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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 9, No. 9. July, 24, 1946

U.S.A. Physicist Reports Here On Atomic Bomb

U.S.A. Physicist Reports Here On Atomic Bomb

On Thursday, July 11, Wellington was privileged to have two very distinguished visitors, Dr. Karl Compton and Mr. Bradley Dewey, both having just arrived from the atomic bomb test at Bikini. The Royal Society sponsored a lecture given by the two gentlemen at VUC. Dr. J. K. Dixon of the Soil Bureau, presided.

Dr. Compton is one of America's leading physicists, one-time Professor of Physics at Princeton University, and was in charge of radar during the war. Mr. Dewey is President of the American Chemical Society, and is a well-known chemical engineer.

The first speaker. Dr. Compton, gave a brief historical sketch of events leading up to the manufacture of the atomic bomb and paid a great tribute to Rutherford and other brilliant workers such as Lawrence, the inventor of the cyclotron. He stressed the fact that the idea of using atomic energy must have occurred to scientists in many countries simultaneously and it was just a question of which country had the best opportunity. It was significant that the job fell to the US since they were out of the war zone and had the necessary industrial potential. Both Germany and Japan, particularly the former, made considerable progress but circumstances, fortunately, were not favourable enough to make practical use of atomic energy.

Referring to the test itself. Dr. Compton said that the experiment was mainly for military and naval purposes; the other side of the test was [unclear: vonsidered] by the authorities to be of only secondary Importance. The full effects of the bomb could not be ascertained by mere calculation or by miniature experiments; for example, the duration of the pressure wave, unlike that of a TNT bomb, is such that it will envelope an entire ship, and this produces unusual results. From the test made at New Mexico it was to be expected from measurements taken that the effect of gammarays would be negligible compared to blast effect in the "real live" test, however, at Nagasaki, it was evident that gamma-rays were lethal where blast was not.

Dr. Compton then gave a description of the trial itself. Everything within half a mile was sunk or destroyed and beyond a mile very little damage. The actual pressure wave was photographed and was seen to spread out at the speed of sound. The column rose to a height of six to seven miles in about four minutes. Nuclear efficiency was tested by sampling the column for radio-active material by means of remote-controlled planes.

The Doctor concluded by giving a short account of atomic energy in relation to society. Science in America today is in water tight compartments: "well, science just doesn't work that way." He said that if scientists thought that the bomb would be used in a third world war "they just wouldn't have the heart to go on." He stressed the fact that the majority of scientists were very much opposed to the Bikini test because, carried out at sea. It would tend to minimise the horrible destructive power of the bomb.

In answer to a question. Dr. Compton asserted that the recent discovery of the Soviet scientist of effecting complete disintegration of the atomic nucleus by means of cosmic rays would produce a million times as much energy per mass as does the atomic bomb.

The second speaker. Mr. Dewey, gave some interesting "rambling thoughts of a stray chemist." The gap between physics and chemistry, and indeed all sciences taught in the universities, is loo great, and our educational system should be adjusted to give young science students a more general course, leaving specialising until very much later. Mr. Dewey has done much to see that as many or the German scientific and technological secrets as possible should be publicised and he advised N.Z. scientists to "yell" and see that we get this information which is at least our due as reparations.

He was very warm in the tributes he paid to New Zealand and went to some trouble to point out that although many of the huge chemical industries operating overseas would not be economical in New Zealand at present, nevertheless, because of our high standard of living and our high consumption of agricultural requisites many large scale chemical Industries could and should be launched In New Zealand. The "Evening Post" found it expedient to omit this last statement in their report, as they did Dr. Compton's statements on the recent Soviet discovery and the American scientists' attitude towards the holding of the Bikini test.