This superlative documentary "The Day After Trinity" (a Peabody Award-winner, and Academy Award nominee from 1980/81) produced and directed by Jon H. Else provides a great deal of insight into the steps leading-up to that fateful day when the Atomic-age began in New Mexico (at "Trinity' Test-site located in the vicinity of Jornada del Muerto = ironically translated as "Deadman's trail/ route") and its terrifying-aftermath (and in effect how our World & civilization could never be the same in the wake of that earth-shattering 'Atomic-awakening')
The detonation of the first Atomic bomb occurred within the New Mexico desert under the watchful-eye and keen-guidance of the otherworldly-brilliant theoretical-physicist and unlikely intellectual-Leader of the 'Manhattan-Project' J. Robert Oppenheimer (who had been surprisingly hand-selected by the visionary Army General Leslie Groves = the two of them essentially ushering in the modern Nuclear-Age, for better or worse) ==> it was undoubtedly 'better' that the democratic US-Allied-Powers unlocked those atomic-secrets first (thankfully, before the Axis-powers could) - but we're of course still living with the potentially terrifying ramifications and most genuinely 'fateful' knowledge uncovered by Oppenheimer (and his hyper-brilliant Los Alamos/'Manhattan-Project' team)
Much of the deep insights within this unique film "The Day After Trinity" come by way of interviews with participants/ scientists that were still with us (circa1979/1980 - Robert Oppenheimer himself unfortunately passed-away in 1967) = but the great theoretical-physicists Hans Bethe, Robert Serber, Robert Wilson, I.I. Rabi and others provide a number of first-hand reminiscences and intriguing points-of-view that are truly invaluable in order to even begin extracting the tiniest 'glimpse' into what it might have been like to have been a part of/ witness to such literally 'earth-shaking' (or perhaps even shattering) events. Only critique is that these interviews should have been longer (and in fact this documentary itself could have benefitted from an additional 20 to 30 minutes in length - due to the momentous-complexity of historic subject matter!)
Some participants even expressing a degree of later regret-remorse regarding the moral-dilemmas faced in the aftermath of actual A-bomb detonation on Japan (i.e. the initial moral-thrust of the project was based on the goal of beating Germany in terms of being the 'first' to successful A-bomb development - but once the Axis in Europe had surrendered, was there still sufficient moral-imperative to continue the project to its devastating-ends? (with the potential for nuclear-conflagration sill casting a foreboding shadow thru present day.)
In any event, "The Day After Trinity" is certainly one of the best historical introductions to the ushering in of the Atomic-age, and an important Story worth revisiting now = especially with the incessant threat of 'nuclear-proliferation' (and the intensive ongoing efforts to at least limit/ minimize the potential devastation inherent) a topic unfortunately still at the very Top of the daily news-headlines.
note: the Kai Bird/Martin Sherwin biography of Robert Oppenheimer called "American-Prometheus" is fantastic supplemental reading! (with additional in-depth insights into the 'Manhattan-Project' and much beyond).......
The detonation of the first Atomic bomb occurred within the New Mexico desert under the watchful-eye and keen-guidance of the otherworldly-brilliant theoretical-physicist and unlikely intellectual-Leader of the 'Manhattan-Project' J. Robert Oppenheimer (who had been surprisingly hand-selected by the visionary Army General Leslie Groves = the two of them essentially ushering in the modern Nuclear-Age, for better or worse) ==> it was undoubtedly 'better' that the democratic US-Allied-Powers unlocked those atomic-secrets first (thankfully, before the Axis-powers could) - but we're of course still living with the potentially terrifying ramifications and most genuinely 'fateful' knowledge uncovered by Oppenheimer (and his hyper-brilliant Los Alamos/'Manhattan-Project' team)
Much of the deep insights within this unique film "The Day After Trinity" come by way of interviews with participants/ scientists that were still with us (circa1979/1980 - Robert Oppenheimer himself unfortunately passed-away in 1967) = but the great theoretical-physicists Hans Bethe, Robert Serber, Robert Wilson, I.I. Rabi and others provide a number of first-hand reminiscences and intriguing points-of-view that are truly invaluable in order to even begin extracting the tiniest 'glimpse' into what it might have been like to have been a part of/ witness to such literally 'earth-shaking' (or perhaps even shattering) events. Only critique is that these interviews should have been longer (and in fact this documentary itself could have benefitted from an additional 20 to 30 minutes in length - due to the momentous-complexity of historic subject matter!)
Some participants even expressing a degree of later regret-remorse regarding the moral-dilemmas faced in the aftermath of actual A-bomb detonation on Japan (i.e. the initial moral-thrust of the project was based on the goal of beating Germany in terms of being the 'first' to successful A-bomb development - but once the Axis in Europe had surrendered, was there still sufficient moral-imperative to continue the project to its devastating-ends? (with the potential for nuclear-conflagration sill casting a foreboding shadow thru present day.)
In any event, "The Day After Trinity" is certainly one of the best historical introductions to the ushering in of the Atomic-age, and an important Story worth revisiting now = especially with the incessant threat of 'nuclear-proliferation' (and the intensive ongoing efforts to at least limit/ minimize the potential devastation inherent) a topic unfortunately still at the very Top of the daily news-headlines.
note: the Kai Bird/Martin Sherwin biography of Robert Oppenheimer called "American-Prometheus" is fantastic supplemental reading! (with additional in-depth insights into the 'Manhattan-Project' and much beyond).......