Introduction to the cold war

The journey into the centre of the atom was a
long one, and the successful splitting of the
atom by a team of scientists in the
1930’s, was the result of years of trial, error
and sheer luck by many of history's greatest
scientific minds.
Their investigations led to the turning-
point in nuclear science - the realisation
that splitting the nucleus of an atom
created energy that could be harnessed,
for good and for ill.
`

In the 1930s, key discoveries are made about the
fissioning of atoms by:
-Enrico Fermi
-Otto Hahn
- Lise Meitner
- and Fritz Strassmann
These discoveries lay the groundwork for the
development of nuclear weapons in the next
decade.
From Leucippus in 500 BC postulating the theory
of atoms and void, to Einstein's theory of relativity.

Leucippus (first half of 5th
century BC) was one of the
earliest Greeks to develop
the theory of atomism — the
idea that everything is
composed entirely of various
imperishable, indivisible
elements called atoms —
which was elaborated in
greater detail by his pupil and
successor, Democritus.
A possible earlier candidate
for atomism is Mochus of
Sidon, from the Trojan War
era (13th or 12th century BC).
Leucippus

Enrico Fermi (29 September
1901 – 28 November 1954)
was an Italian-American
physicist particularly known
for his work on the
development of the first
nuclear reactor. He was
awarded the 1938 Nobel
Prize in Physics for his work
on induced radioactivity.
Fermi is widely regarded as
one of the leading scientists
of the 20th century. Along
with J. Robert
Oppenheimer, he is
frequently referred to as "the
father of the atomic bomb―.

Otto Hahn (8 March 1879 – 28
July 1968) was a German
chemist and Nobel laureate, a
pioneer in the fields of
radioactivity and
radiochemistry. He is regarded
as "the father of nuclear
chemistry".
Hahn was a courageous
opposer of Jewish persecution
by the Nazis and after World
War II he became a passionate
campaigner against the use of
nuclear energy as a weapon.
Considered by many to be a
model for scholarly excellence
and personal integrity, he
became one of the most
influential citizens of the
Federal Republic of Germany.

Lise Meitner (7 or 17
November 1878 – 27
October 1968) was an
Austrian-born, later
Swedish, physicist who
worked on radioactivity
and nuclear physics.
Meitner was part of the
team that discovered
nuclear fission, an
achievement for which
her colleague Otto Hahn
was awarded the Nobel
Prize. Element
109, Meitnerium, is
named in her honour.

Hahn went in search of a collaborator with whom to pursue
studies in experimental radioactivity and teamed up with Lise
Meitner. She had come to Berlin to attend Max Planck’s
lectures on theoretical physics after receiving her doctorate
in physics from the University of Vienna in 1905—the second
doctorate in science from that university granted to a woman.
In the first year of the Hahn–Meitner partnership they had to
work in a remodeled carpenter’s shop because the university
did not yet accept women on an official basis.
In 1912 their research group was relocated to the new Kaiser
Wilhelm Gesellschaft, where Fritz Haber was head of the
physical chemistry institute, Hahn was head of the
radioactivity institute, and from 1918 Meitner was head of the
radioactivity institute’s physics department.
During World War I, Hahn served in the German gas warfare
service headed by Haber, and Meitner volunteered as an X-
ray nurse for the Austrian army.

In 1938 ,Otto Hahn (1879–1968), Lise
Meitner (1878–1968), and Fritz Strassmann
(1902–1980) became the first to recognize
that the uranium atom, when bombarded by
neutrons, actually split.
News of the splitting of the atom and its awesome
possibilities was brought to scientists in the United
States and ultimately resulted in the Manhattan Project.
Hahn, Meitner, and Strassmann were not engaged in
nuclear weapons research during World War II. At the
end of the war Hahn was astonished to hear that he had
won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1944 and that
nuclear bombs had been developed from his basic
discovery.

1. An age dominated by nuclear warfare
2. These weapons were invented + developed
before + during WW II
3. The nuclear weapons can be referred to as
Weapons of Mass Destruction, as they have
the ability to destroy the world in minutes.
1. Introduction:

Release of energy
Hydrogen atoms
In capsule
Uranium is
released into
Hydrogen
capsule
Splits the
hydrogen
atoms
which
releases
the energy
Type of
explosive
substance

Fatboy – the 1st nuclear bomb

First atomic bomb dropped 6th August 1945:

Watching atomic cloud off coast of Japan

For every
ACTION
there is an
EQUAL but
opposite
REACTION
America’s
Action = to
release the
bomb.
The opposite
reaction was
the
devastation it
created eg
Destruction
of human life
in that region.
Even 50
years later
we still
bear the
consequen-
ces of this
action.
eg.
Mankind
has not
returned to
normality –
babies with
defects.

Watching atomic explosion in the Nevada Desert

Atomic explosion in the Nevada Desert

Japanese Kamikaze airplane
Kamikaze aircraft: Suicide Japanese pilots who
flew their planes directly into the target, killing
themselves in the process.

President Truman Emperor Hirohito
Surrender unconditionally: to give up, stop
fighting, accept defeat + not have a say in the
peace treaty. Pg.65

Radiation
disrupts cells in
the
skin, causing
different types
of cancers
throughout the
body. Damage
sometimes not
seen until
much later.

Damage is done right
down to the DNA level in
cells.

Is this our planet’s future……?

LAMININ:
A cell adhesion protein molecule found
in the ―extracellular matrix‖, the sheets
of protein that forms t he substance of
all internal organs also called the
―basement membrane‖.
Laminin is vital to making sure
overall body structures HOLD
TOGETHER.

The
molecular
shape of
LAMININ:

Introduction to the cold war

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Introduction to the cold war