How we cite our quotes: Chapter name.(Chapter Number).Paragraph
Quote #4
He calmed himself with the knowledge that if lightning struck, the tower's steel frame would most likely conduct the electricity harmlessly into the ground. Or, perhaps, the electrical burst would set off the bomb.
"And in that case, I'd never know about it," he said. "So I read my book." (Trinity.(30).43-44)
Here's another example of someone using common sense to conquer fear (which would be pretty justified, if you ask us). Just like Kisty, Hornig is of the opinion that if it would kill you so fast you'd never even realize you were getting killed, so why worry?
Quote #5
Teller warned the others on the hill to be careful of sunburn. He took out a tube of suntan lotion, squeezed a bit onto his hand, and passed the tube on.
The reporter William Laurence looked on in shock. "It was an eerie sight," he said, "to see a number of our highest-ranking scientists seriously rubbing sunburn lotion on their faces and hands in the pitch-blackness of the night, twenty miles away from the expected flash." (Test Shot.(31).31-32)
Knowing what we know now about nuclear fallout, it is almost funny to think about the fact that scientists were worried about a little sunburn. But fear can manifest in a million ways, so no judgment from over here.
Quote #6
Groves lay on the ground in a separate bunker, his eyes facing away from the blast site. "As we approached the final minute, the quiet grew more intense," he remembered. "I thought only of what I would do if, when the countdown got to zero, nothing happened." (Test Shot.(31).41)
Sometimes the fear of failure is worse than anything else you can think of. There was so much riding on the success of the Trinity test, and Groves wanted to be one step ahead of catastrophe if it was at all possible. Luckily for him, he didn't have to troubleshoot an atomic bomb technical difficulty.