What It's Like to Actually See an Atomic Explosion

Real Clear Science ^ | 18 Apr, 2016 | Ross Pomeroy

[MtnClimber]

Richard Feynman is the star of the Feynman Lecture Series on Physics. Really a great series if you get a chance to see them.

[DannyTN]

[shibumi]

"Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun...

But Mama, that's where the fun is!"

[shibumi]

[Ciexyz]

Sobering account. Makes one feel small.

[MtnClimber]

Amazing that before the first test, they knew what to expect as far as light, heat and blast radius.

[loungitude]

Ferynman was a pretty smart guy.

[disndat]

But they didn’t know what the h-bomb would do.

[PA Engineer]

Richard Feynman is the star of the Feynman Lecture Series on Physics. Really a great series if you get a chance to see them.

I second your recommendation. I have all his works.

[shibumi]

Probably one of the more practical applications of E = mc².

[MtnClimber]

But they didn’t know what the h-bomb would do.

You never know what will happen when you start a fusion reaction.

[Squantos]

Was present at a conventional test at white sands in the 80’s that simulated a .6kt nuclear weapon using 2400 tons of ANFO ..... HARVEST GOLD was the test name if I remember right. Been to Trinity site many times during my military Explosive Ordnance Disposal career..... both pre-fence and post fence era...:o)

Great read....thanks for posting !!!

Stay Safe !

[Flick Lives]

There was some theory that setting off a fusion reaction might cause the planet’s atmshphere to ignite. I guess the thought was, hold my berilium and watch this!

[Strac6]

Watching on you tube. Fantastic.

[dr_lew]

This is in “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” ... Perhaps a record as a title with six punctuation marks. It’s in Los Alamos from Below, pgs 116-117. ... I got it right here!

[Ciexyz]

My parents lived thru that era when the bomb was dropped. They said they believed the US government when it said a million US soldiers would have died if we didn’t drop the bomb and invaded the island instead.

[Smittie]

Amazing that before the first test, they knew what to expect as far as light, heat and blast radius

In an interview with one of the scientist on the project I heard, he said they weren't sure what the result would be.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

There was a very big boom and cloud.

[Pelham]

Japan was willing to sacrifice a million civilians in a hopeless defense of the Home Islands. It was an issue of the nation saving face and the citizens of Japan were resigned to this fate.

It is inconceivable to the western mind but it is really what the Japanese planned to do. It was Shinto and Bushido and national history all mixed together with a radical zealotry that enveloped the Japanese officer corps in the years right before the war.

And then the atomic bombs arrived like a force of nature. Like typhoons or earthquakes or volcanoes. And being a force of nature they permitted the Japanese to surrender without losing face, something they would not have done otherwise. In a strange way the bombs saved many, many lives on both sides.