A-Bomb Dome

These photographs were taken at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park during my around-the-world journey in 2002. I have been thinking a lot about Hiroshima lately, having just completed Richard Rhodes’ The Making of the Atomic Bomb. This 800 book chronicles the scientific work and historical events that made the atomic bomb a reality. It begins with ideas and calculations on paper, moves to laboratory experiments; is interrupted and simultaneously stimulated by the rise of fascism and death in Europe; shifts to the New Mexican desert for more experiments; and ends with the instantaneous destruction of cities along with more than 100,000 human beings.

Despite mountains of technical exposition and knowing how the story ends, the book reads like a John Grisham page-turner. There were some fascinating men and women at the center of the story. It is not exactly a summer beach book, but well worth a read.

In the epilogue Rhodes quotes Robert Oppenheimer, “If you are a scientist you believe that it is good to find out how the world works; that it is good to find out what the realities are; that it is good to turn over to mankind at large the greatest power to control the world and to deal with it according to it lights and its values.” Rhodes goes on to say, “Science is sometimes blamed for the nuclear dilemma. Such blame confuses the messenger with the message. Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann did not invent nuclear fission; they discovered it.”

Memorial Cenotaph

It is unfortunate that science cannot develop formulas which successfully predict human behavior in the same way it revealed the nature of the atom.

I was sitting with my cup of coffee and bowl of instant oatmeal trying to think of something interesting to post when I remembered this photo of early morning Beijing. This street vender was serving the typical sidewalk breakfast of rice soup, noodles, and (my favorite) deep fried dough. Street food is always available in most Chinese cities. In some places there is a designated “food street” where licensed vendors line up serving all manner of dishes. I have many fond memories of fried noodles, steamed dumplings as well as various “food on a stick.” As long as the vendors and their cart looked to be generally germ-free I was up to try almost anything if the mood hit me.