LE History OF Graphic Design: World War II and Atom Bomb

World War II – Atomic Bomb

The First Blast:

Suddenly, at 5:29 a.m., the morning calm was broken by an enormous flash that lit up the surrounding mountains and could be seen as far as 150 miles. At the same time, an enormous explosion rumbled across the desert as a huge orange fireball, expanding into a pulsating red as it cooled, began shooting upward at around 360 feet per second. This was quickly followed by a swirling mushroom-shaped cloud that reached an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 feet above ground zero. Called the Trinity Test, this 18-20-kiloton blast was the culmination of years of research and development that ushered in the so-called Atomic Age.

Early Development and Experiments:

The development of the Atomic Bomb was actually the result of a convergence of political and scientific events beginning in the 1930s. The advances in understanding the nature of the atom and its role as a source for immense amounts of energy coincided with the rise of fascist governments in Europe. These parallel activities aroused much fear that Nazi Germany could become technologically capable of developing a weapon that used the recently discovered nuclear fission techniques.

The earlier experiments of the 1930s were instrumental in discovering methods for spitting the uranium atom. These discoveries pointed out that splitting the nucleus of a single uranium atom was possible by bombarding the atom with neutrons. By splitting the atom’s nucleus large amounts of energy, equivalent to 200,000,000 electron volts, could be released as well as additional neutrons, a process called nuclear fission. This release of nuclear energy was the conversion of about .1 percent of the mass of the uranium atom into energy, as previously postulated by Albert Einstein.

Fears of Germany Splitting The Atom First:

There was also the possibility that these additional freed neutrons, under specific conditions, could trigger a nuclear chain reaction which had the potential of releasing even greater amounts of energy. It was this scenario that prompted wide spread fears within the scientific community that grave consequences could result if Nazi Germany became the first to use this new nuclear technology.

My grandfather's experience of A-bomb by Kanae Ichinose1st June,1998. http://www.coara.or.jp/~ryoji/abomb/e-index.html

My grandfather went to his office on the day.

He was in the second floor standing before a window on his back. He suddenly felt a strong flash of light. He looked back and saw the building crushing down next by next just like a domino. Next moment, he found nothing around him in sight.

Luckily, as he was in between the two window frame, he was not rushed by the wall and barely survived. He had his back scared by glass fragments. But he was still lucky. His colleague and a female clerk looked like crushed between the wall, their hair, blood, and flesh were stuck to the wall.

He feared about the rumor that if he stayed in the incinerated city, he would be killed by American army. He took hand of an unfamiliar person nearby and evacuated to a hill side to hide for a week or so. On the way of evacuation, they saw a river dammed up corpse and still squirming in bloodshed for life. It was a hell on earth itself.

After several days he returned home only to find flattened ruins. He looked for something of remnant but found nothing except once called a radio. He picked it up in silence. Then he got on a train and went back to Tsukumi only with the radio.

My grandmother received then time 10 yen as her husband's insurance. The radio had been used by my father in his boyhood calling it "A-bomb radio." More than fifty years have passed since the war was over. My grandfather goes to A-bomb center in Beppu city every once a year for medical inspection. My father and uncles also go there every four years for the same purpose. My grandfather can by no means erase this experience from his memory. We also should not deteriorate the memory forever.