HELP 2023 January Term Course Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG] Print this Page Add to My Bookmark (opens a new window)

JAN 023 - Welcome to the Atomic Age!

“Welcome to the Atomic Age” is directly concerned with people and events in the years 1945-1962.  Measured against the whole of human history, this is practically yesterday–just 59 to 76 years ago. But the pace of historical development is not experienced in measure of years or even centuries. The Atomic Age, unlike previous, rather nebulous historical periods, began precisely at 5:30 in the morning, August 5, 1945.  ”We knew,” said Robert Oppenheimer, “the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried.  Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.” In the following years great optimism struggled against great pessimism, and from this maelstrom the world you and I inhabit was born.
 

Instructor(s): Wayne Harter

Email:  wharter@stmarys-ca.edu

Prerequisites & Notes

Prerequisites:  None
Course Fee:  10
 

Credits: 1

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