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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

History Article Roundup – July 2017

Trinitite at Trinity Site in September 1945. Photo courtesy of LANL.

Here is a roundup of some of the most interesting articles published on the anniversary of the Trinity test, the Manhattan Project, and World War II history this month.

Dr. Rotblat: Or How I Learned to Start Worrying & Fear the Bomb: Culture.Pl profiles Joseph Rotblat, the Polish-born physicist who left the Manhattan Project, ostensibly on grounds of conscience, in late 1944. Rotblat later organized the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to advance nuclear disarmament.

Newly digitized footage shows Hiroshima before A-bomb: The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum recently released historic black-and-white video footage of the city. Taken by a Hiroshima resident in 1935, the film is the only footage in the museum’s collection that depicts the city’s downtown before World War II.

The Long, Weird Half-Life of Trinitite: Atlas Obscura explores the history and uses of trinitite, the glass-like material created from the sand by the heat generated by the “Gadget” at the Trinity Site on July 16, 1945.

The test that changed the world: On the anniversary of the Trinity Test, AHF’s Alexandra Levy published an article in the Washington Post on why the Manhattan Project was successful and why it is so difficult to prevent nations from developing nuclear weapons.

Age of Santa Fe Plaza buildings: Albuquerque Journal article explores the age of the wood used in 109 East Palace and nearby buildings in Santa Fe. At 109 East Palace, Dorothy McKibbin, “the Gatekeeper to Los Alamos,” welcomed Manhattan Project workers.

Legacy of first atomic test endures: CNN story by the granddaughter of a Manhattan Project veteran on the 72nd anniversary of the Trinity test.