The destroyer. (the hydrogen bomb) (Modern Wonders ) From: The Economist (US) | Date: December 25, 1993 | COPYRIGHT 1993 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

The thermonuclear hydrogen bomb has changed the face of world politics. Earlier atomic weapons, using fission, did not do much more damage than conventional weapons, but thermonuclear bombs, which use fusion, are thousands of times more powerful.

THE earth has 286 cities of more than a million people--and enough nuclear weapons to destroy them all, many times over, in moments. The hydrogen bomb has changed not merely the nature of international conflict, but the way people think. F...