And the Atomic Age Begins
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Authors
Eitelberg, Mark J.
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2016-08
Date
August 2016
Publisher
Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
This presentation was prepared for in-classroom use only. It was created initially to describe and discuss a research program in the early 1950s, known as the Camp Desert Rock Experiments, to see how U.S. Army soldiers and Marines would react to an atomic blast. Could these military personnel fight and survive under realistic nuclear wartime conditions? The presentation was subsequently expanded to discuss the origins and early years of the so-termed Atomic Age, beginning with the first atomic bomb test in July 1945 and use of two atomic bombs in Japan shortly thereafter. The presentation makes extensive use of photos to show how schoolchildren were trained to prepare for nuclear attack ("duck and cover" ), and how Americans were encouraged to build fallout shelters beginning in the early 1950s. The psychological impacts of these civil defense measures, particularly on young children, are explored. The presentation concludes with a summary of nuclear arsenals throughout the world as of mid-2020. (Information on worldwide nuclear arsenals was added to the original presentation in September 2020.) The presentation is for educational purposes only. It should not be used commercially. The views, opinions, and findings presented here do not necessarily reflect those of any government department or agency.
Type
Presentation
Description
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Department
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
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NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
70 slides
Citation
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.