WORLD WAR II, 1939–45 – Course and Impact Technology and Historical Change
The Discovery and Use of Nuclear Energy – Its Impact on Historical Change
World War II Marie Curie Ernest Rutherford Scientific research
Albert Einstein
Niels Bohr Otto Hahn
Origins of Nuclear Power
Wealth and technology of USA
Manhattan Project
Atomic bomb
The development of nuclear energy in the first half of the 20th
CHRONOLOGICAL AWARE NESS
century had a huge impact on historical
change in the second half of the century. The science of nuclear technology was developed between the end of the 19th of the 20th
century and the middle century. Scientists such as William
Roentgen, Henri Becquerel, Marie and Pierre Curie and Ernest Rutherford made discoveries which added to knowledge about nuclear energy. Some scientists showed how nuclear power could be developed by splitting atoms. Other scientists during the 1930s added to their ideas so that by 1938 Hahn and Strassmann in Germany had used nuclear fission to split atoms and release their energy. These developments in nuclear energy or power had a huge effect on historical change during and after World War II.
Timeline of Nuclear Technology 1895
1898 1911
1905 1911 1938 1942 1945
1952 1954
William Roentgen discovers X-rays The Curies use the term ‘radioactive’
Rutherford developed his ideas on the structure of the atom
Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity, which states that mass can be changed into energy
Radioactive tracers developed, later used for medicine
Hann and Strassmann demonstrated nuclear fission in Germany
Manhattan Project set up to develop nuclear or atomic bomb
First atomic explosion in New Mexico
Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
First Hydrogen bomb developed
First nuclear powered submarine, Nautillus, launched
First nuclear power station operational in Soviet Union
1962 1979 1986 2011
Cuban Missile Crisis
Three Mile Island accident Chernobyl accident Fukushima incident
Fear of German development atomic bomb
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2Explore the contribution of technological developments and innovation to historical change
