[ChuckMcM]

I got this guy's "book" off Amazon back when he was taking them to Kinko's to be printed up. His is a fairly remarkable story of curiosity which I have always enjoyed. He even signed it for me.

What is not often pointed out is that he managed to reason his way into understanding to various points, and the process of doing so revealed information that is otherwise still classified.

As a teen in Las Vegas in the 70's we could "feel" the underground tests, and I was always fascinated by the test site. I even managed to snag a summer internship there (inadvertently[1]) when I was in college.

I know folks who worked at Sandia and Lawrence Livermore who found the book fairly remarkable.

[1] The job offer was for the contractor facility in Las Vegas but my clearance had not come through so they bused me to an unclassified facility at the test site to do the work.

[yummypaint]

There is significant amounts of classified information already available publicly in documentaries etc. This is readily acknowledged by people at the labs who Ive chatted with, though I didnt push to probe specifics. Much of the secret sauce at the time (knowing the cross sections for various processes, reflecting neutrons etc) that enabled the design of working weapons is all well understood and publicly known now and unclassified. Other than the artisanship needed to make the high explosives do what you want, the only meaningful barier is enrichment.

[ChuckMcM]

The interesting part for me, per the nondisclosure and federal law, is that there can be classified information "out there" but that doesn't declassify it! It isn't like technology NDAs where, if you have signed one, you can talk about the secret sauce if it gets disclosed through no fault of your own. Not so with the US Government!

For example, even if "everyone" knows how fast an SR-71 can fly, that number is still classified. And if you have a clearance you can't talk about it because it is classified and you know its classified. So it is illegal for you to talk about its top speed. This is another good reason to avoid getting a government clearance if it can be avoided.