... wonderful, early science-fiction movie predicting the downfall of civilization from endless scientific-industrial war. A classic and great influence. Before 'Dr. Stranglove" or 'The Terminator'... there was 'Things To Come!'
... pre-atomic apocalypse!
... even before the advent of atomic-power; humanity (especially the writers of cheap pulp-fiction) feared scientific super-weapons that would visit world-wide annihilation. Fanned by the horrific experience of World War One, these tales usually involved the use of poison gas or man-made plagues. Driven by ever more powerful science and industrial growth the specter of grinding 'total-war', lasting decades, fueled the nightmares of the 1920's and 30's. H.G. Wells story "Things To Come", turned into a 1936 movie, is a hallmark of these fears.
"... how it works!"
... yes kids... you can put your toys, Dad's watch or Mom's girdle, inside an 'atomic pile' and make them radioactive! You can also put in other atomic elements and convert them into new elements- just like magic!
( not for children under the age of eight)
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... free wax!
... after a dusty journey, the Museum at Los Alamos, takes it's new 'Fat-Man' atomic bomb display replica through the local truck wash. I wonder how folks on the Interstate felt as they pulled up alongside that trailer!
1968 ... prowling the skies!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_EA-6B_Prowler
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all images- Right click- open in New Window= super colossal size!
1965 ... cold warrior Lyndon!
... fourth in the line of Cold War Presidents, starting with Truman and ending with Reagan, Lyndon Johnson's dreams of an American 'Great Society' were ruined by the budgets and domestic strife of the Vietnam War.
... a war that could count him as a casualty since, even though he relished the Presidency, he refused to run for a second term and died four years after he left office at the age of sixty-four.
1958 ... picnic with air-cover!
... this is remarkably close to a snapshot of my family in 1957. Complete with two year-old me giving my father a pain in the neck and dreaming of one day running a Cold War blog!
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all images- Right click- open in New Window= super colossal size!
1952 ... the moment!
"EG&G MIT coll -Atomic Bomb Explosion atop a Steel Tower photograph of shed observed at moment of atomic bomb explosion; taken at Eniwetok, ca. 1952"
... the above is the official MIT descriptive caption for the above photo. The photo is also much more than that. To start with; it is testament to amazing technical accomplishments of 'Doc' Edgerton and Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier, Inc. They were able to build 'cameras', that used a complex series optical shutters and rotating mirrors. which captured pictures in fractions of a millionth of a second. These cameras, commonly known as Rapatronic, opened a view into the all important physics of atomic fission and fusion. ( It gives me considerable pause to consider that, in spite of all the complex measuring devices utilized, seeing what actually happened remained such an important clue in the science of atomic weapons.) Most Rapatronic photos, including previous posts on this blog, show the shape and dynamics of the nuclear 'fireball' during it's first microseconds of expansion.
... so- what are we seeing? This the 'cab' or shack that houses the 'bomb' that sits on top of a tall tower. The cab protects the bomb or 'device' and various electronic switches and triggers from the elements during the days or weeks up until the 'test' or detonation. The tower structure it sits on, often 300 feet tall or higher, allows for better observation of events and helps to simulate 'airburst' [ since nuclear weapons are most effective when detonated at some height from the ground.
... but what are we really seeing?! Well- I'm not sure. Some notes have mentioned that the cab appears to be fluorescing with X-Ray energy making it transparent. To the left there appears to be two puffs(?). Is this the start of vaporization of the material of the cab?
Of course the most prominent feature is in the middle-upper right which looks like a giant friggin' eye! Is that the 'device' caught in some weird moment of percolating itself into and out of existence before it becomes an ... atomic explosion?
... no doubt it is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. I do not remember where or when on the Internet I originally collected this image. But I was surprised to find it pop-up last week on a simple search with the words 'first moment of nuclear explosion'.
as a side note: I will repeat my supposition that there are a lot of Rapatronic images that have not and may never see the light of day. There seems to be a complete lack of any such images from thermo-nuclear testing. This probably is owing to the fact that they are not just weird snapshots- but scientific information that- sadly- needs to be kept secret.
... so- what are we seeing? This the 'cab' or shack that houses the 'bomb' that sits on top of a tall tower. The cab protects the bomb or 'device' and various electronic switches and triggers from the elements during the days or weeks up until the 'test' or detonation. The tower structure it sits on, often 300 feet tall or higher, allows for better observation of events and helps to simulate 'airburst' [ since nuclear weapons are most effective when detonated at some height from the ground.
... but what are we really seeing?! Well- I'm not sure. Some notes have mentioned that the cab appears to be fluorescing with X-Ray energy making it transparent. To the left there appears to be two puffs(?). Is this the start of vaporization of the material of the cab?
Of course the most prominent feature is in the middle-upper right which looks like a giant friggin' eye! Is that the 'device' caught in some weird moment of percolating itself into and out of existence before it becomes an ... atomic explosion?
... no doubt it is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. I do not remember where or when on the Internet I originally collected this image. But I was surprised to find it pop-up last week on a simple search with the words 'first moment of nuclear explosion'.
as a side note: I will repeat my supposition that there are a lot of Rapatronic images that have not and may never see the light of day. There seems to be a complete lack of any such images from thermo-nuclear testing. This probably is owing to the fact that they are not just weird snapshots- but scientific information that- sadly- needs to be kept secret.
1945 ... using "the bomb" !
... president Harry S. Truman.
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... Nov.1, 1962
... editorial cartoon by Herbert Block; just days after the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis.