A Mutating Anatomical & Physiopathology

Abstract

With this formulation, poet and philosopher Paul Valéry indicates that it is possible to understand how the human body operates (its physiology) with knowledge of the parts that it is composed of (its anatomy), which can be obtained through dissection. Inspired by such a method, this chapter assesses the correctness of Albert Wohlstetter’s first assumption that proliferation is predominantly about the development of nuclear weapons. It dissects the phenomenon as it exists today to highlight its composing parts and, in turn, its operation. Put differently, it seeks answers to the “what?” and “how?” questions.

Man is only man at the surface. Remove the skin, dissect, and immediately you come to machinery.

—Paul Valéry (1960:578)