5. The Creation of Heinlein’s “Solution Unsatisfactory” (Wysocki)
the construction of such a device. General knowledge of such speculation and the possibility of a bomb was also constrained by the censorship that was beginning to be imposed by the scientific community itself with respect to the publication of papers with possible military applications (Smyth 45). Even though Campbell did not consider atomic bombs likely, he did discuss military applications in “Shhhhh — Don’t Mention It!” He suggested, perhaps in jest, the possibility of a steam bomb based on the power generation type of chain reaction. His most important suggestion, however, began with a reference to the Roman conquests of Carthage. The solution supposedly used by the Romans after the final conquest was to level the city and to plow salt into the fields so that it would be impossible for any crops to be raised. Campbell then proposed: The modern equivalent would probably be to bomb the undesired city with a few pounds of a long-lived radioactive isotope. There would undoubtedly be plant life left — rather weird stuff, probably — but humans would find it expedient to get out and stay out for one hundred years or so. A few uranium power plants could rather easily manufacture the necessary isotope bombs [113].
Campbell’s Story Idea The next discussion of atomic matters occurred in a letter from Campbell dated August 6, 1940, when the issue containing “Shhhhh — Don’t Mention It!” would have been on the newsstands. Campbell commented on a “howler” that had appeared in his article. By using the wrong means of calculating how the gamma rays would be attenuated by a given thickness of lead, he had been drawn to the incorrect conclusion, as stated in his article, that a mass the size of a mountain would be needed for sufficient shielding. By then calculating it correctly, he was able to determine that such a power plant could be made much smaller. The letter suggested all sorts of applications, some of which would not have been practical. There were some additional brief mentions of atomic power in the Heinlein-Campbell letters over the next several months, but the important reference occurred in a letter to both Campbell and his wife, Dona, dated December 1, 1940, in which Heinlein wrote, “I’ve just reread John’s letter of November 12th.... Such nice ideas he has, radioactive dust to wipe out all of modern civilization.” No letter exists in the Heinlein-Campbell correspon81