How does society shaped the development of Physics as a science and how did Physics shaped the human civilization?
For me, society helped the development of Physics as a science by expanding its nature. Physics is a constant thing that cannot be recognized unless we explore and think of things that are out of the box. Without the great minds that helped contribute in the establishment of Physics as a science, Physics as we all know would still be undiscovered.
But furthermore, Physics also shaped the human civilization by tons of the inventions made. It has made life easier but at the same time, scarier. From adhesive tapes, batteries, computers to airplanes and vehicles, Physics made the planet a more comfortable place to live in. But Physics also impose a great threat to humanity because of the inventions of such destructive weapons, gunpowder and of course, the atomic bombs.
What are the points of impact between physics and society?
Physics had been always affecting the society and vice versa. Without Physics, our knowledge would be so limited! We wouldn't know that earth is actually round and not flat! We wouldn't know terms such as friction, gravity, force, etc. Various diseases would still be incurable if it weren't for Physics.
But above all, the curiosity of the masses on how things really work contributed to how Physics is today. If it weren't for the curiosity of people on how the moon looks like up close, we wouldn't be having astronauts, spaceships and other astronomical related gadgets. If it weren't for the society's wild imaginations, we would still be in the forests hunting animals to ease starvation, eating raw meat, and peace and stability would be somehow lacking. Chaos will eventually happen and the world will be in a hiatus if not for the great minds who garnered everything to make life in this world easier.
A scientist should assume responsibility for the fruits of his work. I would not argue against this, but it must clear to all of us how very modest such assumption of responsibility can be, how very ineffective it has been in the past, how necessarily ineffective it will surely be in the future.
-Opennheimer
Could scientists be held responsible for the way results are used?
Opennheimer answers this question himself, "Despite the vision and the far-seeing wisdom of our war-time heads of state, the physicists felt a peculiarly intimate responsibility for suggesting, for supporting, and in the end, in large measure, for achieving the realization of atomic weapons. Nor can we forget that these weapons, as they were in fact used, dramatized so mercilessly the inhumanity and evil of modern war. In some sort of crude sense which no vulgarity, no humor, no overstatement can quite extinguish, the physicists have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose."
In short, scientists must held responsible for the way results are used. I also agree with Opennheimer, choices means responsibility, and responsibility bears the morality of the action.
Should certain areas of physics be avoided because of possible destructive use?
For me, it is a yes because as long as these bombs exists and are still studied, we are under a great threat. A tremendous impact can happen! To further justify my statement, let us watch this video:
From their own observations and from testimony of Japanese, members of the survey team divided the morbidity and mortality of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan into the following phases:
Very large numbers of person were crushed in their homes and in the buildings in which they were working. Their skeletons could be seen in the debris and ashes for almost 1,500 meters from the center of the blast, particularly in the downwind directions.
Large numbers of the population walked for considerable distances after the detonation before they collapsed and died.
Large numbers developed vomiting and bloody and watery diarrhea (vomitus and bloody fecees were found on the floor in many of the aid stations), associated with extreme weakness. They died in the first and second weeks after the bombs were dropped.
During this same period deaths from internal injuries and from burns were common. Either the ehat from the fires or infrared radiation from the detonations caused many burns, particularly on bare skin or under dark clothing.
After a lull without peak mortality from any special causes, deaths began to occur from purpura, which was often associated with epilation, anemia, and a yellowish coloration of the skin. The so-called bone marrow syndrome, manifested by a low white blood cell count and almost complete absence of the platelets necessary to prevent bleeding,w as probably at its maximum beTween the fourth and sixth weeks after the bombs were dropped.
Here is an interview Theodore Van Kirk, the last living member of the Enola Gay crew who dropped bombs in Hiroshima:
Should physics teaching include military applications?
How could a a discussion of the Manhattan project contribute to the image of physics or physicists?
Before, we answer these questions, let us take a brief look on how The Manhattan Project made a very unforgettable impact in Japan.
By looking at this video and the picture above, we realize that many died, poisoned, disfigured and blinded...
Nuclear bomb victims are sheltered at the Hiroshima Second Military Hospital's tent relief center at the banks of the Ota River
Mr. Yamaguchi survived the 2 atomic
bombs and tells us the devastating story.
The slight 93-year-old with white hair, who is now largely confined to a wheelchair, was formally recognized as one of the tiny handful of people to have survived not one but both of the American atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 - bringing to an end to World War II.
