Benjamin Wilson

Benjamin Wilson

Associate Professor of History of Science, Harvard University

A man with short brown hair and glasses, wearing a dark button-up shirt, stands outdoors in front of a blurred green background.

Benjamin Wilson is associate professor of history of science at Harvard University. He earned his PhD in history of science from MIT and received master’s degrees in physics from Yale University and the University of Toronto. His research focuses on the history of modern physics and the intellectual history of the nuclear age. Wilson is the author of Strange Stability: How Cold War Scientists Set Out to Control the Arms Race and Ended Up Serving the Military-Industrial Complex (Harvard University Press, 2025).

Book cover of "Strange Stability" by Benjamin Wilson, featuring a green pen vertically centered on a beige background with red and green text—reflecting themes of nuclear deterrence.
In this excerpt from "Strange Stability," Benjamin Wilson explores how the concept of "deterrence" went from explaining criminal behavior to becoming a nuclear strategy.