PBS's The Bomb?

any body else catch this on PBS? here's a link if you didn't. Check it out.

http://www.pbs.org/program/bomb/

 

I caught it was going to post in the torqued crank shaft thread.

I thought it was fascinating but tragically sad. The fact that by 1960 or so, we have some 30,000 nuclear weapons and 36 different kinds of weapons. The fact that J. Robert Oppenheimer, a brilliant physicist and thoughtful person, was villified and smeared by -- who would have thought? -- a politician. The fact that a nuclear arms race between the USSR and the US wasted for decades millions of dollars and held the entire world "hostage" to threat of total nuclear annihilation. Several times (e.g., Cuban missile crisis), for one reason or another (primarily idiocy), a major nuclear attack has almost been launched. If this had ever happened, the the retaliatory strike (from USSR or the US) would surely have devastated the planet and ended life as we know it.

The hubris of man -- that he has both the capability and "right" to destroy the earth for bankrupt and worthless ideologies -- shows just how dark the human species really is. . . . Back to I Love Lucy.

 

Thnx for the reminder, we missed it on its initial showing but did a search, being repeated 08/05 and 08/07 at 10 & 8pm respectively.

 

Looks very interesting but I can't find it on the UVerse schedule here in LA.

 

Be sure to watch *Uranium - Twisting the Dragon's Tail* also

 

I'll second that recommendation. Great program!

 

Caught it last week... Equal doses of genius, ignorance and subterfuge at work through most of the story. Keep a sharp eye out and you may see the refrigerator with Indy inside during one of the nuclear tests.

 

Thnx! Got it set up to record. Glad I drop by here regular like, got some good tips

 

Both The Bomb and *Uranium - Twisting the Dragon's Tail* are great fun... Good viewing to prep for the 70th anniversary of doin' the boom boom in Hiroshima.

 

Enjoyed the perspective that made the much told events informative.

 

I thought the story was well and equally told.
There was so much of this we NEVER learned when we were in school and since.
And to tie this to music:
"They make bombs they say that can blow up our world dear
Well a country boy like me I will agree
But if all you folks out there will remember
They made the first atomic bomb in Tennessee"

 

Half way through it...quite interesting so far.

 

Good documentary. Now would be the time to recommend another fantastic documentary on this subject-"The Atomic Cafe". It's a must see.