Michael Smith writes about the social and political origins of the “atomic age” that permeated postwar American culture. As nuclear energy was seen as both a diplomatic advantage and potentially beneficial source of energy, the US government, following the patterns set in the Manhattan Project, wanted to develop programs to establish and promote civilian nuclear energy. In the early stages of development, questions arose from scientists and the public ranging from as simple as “what is our country’s direction with nuclear energy” to as worrisome as “what will happen in the event of a nuclear power plant accident?”

Because it was still unclear to many what the possible outcomes and consequences of different levels of nuclear power plant accidents could be, the US Government encouraged the “Atomic Energy Commission,” or AEC, to embark on marketing campaigns from the 1950s-1960s in order to foster public support for nuclear energy, and, by extension, a preventative sense of forgiveness in the event of an accident. In their marketing campaigns, the AEC targeted children and families through pamphlets, films, TV shows, and other promotional materials to “explain” nuclear energy in an informative but positively-skewed manner. Even Walt Disney produced their own piece of propaganda, known as Our Friend the Atom (220). At this point, nuclear energy, and specifically the notion of the “peaceful atom” was well-recognized by Americans, as evident in their tendency to include the word “atomic” in their daily life in as many ways as possible (219). In the postwar period, the atom worked “for us” as a “docile servant.” (just as the way in which the railroad or a steam ship worked “for us” in the 19th-century) Nuclear energy was not advertised as its true form - something chaotic and possibly unpredictable, but rather, as something useful - like a new kitchen appliance.

Today, when I think of advertising that is intended to promote a public good or uniform way of thinking, I think of the environmental movement, such as children's and family programming that promotes tenants of sustainability: such as recycling, reducing waste, or simply being active in one's community. But it is interesting to see that the modern origins of this way of advertising have many roots in the promotion of the atomic age or the “peaceful atom,” because nuclear energy - peaceful or otherwise - is so hotly contested. Still, for all its problems, I still find something oddly enchanting about the infinite wonders and possibilities of the cartoonized “atomic age.” (==Glynnis Farleigh)

The idea of the atomic bomb was challenged for 3 reasons. #1- There was no adequate monitoring and follow up testing #2 Radiation was approached as a short term danger instead of focusing on the growing long term internal exposure #3 the evidence of fall out was suppressed and began to induce health problems. - All 3 of these combined are issues that may not have been seen immediately, but now we understand the consequences. It is causing problems still to this day that we as a society may try to ignore. Locations still cannot be visited due to the radiation. If we had known immediately the consequences would we have continued to develop this? - Haley Denehy

In this chapter of Pursell, Michael Smith discusses the effects of post Manhattan project and the governments wishes to pursue a nuclear power that the public were approve. Nuclear power was the “producudt of federal promotion objectives in the 1950s and 1960s.”(p.210) I understand the push that civilians wanted to have the control of nuclear projects, why the Atomic Commission came in to play, but why did the government also push for civilian approval? It is not like they needed their permission. The government did it before, why did they continue to pursue this approval? – Erika Mabry

Throughout the twentieth century, nations across the globe have struggled to maintain control of the mighty power that is nuclear energy. In recent years, the use of nuclear energy has stalled, while discussion of its incredible efficiency despite absurd dangers have continued. Do recent technological developments and more “control” over our natural environment make nuclear energy worth pursuing? How heavy do the stigmas of the past weigh on this decision? (–Nate Stringer)

It's interesting to see the similarities between the Atomic Age and the Digital Age. While the nuclear power was first researched for weaponization, it was eventually marketed (successfully) for consumer uses. Undergarment companies even began using terminology like atomic in their branding! The opposite can be said of the digital age, where advancements in social media and cell phones was more of a commercially driven market that is now being seen in more of a weaponized context (certain social media platforms and their connections to Russian propaganda as a political weapon). -Kim Eastridge

This video was very moving and eye-opening to witness. The lack of language at first left me confused, but it quickly made sense and I am grateful that the artist took efforts to make this video accessible beyond language. That said, I find it fascinating that this video is attributed as art, rather than an average informational video or documentary. Hashimoto is a Japanese artist and museum curator, so it makes sense from his and his peers’ perspective that this may be art, but if our class were to watch this without context, I wonder if anyone at all would suggest this is an artistic work. This is not to doubt the piece of art, but to recognise cultural diversity in the creation of art and its possibilities for a vast range of purposes. Additionally, Hashimoto was born shortly after WWII ended, so it’s even more impactful as he more than likely has familial and cultural ties to nuclear devastation. - Dillyn Scott

In Michael Smith’s “Advertising the Atom” he discusses the integration of nuclear energy into popular culture and the “daily lives” of society. Throughout this reading I thought back to all of the regulations on nuclear energy that I have discussed in other classes which reminded me how powerful this “technology” is. Which you also see in the number of casualties from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is not surprising that big companies and other agencies attempted to frame this nuclear/atomic energy in a more positive frame due to the initial exposure people had of this energy of bombings. Through these attempts the government was hoping to change the narrative of dangerous technology to positive technology which you could arguably find necessary today with technology and human intelligence having some of society questioning the power given to artificial intelligence. -Emma Monaghan

Page 221 of the Pursell reading describes the domestic applications of nuclear technology as shown by the 1965 film The Atom and Eve, which draws inspiration from the biblical first woman, “born into a modern-day electrical garden of Eden. As she approaches puberty, Eve acquires an expanding array of electrical appliances; she also eats from the tree of electrical knowledge (“Eve learned a new word: hydroelectricity”). “to meet Eve’s never-ending needs.” Eve’s coming-of-age culminates in her Dance of the Nuclear Light Bulb. Destined to burn for “a million years,” the bulb becomes consumer culture’s eternal flame.”” This refers to a mid-century cult of domesticity, with these domestic applications of electrical and nuclear technology being geared towards women with the aim of glorifying their place in the home. This also refers to nuclear technology’s general commercial applications, because nuclear energy was viewed at the time as having virtually infinite power and utility. – Rachel Beatty.

