Synopsis

George Kistiakowsky, a Harvard chemist, embodied a life of remarkable contrasts. He began his career as an anti-Bolshevik soldier in Russia in 1919, later becoming a pivotal figure in the development of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. He subsequently served as a scientific advisor to President Eisenhower and dedicated his later years to arms control advocacy. In the period leading up to his death, Kistiakowsky shared the narrative of his extraordinary career with interviewer Carl Sagan.