BOOKS
471
offers no lessons to live by. But a single
Julia
is worth ten
Vanessa
Bells,
and not only because the one is a collaboration by two talented
writers while the other is journeyman's work. Partridge has no illu–
sions, but she writes out of love; Spalding feels no love and has no
grip on her illusions. The difference is instructive. Perhaps we ought
to be grateful for the continuing vogue of Bloomsbury, if only
because it has given us the chance to gauge the relative value of a life
that demanded telling and a life that got told in spite of itself.
WALTER KENDRICK
ANTIWEAPONS
How to Make Nuclear Weapons Obsolete.
By
Robert Jastrow.
Little,
Brown and Co. $15.45.
As a result of having written several successful books on
astronomy for the general reader, Robert Jastrow enjoys a well–
deserved reputation for making complex scientific subjects intelligi–
ble to the layman. In his latest book,
How to Make Nuclear Weapons
Obsolete,
Professor J astrow turns his attention to a subject of current
interest: space-based defense against ballistic missiles. Again dem–
onstrating his skill at exposition, J astrow has produced a simple and
comprehensible account for the layman of the so-called Strategic
Defense Initiative (SDI). As is evident from the very beginning of
the book, J as trow's interest in this subject derives from the fact that
he looks favorably on the idea of a defense against ballistic missiles.
Given J astrow's background it must be good news to the SDI pro–
ponents that they can count him on their side.
Robert J astrow is the founder of the Goddard Institute for
Space Studies in New York City and served as the first chairman of
NASA's Lunar Exploration Committee. In his scientific work, he
has made notable technical contributions in many areas, including
nuclear physics and the theory of earth satellites. Currently, he is
Professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth. Thus Jastrow is well
qualified to discuss space-based ballistic missile defense. In addition,
he has apparently made a systematic effort to familiarize himself
with congressional testimony and other sources of information in the
