The Atomic Family

Nuclear Testing Risks Societal Fallout

On August 6, 1945, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 dropped a newly invented bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing perhaps as many as 70,000 civilians and 20,000 soldiers. The new weapon was called an atomic bomb. It marked a milestone in modern science, which had recently discovered the inner workings of the atom. Tampering with the atom’s “nuclear” forces unleashed destructive power.

The atom has a long history. The ancient Greek philosopher Leucippus and his student Democritus believed that the world is made of atoms, from a Greek word meaning “uncuttable.” Their theory lacked empirical proof, but it had adherents over the centuries.

 Modern science, of course, has confirmed the...