"I want the next generation and the children after that to know what happened to us," he said, convinced that the use of atomic weapons should be abandoned for ever.
Nuclear bomb victims are sheltered at the Hiroshima Second Military Hospital's tent relief center at the banks of the Ota River
"Having been granted that miracle of survival, it is my responsibility to pass on the truth to the people of the world."
... Then he returned to the refuge of his hometown, Nagasaki - and survived this atomic bomb blast on August 9, 1945
No one, says Mr Yamaguchi, should be allowed to forget the devastation caused by those two atomic bombs - the only ones ever to have been used in warfare.
An estimated 140,000 people were killed on the first morning in Hiroshima, and a further 70,000 died in Nagasaki.
Nor should the world forget the tragedy that it brought into the lives of every person who survived the deadly blasts.
Hundreds of thousands more people died in the years after the explosions from illnesses, and particularly cancer, brought on by their exposure to radiation.
Mr. Yamaguchi's own family were desperately affected.
His only son Katsutoshi, just a baby at the time of the blast, and his daughter Naoko - conceived after the blast - were ill for much of their lives as a result of the exposure to radiation, and his son died of cancer in 2005 aged 59.
His wife died last year, at 88, from kidney and liver cancer.
American President Harry S. Truman's executive order to launch nuclear attacks on Japan in the summer of 1945 may have brought about a speedy resolution to the war.
But to this day, Mr. Yamaguchi maintains the price paid by the Japanese was too high.
So I suppose we have our answer for the first question. Personally speaking, physics teaching in military applications should be abolished because what happened in the past can happen in the future. As what others say, "History repeats itself." We have no certainty of what the future may bring. Another World War can happen and places can be bombarded by bombs!
Although others say that the Japanese deserve it because of the cruelty and brutality of their ways of invading, it isn't really rational to drop atomic bombs on them! THE PRICE THEY PAID WAS TOO HIGH! J. Robert Opennheimer (click me!), the main person who gathered wise minds to create these atomic bombs later regret the actions he made. He said,"I have become death, the destroyer of worlds."
For the second question, every time we hear the Manhattan Project, we often think of war, devastation, atomic bombs, etc. Physics was a very important prominent in the making of The Manhattan Project. Why, you ask? Mainly because it was physicists who made the idea of The Manhattan Project. And because of this reason, we typically stereotype them as mad scientists who can, with one click of a button, lead to the end of the world!
I suppose that upon hearing "The Manhattan Project", we often remember Robert Oppenheimer. But many would still ask, who is he?
J. (Julius) Robert Oppenheimer was born in New York City on April 22, 1904. His parents, Julius S. Oppenheimer, a wealthy German textile merchant, and Ella Friedman, an artist, were of Jewish descent but did not observe the religious traditions. He studied at the Ethical Culture Society School, whose physics laboratory has since been named for him, and entered Harvard in 1922, intending to become a chemist, but soon switching to physics. He graduated summa cum laude in 1925 and went to England to conduct research at Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory, working under J.J. Thomson.
In November 1940, Oppenheimer married Katherine Peuning Harrison, a radical Berkeley student, and by May 1941 they had their first child, Peter. When World War II began, Oppenheimer eagerly became involved in the efforts to develop an atomic bomb, which were already taking up much of the time and facilities of Lawrence's Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley. He was invited to take over work on neutron calculations, and in June 1942 General Leslie Groves appointed Oppenheimer as the scientific director of the Manhattan Project.
Under Oppenheimer's guidance, the laboratories at Los Alamos were constructed. There, he brought the best minds in physics to work on the problem of creating an atomic bomb. In the end, he was managing more than 3,000 people, as well as tackling theoretical and mechanical problems that arose. He is often referred to as the "father" of the atomic bomb. (In 1944, the Oppenheimers' second child, Katherine (called Toni), was born at Los Alamos.) The joint work of the scientists at Los Alamos resulted in the first nuclear explosion at Alamagordo on July 16, 1945, which Oppenheimer named "Trinity."
We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.
Some of the greatest advances in science have come from humanity's more destructive impulses. This is not the fault of science - when we discover powerful truths about the universe it's up to us to decide how to use them because they can either be boons or banes to the world. There may be no better example of this than the work done by the Manhattan Project - the years long, multinational effort to develop an atomic bomb during World War II. The project created unfathomably destructive weapons and led to a 50 year Cold War with the USSR, but is also the source of a lot of information about the atom we didn't have before, which has led to advances in many beneficial fields, like energy production and medicine.
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