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August 10, 2005
New Force of Nature
Empire Notes has an important commentary on the anniversary of the atomic bombings:
And yet, in a way, horrific crimes as the bombings of Dresden and Tokyo were, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were worse. First, of course, because they started the nuclear arms race and brought us to the point where we can actually annihilate ourselves. Second, because of the radiation and lingering effects.But there's another way, and it's hard to talk about logically. Freeman Dyson, in his autobiography Disturbing the Universe, talks about his experience. He worked as an analyst for British Bomber Command and, over the years, became completely disillusioned with what he called this "crazy game of murder." Then one day, after he was out and the war for him was over, he picked up a newspaper and saw the headline, "New Force of Nature Unleashed."
It's always struck me that, of all the headlines put up on August 7, that one is somehow the most profound. Even now, reading it sends a chill down my spine. To discover some of the most profound secrets of nature and use them to incinerate over 200,000 men, women, and children is unspeakable in some way that goes deeper than logic.
Posted by zeynep at August 10, 2005 08:07 AM
Comments
And yet, 100,000 residents of Tokyo were killed in a single night and even larger numbers were killed in 67 other cities by one of the oldest "forces of nature" known to mankind - fire.
Posted by: Eli Stephens at August 16, 2005 01:45 PM