A layman's account of the scientific and
political events leading up to the dropping of the atomic
bomb on Hiroshima.
HIROSHIMA: The World's Bomb
Andrew J. Rotter
Oxford, hbk, $65
Review by Ron Tyrrell
This book describes in layman's terms the scientific and
political background that led to the creation of the atomic
bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
On the eve of World War 2 leading scientists believed an
atomic bomb to be feasible, and with the outbreak of
hostilities they feared that Nazi Germany might secure
mastery by the invention of such a weapon.
Only after Germany's defeat was it found that their nuclear
research had been frustrated by decentralisation, scientific
mishaps, the loss of eminent Jewish scientists, and the
inability of Hitler and his cohorts to understand the physics
involved.
The United States had the largest group of first-rate
scientists, augmented by refugees from Germany, and the
co-operation of Great Britain.
Their Manhattan project involved much research and
experimentation, and the building of several gigantic plants
to process the materials required for a bomb.
The availability of the first atomic bombs was too late for
their intended use against Germany, and of interest are the
arguments for and against, which led to their use against
Japan.
The author explains that the use of poison gas and aerial
bombing in World War 1, followed by Japanese atrocities in
China, and the indiscriminate bombing of British, German and
Japanese cities in World War 2 had created a climate for the
involvement of civilians in an all-encompassing terror.
Americans remembered the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and
the Bataan death march, while, with the British, they wished
to punish the Japanese for their treatment of prisoners of
war and civilians, and all recalled the ferocity of the
fighting on the islands of the Pacific, which led to a ready
desire to use the bomb and end the war.
Despite the unease of some scientists, and an ignorance of
the widespread effects of radiation, American political and
military leaders felt Japan deserved the bomb.
For them, it would obviate a bloodbath and, in the face of
Japanese government prevarication, it appeared a massive
defence was being organised which would lead to much loss of
life invading the home islands.
On the other hand, mainly being wise after the event, critics
claimed Japan was ready to surrender but wished to clarify
the status and position of the emperor, and that the
populations of the two Japanese cities did not deserve such a
fate.
The author has no compelling evidence that American political
leaders authorised the use of atomic bombs to preclude the
Soviet Union from taking part in the occupation of Japan.
However, Stalin ordered a crash programme to build a Soviet
atomic bomb, made possible in 1949 with the aid of several
communist spies who had been engaged on the Manhattan
project.
The author concludes by showing how the bomb became The
World's Bomb with a dangerous stand-off during the Cold War
between the United States and the Soviet Union, and an
expansion of nuclear technology to include Great Britain,
France, China, Israel, North Korea, India, Pakistan, South
Africa (for a time), and possibly Iran.
He says it is not surprising the United Nations has struggled
to control atomic energy since the waste from nuclear
reactors may be used for peace or war and a fear exists that
a rogue state, organisation, or individual may secure a bomb
from a disintegrating country with atomic bombs in its
possession.
- Ron Tyrrell is a Dunedin historian.
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