After World War II, the United States figured that they were way ahead of the Soviet Union in terms of weapons and power. Then, on September 3rd, 1949, the Soviets suddenly detonated an atomic bomb (Halberstam 25). This sent chills through the United States government. President Truman didn’t announce the detonation until September 23rd (Halberstam 26). This was basically the start of the Cold War, or at least the event that pushed it into full swing (see Political Changes/Foreign Relations).
Now the United States was under pressure to stay on top, and this led to the construction of the hydrogen bomb. Fueled by the same energy that powered the sun, the hydrogen bomb was the most lethal weapon mankind had ever constructed. The main force behind the bomb was Edward Teller, a Hungarian-born physicist. He was doggedly persistent, and eventually convinced the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the military, and Congress to let him begin work on the hydrogen bomb. He felt that in order to resist the threat of the Soviet Union, the United States must build the bomb. The government finally gave up resisting Teller’s pleas when it was discovered that Dr. Klaus Fuchs, one of the men who worked on the atom bomb during World War II had been giving American secrets to the Soviet Union. This sent nearly everyone into fits of worry, fearing that the Soviet Union might, in fact, build a “superbomb” first and that this would allow Communism to become the dominating force in the world. As Rear Admiral Sydney Soeurs of the National Security Council said to President Truman, “I don’t think you have a choice. It’s either we make it or wait until the Russians drop one on us without warning.” So, mere four days after the Fuchs incident, Truman announced that work on the hydrogen bomb would begin (January 31st, 1950).
For two years, Teller and his scientists worked in Livermore, CA, on this
new bomb. To test the hydrogen bomb, the scientists journeyed to the Marshal
Islands in the Pacific, to an atoll named Eniwetok. On November 11th, 1952,
they detonated the hydrogen bomb. Watching from ships and planes 50 miles
away, the scientists saw the entire island explode. This new accomplishment
showed that the U.S. had a weapon for which there was no known defense,
and was once again at the top of the game. Then, in 1953, the Soviet Union
detonated their own hydrogen bomb. And so on it went. On March 1st, 1954,
the U.S. detonated their second hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall
Islands (Halberstam 345). A thousand times stronger than the Hiroshima
atomic bomb, this experiment was an especially scary one, because the flying
radioactive debris showered a boat of Japanese fishermen who died horrible
deaths (Halberstam 347).
The public was finally told of the power of these bombs after the Bikini incident. They learned that the bomb was strong enough to destroy any major city in one fell swoop, and completely eliminate cities such as San Francisco and Spokane. The people also learned of the effects of radiation, and how a few bombs could wipe out civilization. The public had an ingrained fear of bombing and annihilation, and when they learned of the hydrogen bomb testings, the level of fear rose to greater heights. After the news of the Bikini Atoll bombing came to light, bomb shelters became popular, and, some felt, necessary.
The
bomb shelters themselves varied from the bare bones to bordering on glamorous.
Inside, you could find everything from Geiger counters to volumes of Shakespeare,
from oxygen tanks to Virginia hams. There were also bomb drills, where
people practiced going down to their bomb shelters, basements, or as in
the case of schoolchildren, into hallways or under their desks. In the
initial frightened reaction, misinformation abounded. People recommend
everything from aluminum pajamas to medicines that consisted of nothing
more than water and baking soda. The initial panic subsided somewhat as
life went on, but the U.S, and Soviet Union bomb tests had the ultimate
effect of reconfirming people’s fear of communism and were tied in every
way to the cold war mentality of the nation.
As well as using nuclear energy for weapons, America also used the knowledge to help them on the home front. Using the research gathered when creating the atomic bomb, America began using nuclear energy as a form of electrical power, and this spurred the growth of a whole new industry. This was a promising front for America, but, like with any new development, there were apprehensions. Walt Disney, in 1956, voiced some of the fears relating to atomic power in his book and film Our Friend the Atom. The story begins with a fisherman who finds a sealed bottle, and when he opens it, a genie appears and threatens to kill him. The fisherman gets the genie back into the bottle, and says he will only release the genie if he promises to grant him three wishes. This, Disney said, was the perfect metaphor for America’s feelings about atomic power. “The fable. . . has a happy ending; perhaps our story can, too. Like the Fisherman we must bestir our wits. We have the scientific knowledge to turn the Genie’s might into peaceful and useful channels”. The first time atomicly generated power was used in the United States was in 1955, in Schenectady, New York, and the first commercial plant opened in 1957, headed by Captain Rickover (Cayton 743).
