Can anyone help me remember a sci-fi short story about disintegrating weapons and nuclear winter?
I'm trying to recall a short story I read about 10 years ago in English class in school. It would probably be fair to call it "sci-fi", but I'm not sure how important that is.
What I remember: the story was set in the midst of an escalating arms race, Cold War-style, and the characters were chiefly military personnel (I think).
At some point, a chief actor obtains technology that is designed to (from memory) "disintegrate all weapons (certain materials/metals?)" within a vicinity.
I believe the technology is then used, and what ensues is a world-enveloping nuclear winter. I'm not sure how the weapons disintegration tech leads to a nuclear winter. It's also quite possible that I'm conflating two separate stories I read in that class.
Anyone have any idea what short stories I could be thinking of? This would be at the very latest pre-2010 stuff, and knowing my English teacher (old bloke from Yorkshire) probably 20th century. Probably.
Sounds like "The Trigger" by Arthur C. Clarke. If not, it's a good book anyway, I'd recommend.
This seems like it might be the one... But I'm still hung up on the "nuclear winter" part. Is there any mention of a nuclear winter in The Trigger?
Nah, I reckon that must be from something else. I can't think of what, though
This sounds like Bradbury’s “A Piece Of Wood”, except for the nuclear winter part. You may have conflated that element.