Isao Hashimoto’s art video “1945-1998,” made in 2003, is a 14-minute video that shows bomb every known nuclear bomb detonation across the world. (excluding North Korea) In that 53 year span, 2,053 bombs were detonated. The website notes that Hashimoto used no specific language when making his video, and instead, chose to display detonations using a colorful burst accompanied by a sound unique to that country. Hashimoto chose to create this map in order to showcase the omnipresence of nuclear power to those who may be unaware. While we see detonations in the UK, China, India, and Pakistan towards the end of the video, these numbers pale in comparison to the US and USSR, due to their engagement in the Cold War nuclear arms race.

The “global” nature of this video is important as it showcases how a secret government project in 1940s America permeated not only American, but global culture - touching both military and civilian and violent and peaceful aspects of life worldwide. (==Glynnis Farleigh)

At first, I was confused as to what the video was showing. However, once I discovered that it was showing all the nuclear bomb detonations I became extremely intrigued. I started paying close attention to the countries and their colors and realized that the US was always ahead and had more than anyone else, finally ending with 1032 of 2053. There were 2053 nuclear bombs set off between 1945 and 1998 making that number is so much higher than I ever thought. This video opened my eyes to the sheer amount of nuclear bombs that I had no idea existed. Certain years also had more or less than others. Between 1950-1961 the amount was virtually silent along with 1993-1998. However, in 1958 alone there were more than I ever expected. This video was published in 2003 and I am curious to know how many more have occurred since. - Haley Denehy

Mutually Assured Destruction has never been so apparent to me until I watched this video. Hashimoto showcases the immense amount of nuclear power that the world has created in the fifty years between 1945 and 1998. The sheer amount of nuclear power is overwhelming; especially when looking at less developed or unstable countries who hold this power. -Kim Eastridge

When first watching this video, I was not sure what I was looking at. I then read below and saw it represented the number of nuclear explosions conducted throughout the world from the years 1945-1998. I never realized how many nuclear explosions have actually occured throughout those years, or in general. These explosions are not talked about in school and seeing the amount in the piece of art is alarming. Over 2,000 bombs were set off in those years. That is 2,000 more that I was aware of. It is such a large number. The world was very secretive during those times as not many people realized that many nuclear weapons were set off. —Erika

The first thing that surprised me while watching the video was how disproportionate the amount of nuclear tests the United States conducted as apposed to the USSR. Up though the 70s the U.S. ran almost twice the amount of tests Russia conducted. I knew both the U.S. and the USSR took part in many tests but something else that surprised me was how frequent these tests occurred in both countries. I also found interesting the amount of tests conducted by France. Overall this video opened my eyes to the staggering amount of nuclear tests that have taken place globally.- Jack Sweetak

The entire multimedia art piece plays out almost like a song, with the different tones of beeps plays out as a morbid song that very well could have been the end of nations. 1981 seemed to be one of the most active years for nuclear explosions, obviously with USA and Russia having the most activity. When the late 1990s begins there is a gradually downtick in number of nuclear explosions with zero explosions in 1997. -John Liberty

I think it's interesting to see the interaction between Russia and the USA. Whenever the US would set off a bomb Russia would also set off a couple as well. This happened vice-versa with America. It shows that both countries wanted to be seen and to put little reminders to one another to say that they were still here. – Erin Madden

This video shows the advancement in nuclear power in warheads in different countries since the United States were the first country to use them in 1945. It slowly shows all the different countries beginning to develop the technology to create nuclear warheads for their military. As the years went on, there were more and more explosions happening every year. Towards the end of the video, there would be multiple explosions going off at the same time in the same country or in other countries. This really opens your eyes to how many countries developed the technology in such a short time period. - Kevin Bach

The Isao Hashimoto animation tracks the evolution and proliferation of nuclear weapons from 1945-1998 through the 2,053 tests conducted, half of which is accounted for by the Americans. The US gets the bomb first and stays in the lead throughout the 53 years being analyzed with the Soviets trailing behind. Each new member of the nuclear club has a color and sound pitch to indicate who’s testing what. By the end of the video, seven nations in total acquire the bomb and conduct tests. At the very end, the map shows the cumulative “footprints” or “scars,” the impact of all the tests conducted, with the Americans unsurprisingly leaving the biggest scars. I recognized the video from my decade-long history with watching YouTube, and the colored lights and notes that came with every test made me think of it as a strange and unsettling song, with its melody being one of human hubris and folly, and the USA and the USSR as its lead singers. – Rachel Beatty.

Wow, this video was very eye opening for me, I never realized how many nuclear bombs were deployed. I was interesting to see the dates where it subsided and then the other dates where there was clearly war going on. I thought it was very interesting to see how late some of these countries were to enter in on this. It makes you think was it because they were trying to stay out of it or did they just not have the technology yet. From an environmental perspective, if those are all indeed nuclear bombs, no amount of recycling can help us come back from the damage and radiation we’ve put on our earth. Humans are dumb and the nuclear bomb is a prime example of why, we are so trigger happy and jump at the next best thing, that we don’t think about the long term consequences of these pieces of technology. Its truly sad to see that there were 2053 nuclear bombs from 1945-1998, 53 years and there was so much destruction. I would hate to see those numbers from since 1998. – Claire Starke