As well as nuclear technology, there were other scientific developments during the 1950’s, especially in the field of medicine. Birth control pills, for example, were first developed in the 1950’s. Scientists began work on the first birth control pill (see Gender Issues) in 1952. Also in 1950’s, people began using antihistamines regularly to attack colds and allergies. Another main advancement in combating diseases was the polio vaccine. One of the most threatening diseases of the time was polio, a vicious virus that attacks children under fifteen. It causes inflammation of the spinal cord, usually resulting in paralysis or death. In 1952, a nation wide epidemic occurred, infecting more than 20, 000 people. With the recent advances in medicine, a polio vaccine seemed to be a possibility. One doctor, who had been researching since the 1940’s, reported success in 1953. The doctor, Dr. Jonas Salk, said he had created a vaccine for polio from cultures of the virus, and by 1955, the government had established it as safe and effective. When injected, the vaccine made the body create enough antibodies so that the person was immune to polio. In the mid-1950’s, another doctor, Sabin, developed an oral vaccine to polio. This vaccine had been developed from a weakened strain of the virus, and was cheaper to produce and easier to distribute. In 1957, the government began testing on this vaccine, and by 1961 it was declared effective. The vaccines, together, eradicated both the fear of polio in the United States, and polio itself.
Another area of scientific achievement during the 1950’s was space. During the Cold War of the 1950’s (see Political Changes/Foreign Relations), one of the most notable events was the “space race”, and the achievements and events surrounding it. America’s biggest competitor in many areas during this time was the Soviet Union, and the “space race” was one of the biggest face-offs. In 1957, however, the Soviet Union seemed to win when it launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth on October 4th. The United States was humiliated, furious at being one-upped by the Soviets. Then, in November, it was humiliation redux: the Soviets launched Sputnik II, and this time, it carried a passenger, a small dog (Davis 344). The United States had thought itself to be the front-runner in science and technology in the post-war years, and this slip let the Soviet Union begin to sink its claws into their glory. To try and remedy itself, the United States attempted to launch their own satellite, only to have it crash to the ground after rising merely a foot in the air. This was another dent in the United States’ self-esteem, and critics said that the United States’ security was simply conceit, and that it wasn’t as successful as it thought it was.
Other than this loss of pride, another major effect of Sputnik was the United States’ fear of nuclear attack. The rocket that had launched Sputnik could very well launch a hydrogen bomb to annihilate parts of America. In response to these fears, millions of Americans built underground bomb shelters (see above). The United States, however, continued to fight on. It worked on its own satellites and technology, including Explorer I, which led to the discovery of the Van Allen Belt, a belt of electrically charged particles that surround the earth. President Eisenhower created also NASA in 1958. NASA immediately began work on Project Mercury, the nation’s first manned space flight. It also began the Apollo Project, which was dedicated to achieving a manned lunar orbit. Overturned by Eisenhower, it was put into effect in 1961 by Kennedy. Space flights and research continued throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, putting the United States at the forefront of technology.
In addition to space-related research, the development of computers
hastened in the 1950’s, as America embraced this new technology. Research
that had been conducted during World War II led to the advancement of calculators
as well as other technological advances, like the first microchip. In addition
to this, in 1947, the transistor was invented. It was a tiny circuit that
could perform the same work as a huge vacuum tube. The transistor saved
space and time; shrinking the size of machines as well as reducing the
time of computations. One researcher at the forefront of this technology
was Grace Hopper. Grace Hopper was a research fellow at Harvard University’s
computation lab during the 1950’s. She assisted in the creation of the
software that makes computers run (Cayton 743).
The 1950’s was a decade of transition for science and technology. Many of the innovations had their start in research done during WWII, such as the nuclear technology. Many others did not develop fully until the 1960’s, like the birth control pill. Other developments, such as the microchip, were an outgrowth of research done in the 1940’s, which would continue to be developed and change society for decades to come.
