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Whole World on FireWhole World on Fire focuses on a technical riddle wrapped in an organizational mystery: How and why, for more than half a century, did the U. S. government fail to predict nuclear fire damage as it drew up plans to fight strategic nuclear war? U. S. bombing in World War II caused massive fire damage to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but later war plans took account only of damage from blast; they completely ignored damage from atomic firestorms. Recently a
Whole World on Fire focuses on a technical riddle wrapped in an organizational mystery: How and why, for more than half a century, did the U.S. government fail to predict nuclear fire damage as it drew up plans to fight strategic nuclear war?U.S. bombing in World War II caused massive fire damage to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but later war plans took account only of damage from blast; they completely ignored damage from atomic firestorms. Recently a small group of researchers has shown that for modern nuclear weapons the destructiveness and lethality of nuclear mass fire often--and predictably--greatly exceeds that of nuclear blast. This has major implications for defense policy: the U.S. government has underestimated the damage caused by nuclear weapons, Lynn Eden finds, and built far more warheads, and far more destructive warheads, than it needed for the Pentagon's war-planning purposes. How could this have happened? The answer lies in how organizations frame the problems they try to solve. In a narrative grounded in organization theory, science and technology studies, and primary historical sources (including declassified documents and interviews), Eden explains how the U.S. Air Force's doctrine of precision bombing led to the development of very good predictions of nuclear blast--a significant achievement--but for many years to no development of organizational knowledge about nuclear fire. Expert communities outside the military reinforced this disparity in organizational capability to predict blast damage but not fire damage. Yet some innovation occurred, and predictions of fire damage were nearly incorporated into nuclear war planning in the early 1990s. The author explains how such a dramatic change almost happened, and why it did not. Whole World on Fire shows how well-funded and highly professional organizations, by focusing on what they do well and systematically excluding what they don't do well, may build a poor representation of the world--a self-reinforcing fallacy that can have serious consequences. In a sweeping conclusion, Eden shows the implications of the analysis for understanding such things as the sinking of the Titanic, the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and the poor fireproofing in the World Trade Center.Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 03/30/2006
ISBN: 9780801472893
Pages: 384
Weight: 1.14lbs
Size: 8.96h x 5.76w x 0.95d
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★★★★★ 5
My Paintings Looked Professionally Framed
Extremely pleased with frames. They were packaged very well and wood was of good quality. Very well priced for quality. Enhances the look of my watercolor paintings. Love it!
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Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2025
★★★★★ 5
Walnut frame
Beautiful color. Sturdy.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2025
★★★★★ 3
A little Flimsy
Love the texture and look of this frame but it doesn’t hold its shape very well and requires actual screws to secure the backing. One of my screw fasteners was broken off the frame in shipping so maybe that’s why it isn’t as tight as it should be but I was hoping for a more secure fit. A LOT of flex and wobble.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2024
★★★★★ 5
Great shelf for price!
Color: Natural Oak, Number Of Shelves: 1, Size: 35.4 inches, Color: Natural Oak, Number Of Shelves: 1, Size: 35.4 inches
Great shelf for price. VERY easy to install. We put one side of screws of metal bracket in studs to make it sturdy & stable. This was KEY! Follow simple drawing dictions and you can’t go wrong! Was Leary about some bad reviews but we had no issues. Came quickly with no flaws. Looks great and is very light, but is stable when put into bracket correctly. Size is beautiful with the thickness & depth of upscale shelf. If you want a nice shelf that doesn’t break the bank- get it. This one worked well for us!
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Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Nice little shelf
Color: Black, Number Of Shelves: 1, Size: 47.2 inches, Color: Black, Number Of Shelves: 1, Size: 47.2 inches
Super nice shelf for the price!
Came with everything you need and easy to install.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2026