Abstract
AN instructive series of exhibits has been brought together by the Daily Express at the Borland Hall, Lower Regent Street, London, to demonstrate some of the facts and potentialities of the controlled release of nuclear energy. The exhibition will remain open during February (weekdays, 10.30 a.m.-7 p.m. ; Sundays, 2-7 p.m. ; admission, Is.). The first corridor illustrates by models and diagrams the structure of the atom, with particular reference to uranium. Then come models of an alchemist's laboratory and the Cambridge High Tension Laboratory, suggesting the change of technique employed in the sciences, leading to a model of the uranium pile and photographs of American plant built for making fissionable material. A considerable section of the exhibition is devoted to the effects of the first three bombs, centring around a large model of Hiroshima, on which the affected areas are demonstrated, and including photographs and also specimens of material affected by the 'flash'. On the constructive side, a model and diagrams are shown suggesting how atomic piles can be used for the production of power, and some of the uses of artificial radioactive elements are suggested. In the cinema which concludes the tour of the exhibition, selected films are shown of the explosions of the two atomic bombs at Bikini, and portions of a captured Japanese film illustrating the effect of the flash on human beings. It is difficult to say which will produce the more lasting impression : the demonstration of the means of releasing nuclear energy and its peace-time potentialities, or the terrible effects of the atomic bomb. The latter emphasize the desperate need for international co-operation and understanding in this field. Since most of the material exhibited has come from official sources, one may well ask why the Government itself could not have arranged such an exhibition.
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Atomic Energy—Destruction or Construction?. Nature 159, 157–158 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/159157c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/159157c0