Perspectives of the Year 1945 and Turning Points in the History of Science

Abstract

Recent studies illustrate the plurality of historical contexts around the emergence of the atomic bomb in 1945 and illuminate the subsequent power politics among different historical interpretations. There are historical issues whose impact holds so much gravity that the issue's historiography entails divergent implications. The context in which the atomic bomb was created could lead to problematic historiographies. In this essay I examine multiple and parallel scientific contexts regarding the search for atomic existence and investigations into related experiences and practices before and after 1945. Those scientific contexts present different rhythms and multiple directions. A historiography with plural viewpoints should be designed to trace the history of those interacting scientific activities.