeier and G. E. Hansen, "Neutron-Induced Ground Activities from Small Thermonuclear and Fission Weapons"
and R. C. Tompkins, "Effect of Depth of Burial on Fallout from Atomic Demolition Munitions"
box 8, folder 5
Boldrick, Michael R., U.S. Post-Cold War Nuclear Strategy: From Deterrence through Marginalization to Unilateral Aboliton?
1997
Scope and Contents
Lancaster University Centre for Defence and International Studie report. Printed copy
box 8, folder 6
Campbell, J. E. and H. A. Sandmeier, "Radiation Transport in Air over Ground and Air over Seawater for Application to Low-Altitude,
Low-Yield Tactical Nuclear Detonations"
1973
Scope and Contents
U.S. Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility study. Processed
box 8, folder 7
Extended Air Defence and the Long-Range Missile Threat
1997
Scope and Contents
Lancaster University Centre for Defence and International Studies report. Printed copy
box 8, folder 8
Russian-American Collaborations to Reduce the Nuclear Danger
1996
Scope and Contents
Los Alamos National Laboratory report. Printed copy
box 9, folder 1
Sandmeier, H. A. et al., "How to Calculate Effects of Tactical Low-Yield Enhanced Radiation and Fission Warheads"
1982
Scope and Contents
Los Alamos National Laboratory report. Processed
box 9, folder 2
United States General Accounting Office, Department of Energy: DOE Needs to Improve Control oveer Foreign Visitors to Weapons
Laboratories
1997
Scope and Contents
Printed copy
box 9, folder 3
Wiencek, David G., Dangerous Arsenals: Missile Threats in and from Asia
1997
Scope and Contents
Lancaster University Centre for Defence and International Studies report. Printed copy
box 9, folder 4
Psychoanalytic interpretation
1950
Scope and Contents
Study by Norman Walter, The Sexual Cycle of Human Warfare: Being a New Theory of the Causes of War and an Inquiry into the
Possibility of War-Prediction. Printed copy
box 9, folder 5
Rand Corporation
1975-2001
Scope and Contents
Printed matter
box 9, folder 6
Red mercury
1992-1996
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, memoranda and printed matter. Includes material re Edward Teller
box 9, folder 7
Schriever, Bernard A.
2004
Scope and Contents
Printed article. General Schriever was involved in missile development
box 9, folder 8
Shallow Buried Munitions (SBM)
1976
Scope and Contents
Report and memorandum
box 9, folder 9
Strauss, Leo
2003
Scope and Contents
Printed article
box 9, folder 10
United States Central Intelligence Agency
1998
Scope and Contents
Printed article
box 9, folder 11
Von Neumann, John
1992
Scope and Contents
Memoir by Nicholas A. Vonneuman, "John von Neumann as Seen by His Brother." Processed
box 9, folder 13
Photographs
undated
Scope and Contents
Contact prints, including prints of Cohen alone and with others
Audiovisual File
1954-2002,undated
Scope and Contents
Photographs and audiotapes
box 10
Audio tapes
1954-2002
Scope and Contents
Includes recordings of interviews of Cohen and panel discussions in which he participated
box MC20
Sound recordings
Physical Description: 5 compact sound cassettes
box MC20
"Tony Sutton"
Physical Description: 1 compact sound cassette
box MC20
"KNX 10/12/1981"
Physical Description: 1 compact sound cassette
box MC25
Videorecordings
Physical Description: 2 VHS videocassettes.
Scope and Contents
Includes photographs of "The Reason for the Neutron Bomb" exhibit by Chris Burden
Digital materials
undated
Access
Digital materials are not available until processed. If interested in accessing these materials, please contact us for more
information.
box MC3
1 DVD, "Sam Cohen Project 11-09-07 DVD Cut 2"
box MC3
1 DVD, "Cover-up in Oklahoma OTR Films"
