The source of the error, Coster-Mullen recognized, was an assumption that every (male) researcher who studied the subject had made about the relation between projectile and target. These scholars had apparently been unable to conceive of an arrangement other than a “missionary position” bomb, in which a solid male projectile penetrated a vessel-like female target. But Coster-Mullen realized that a female-superior arrangement—in which a hollow projectile slammed down on top of a stationary cylinder of highly enriched uranium—yielded the correct size and mass.
The most shocking thing is that Carol Cohn didn’t discover this *AMAZING* fact about the sexuality of atomic weapons twenty-five years ago (!). The next observation–“The atomic-research community was initially dubious about Coster-Mullen’s argument”–is drollly humorous as well…
Absalom, Absalom! 