Day 267 – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

I have a couple of books to cover, the first was kinda boring, the second will make you shudder at the horror, and if you are easily “grossed out” it will make you sick.

The first book, Hitler’s Scientists: Science, War, and the Devil’s Pact by John Cornwell was nothing that I expected, nor does it really contain anything the title suggests. The jacket of the book promotes it as “…powerful account of Nazi science forms a crucial commentary on the ethical role of science.” And a quote from The Nation says, “Makes a powerful case for the recognition by scientists of their own moral and political obligations.”

So, I expected this to be a book about Nazi scientists who worked for Hitler to create these horrific ways of killing masses of people and if they should be held accountable because they didn’t actually pull the trigger, they just invented the gun (so to speak).

Well… it wasn’t.

What this book was about included the background of science in Germany (WWI era) how they were the country to contend with in all areas of science then how the rise of Hitler forced most of the brilliant scientists out of the country (most were Jewish).

From there he talks about how fission was discovered and the atom bomb was developed (in the US) – which seems to fill most of the book. He talks ever so briefly on the role of “Racial Hygiene,” eugenics and psychiatry. There is brief mention of using slave labor to build the facilities needed for the building of rockets and such. Then he brings it all together with today’s war on terror… well, sort of.

There were some enlightening moments, for example when on page 76 he talks about how Charles Darwin (the author of The Origin of Species) met a zoologist named Ernst Haeckel. Haeckel went on to wring Generelle Morphologie based on Darwin’s theory – and a copy of the two 500-page volumes were sent to Darwin who read it.

“Beyond this lay the promotion of the superiority of the Germanic peoples – all the more superior for becoming united within one nation state – and the need to combat Christianity, the priesthood and its ‘gaseous’ God.” (page 76)

“Evolution, according to this view, was driven relentlessly onwards and upwards…and survives to this day among certain professional biologists.” (page 77)

Rudolf Virchow at the Würzburg University maintained that “leftists influenced by social Darwinism would plunge society into violence and bloodshed. (page 77) But it was Haeckel’s view that was adopted by those closest to Hitler and sadly, Virchow was proved correct. Keep in mind, a good chunk of this is taught in our schools today. And people wonder why there is so much corruption?

Another interesting note is that eugenics the “science of ‘encouraging’ good offpring” is associated with Darwin’s cousin, Sir Francis Galton… and his idea of breeding the perfect race or at least those less likely to be born with disorders (mental, physical as well as plain old disobedience) – even countries around the world began “compulsory sterilizations” either by castration and irradiation. And yes, folks, that was adopted by some states here in the US.

Though the book was interesting by learning about these various scientists and their accomplishments, it never really followed the title and never really got down to debating the question of how much should a scientist be held accountable for what he invents/creates. This, in my opinion, would have made it a much more compelling book.

I think I’ll save Masters of Death: The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust for a late blog. I’m still digesting how to really set it out there. But it is a book that will make you mad and make you want to throw up at the same time. If you think Stephen King books are gross – King ain’t got nothing on these guys.