The Historical and Global Impact of Nuclear Weapons

This chapter explores the history of nuclear weapons, beginning with their first controlled reaction in 1939 and highlighting the impacts of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. It examines the ongoing global repercussions of nuclear technology, including societal fears and the shifting dynamics of power during the Cold War.

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To most people, especially those who are too young to remember the Cold War, the possibility of nuclear Armageddon may seem so remote as not to be worth contemplating. But Prof. Bob Redwine and Jim Walsh, two of the instructors behind MIT’s Nuclear Weapons Education Project (NWEP), warn that it may not be so unlikely after all, and that failure to take the threat of nuclear war seriously makes it more likely that it will actually occur. Redwine, Walsh, and their colleagues used their expertise from a wide array of fields to create the NWEP and its associated course 8.S271 Nuclear Weapons – History and Prospects. Together, the course and the project website represent an interdisciplinary effort to educate nonspecialists on the science, technology, and history of nuclear weapons, along with present efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and to reach international agreements to reduce the likelihood of a world-devastating conflict. In this episode, we hear how the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed geopolitics forever, how a well-intentioned nuclear doctrine may have disastrous unintended consequences, and why understanding the topic of nuclear weapons requires an interdisciplinary approach.

Relevant Resources:

MIT OpenCourseWare

The OCW Educator Portal

Professor Redwine’s faculty page

Jim Walsh’s faculty page

8.S271 Nuclear Weapons - History and Future Prospects on OCW

Nuclear Weapons Education Project website

“Nuclear Gets Personal with Prof. Michael Short” (Chalk Radio episode)

Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions

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