Science and Media: Atomic Research and Culture
In the early 21st century, most references of futurism, with the exception of economic and environmental examples, are brushed aside with cynicism as either too impractical or fictional fantasy. However, in previous generations, with the growth of industry and everyday technologies, many people believed the technology in specific works of fiction, could not only be plausible but would come about in time. An important aspect of this belief was the relationship between artists and scientists. There was more collaboration and appreciation of the other field. Additionally, the lines between the sciences, the arts and the humanities were not yet strictly drawn. The nineteenth century saw the emergence of the speculative fiction genre which quickly transformed into early forms of science fiction with authors such as Shelley, Verne and Wells. As the conventions of the genre have solidified over the years, a key aspect of it generally attempts to show the world what challenges society would face if certain technologies were to become a reality.
Since the late 1800s the work of artists and writers have increasingly been influenced by scientific advancement. In tandem their futurist imaginings influenced scientists. In 1914, H.G. Wells published A World Set Free, a book based on the concept of destructive nuclear technology, which was influenced by recent work on elemental reactions and atom research. Wells named the superweapon the atomic bomb, which was the first use of that name.[1] In 1932 nuclear physicist Leò Szilárd read that book before conceiving of chain reaction concepts which would be necessary for the science behind the technology for the weapons which would be built.[2]
The general public knew little about nuclear research until the aftermath of the Second World War. However, for those who did have information, in the early days of atomic research there was the idea that nuclear technology was the answer for sustainable and limitless energy was popular.[3] Although this early view was shaken by the world’s violent introduction to nuclear technology, by the 1950s, futurist imagery involving scientific progression had been embedded in American marketing and seemed to have been embraced by the public transforming the genre of science fiction. So what was it about Cold War visions of the future that appealed to people?
A Unique Vision of Futurism: The Atomic Age and the Early Cold War
The Cold War era gave rise to a collective national feeling of fear, which in turn instilled hope for progress. The perceptions of the future in American media and advertising were rooted in Cold War conceptions of a race to save capitalism against the communist threat. A significant component of this rivalry involved the changing attitudes among the American public with regard to the level of impact the role science should have on the future. During the Cold War the promotion of nuclear research and the international arms race associated science with opposing messages: sustainable energy and potential destruction. However, leaning on the positive side, visions of the future implied a promise of technological solutions to matters such as consumer products, architecture, urban design, and transportation, all of which helped science retain its association as an avenue of progress.
The introduction of the atomic bomb catapulted the world into a new age in which altered perceptions of science, technology and international relations would bring fear and uncertainty. The Atomic Age instilled second guessing over the purpose of science, a lack of faith in the ability of technology to provide a better quality of life and the notion that the American national ideologies were being threatened directly by foreign powers with antithetical ideologies. These concerns and ideas were reported in various forms of American media, such as radio, newspapers, films, and popular fiction. The influence of the atomic bomb was also seen in schools [see Youth section of Marketed Audiences page] and product and service advertisements. This technology, “transformed not only military strategy and international relations, but the fundamental ground of culture and consciousness . . . the atomic bomb had caused an explosion in men’s minds as shattering as the obliteration of Hiroshima.”[4] Weapons technology developed during the Second World War brought about questions in regards to the limits of damage that should be inflicted in war. However, one of the ways nations answered these fears was to build weapons capable of causing more devastation than the atomic bomb. This, however, did little to gain the public support for scientific advancement, the burden of which fell to businesses and marketing campaigns to popularize the image of atomic culture.
One of the more significant issues with the bomb was the negative attention non-weaponized nuclear technology received. Concerns over sustainable energy were already being brought up in this era. Many physicists believed in the pre-war years that nuclear technology was the answer for the coming energy crisis.[5] One of the common futurist images seen in magazines and advertisements involves the society of tomorrow being filled with sustainable and clean energy communities. It is hardly a pointed image, in comparison to the imagery of destroyed cities due to the bomb, but it remained prolific in the post-war decades. The first tests of the hydrogen bombs in 1952 unfortunately did not help scientists’ cause for promoting nuclear energy. Early failed efforts at containment of nuclear waste further hurt their cause. Shortly after the first hydrogen bombs were developed and tested in 1952, scientists determined that a finite number of hydrogen bombs being deployed would make life on earth inhabitable. However, thermonuclear weapons were argued to be psychologically necessary as a deterrent in the modern world even if they were never intended to be used. Justified by the Cold War, American citizens accepted the quiet development of this technology but it never fully was embraced. While there was a push for nuclear research upon the promise of energy and progress mixed messages were also common, such as the promotion of the ever-present bomb threat in schools.
[1] H.G. Wells, The World Set Free, (London: W. Collins Sons, 1924).
[2] Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986) 301.
[3] Ibid, 11-20.
[4] Paul S. Boyer, By the Bomb's Early Light: American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994) xxi.
[5] Mahaffey, 153.
