Journal Article
Analysis:
‘‘Taking Hell’s
Measurements’’: Popular Science
and Popular Mechanics
Magazines and the
Atomic Bomb from
Hiroshima to Bikini
“Taking
Hell’s Measurements,” explains how
Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazine tried to influence the public by
downplaying the effects of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and
the Bikini test site in Nevada. Following the Japanese attacks at Pearl Harbor,
The United State made the decision to attack Japan with an atomic bomb as
retaliation for the surprise attacks which killed a total of 2,335 U.S. servicemen
and wounding 1,143 (Rosenberg, 2011). The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the
United States into World War II, which would eventually lead to the era of
atomic explosives. Following the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt would
explain the devastation to the American people, by stating December 7, 1941
would be "a date that will live in infamy." The American people used
the attack as motivation to destroy any country trying to invade the United
States, or threaten the freedoms of the America.
Prior to
the attacks in 1940, America had been experimenting with the developments of
atomic weaponry. The developments began after Albert Einstein warned the United
States government that Nazi Germany had been conducting tests on the effects of
atomic weaponry. With the war continuing on in 1945, and the massive casualties
suffered by every country involved, the United States made the decision to test
the first atomic bomb in New Mexico. The most influencing factor for the test
is when advisers warned President Truman, any type of invasion on Japanese soil
would result in mass casualties to American soldiers. On August 6, 1945
President Truman ordered the first atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima, killing
approximately 80,000 people and killing thousands more in the following weeks
from radiation. Two days later President Truman made the decision to drop
another bomb on the city of Nagasaki, Japan killing 40,000 more people, causing
Japan to surrender, and putting an end to the war.
Popular
Science and Popular Mechanics would use the atomic bomb after the war to
influence society of how atomic energy could benefit the future, by providing environmental
benefits, cures for disease, and economic development. Popular Mechanics focused
on using atomic super explosions in order to extinguish large forest fires, calm
severe hurricanes, and clear ice from shipping lanes in cold climate areas, clear
forestry to build roads and massive dams (McDermott 5, 160–162). Popular
Science would take on the role of how to promote atomic energy in order to help
medical research and claiming, ‘Telltale atoms may soon strip the mystery from
some of man’s deadliest enemies—cancer, hardening of the arteries, diabetes, heart
disease’’ (Nitkin 145). After seeing the type destruction caused by the atom
bomb across the world, people wanted to believe that atomic energy just wasn’t
going to be used for destruction, but had the potential to help lead society
through the 21st century by providing new energy resources.
The
following year the United States announced it would be testing multiple atom
bombs in the area of Bikini Atoll, Japan; Bikini Atoll was a small island off
the coast of Japan, used as a radar installation during the war. In 1945, the
last year of fighting, the U.S. landed a small force to secure the site. The
battle was brief and had no strategic significance. As the war ended, the
United States decided that Bikini Atoll would be suitable for nuclear
detonation tests, and shortly before Christmas 1945 it was selected to be the
site of the world's fourth and fifth atomic bomb detonations. Soon after the
bombs being tested, Popular Science wrote an article describing the effects of
the radiation fallout from the explosions titled, “Taking Hell’s Measurements” (Popular
Science 65, 91). In the article, the radiation left behind from the bombs, was
described as more deadly than the bombs themselves, leaving the public with the
feeling that an atomic future was not looking as good as it was described in
previous articles. Popular Science and Popular Mechanics tried to establish in
the years between Hiroshima and Bikini, and what “Taking Hell’s Measurements” essay
tried to depict, is society being able to understanding the atom, and how its
discovery affected American culture. Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines
used their magazines to explain the how the atom would benefit their readers, by
“Taking Hell’s Measurements.”
“Taking
Hell’s Measurements,” tells us a lot about the public’s mindset in the 1945 era,
the atom bomb had been depicted as providing new resources for a bright future,
and in reality it was nothing but a radioactive deadly weapon of mass
destruction. After reading the article a person may understand why the public
could be deceived by such claims, prior to the 1940s people had not been
exposed to atomic or nuclear energy.
The author of
the article Scott C. Zeman did an excellent job of explaining how the media was
willing use magazines to make the public believe that something so destructive,
could be so beneficial to society. History claims that the atomic bomb which
killed around 200,000 people actually prevented the loss of more lives, due to
the mass destruction of the bomb ending the war, causing the Japanese surrender
after its deployment.
References
McDermott, W. F.
‘‘Bringing the Atom Down to Earth.’’ Popular Mechanics Nov. 1945: 1 – 168.
Nitkin,
Nathaniel. ‘‘‘Tracer Bullets’ on the Trail of Cancer.’’ Popular Mechanics, June 1946: 145.
Popular Science,
Sept. 1946: 65, 91.
ZEMAN, S. C.
(2008). “Taking Hell's Measurements”: Popular Science and Popular Mechanics
Magazines and the Atomic Bomb from Hiroshima to Bikini. Journal Of Popular
Culture, 41(4), 695-711.
