The Atomic Bomb (1946)
A Little Insight
The atom, the fundamental building block of all life and matter, has existed since the dawn of time and space. Comprising everything in existence, it is necessary for the stability of the universe. It was not until the mid-1900's that the function of the atom took a more destructive path with the creation of the atomic bomb. The bomb was first put to use in 1945 with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. One year after the devastation of the two cities, further testing was conducted involving the destructive power of atomic energy. The location was the Bikini Lagoon in the Marshall Islands and the experiment was code named Operation Crossroads.
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A New Age
The early to mid-1900's were chaotically tense years. By the end of 1944, two wars of such immense magnitude that they could only be referred to as World Wars, had come and gone. In 1945 a new age was about to dawn. It was an age of destruction greater than anyone had seen before and it would be known as the Atomic Age. The first to experience this new age were the helpless victims of the nuclear attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan. J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist and developer of the first atomic weapons could not have better foreshadowed the events to come than with the famous quote "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".
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The Atomic Bomb, A Cultural Artifact
We are a nation built upon war. With barely twenty years between World Wars one and two, we show our violent tendencies as a species. This view is further proven through the war-like actions taken at the end of the second World War. In 1945, two nuclear attacks were made against Japan. Only one year after, The U.S. conducted further tests with weapons of mass destruction. This gives the impression that the U.S. would be using the weapon again. After the incident in Japan, it's hard to believe that we would be thinking about using the device again. We are however, a nation of war and the atomic bomb is a representation of the times in 1946. While still recovering from two previous wars, the U.S. was already preparing for the next. Only a year after the treaty of WWII had been signed, we were testing a great new toy to help us prevent, or instigate, further conflicts. 1946 was a year when our nation was preparing itself for the future of warfare technology. It was a year of invention and technological marvels. It was a year of fearsome intent.
Today in the present, the atomic bomb has been replaced by a new weapon. The hydrogen bomb is now the most destructive weapon on Earth. The main difference between the two bombs, besides on the molecular level, is that the hydrogen has a much higher yield than the atomic. This means it discharges a higher amount of energy. If we had dropped a 200 kilo-ton hydrogen bomb onto Hiroshima instead of an atomic, not only would Hiroshima be gone, but also the surrounding area up to 10 miles. 200KT is a decent yield for a hydrogen bomb but the power is nearly limitless.
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Bibliography
"Nuclear Bomb, Living With the Bomb, multimedia -." National Geographic Magazine. 23 Feb. 2009 <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0508/feature6/multimedia.html>.
"History of the Atomic Bomb and The Manhattan Project." Inventors. 23 Feb. 2009 <http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/atomic_bomb.htm>.
"AMERICA FACES THE ATOMIC AGE:." Air and Space Power Journal. 23 Feb. 2009 <http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1984/jan-feb/graybar.html>.
For more information, visit the following...
http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/atomic_bomb.htm
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0508/feature6/multimedia.html
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1984/jan-feb/graybar.html
Below is a video of nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll
