history

Visitors check out an infinity chamber at the "Futurium" in Berlin, a venue where significant national and international developments in scientific, technical and social research are to be presented and discussed among the government, the scientific community, industry, and society. (Photo credit: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)

The recent past and foreseeable future of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: a conversation

By John Mecklin | Interviews, Magazine, Opinion, Personal Essay, Special Topics

This is a screenshot from a 1975 Bulletin magazine issue that focused heavily on the threats that humanity faced on the threshold of the last quarter of the Twentieth Century. From arms control discussions between the US and Soviet Union, to discussions on how to combat a mounting energy crisis, this issue features commentary from luminaries like historian Alice Kimball Smith and champion of free speech Samuel H. Day Jr.

An avid peace activist’s agenda from 1975

By Samuel H. Day Jr. | Nuclear Risk

This is a section of a 1988 Bulletin magazine cover. This issue focused on the victories of antinuclear activists and groups, with a large focus on the Dagomys Declaration that the Pugwash Council released in September of 1988. The image shows three anti-nuclear activists with their arms linked together.

A perspective from 1988: The Third World needs scientific advancement

By Abdus Salam | Special Topics

This is a section of the cover of a 1984 Bulletin magazine cover that reads "This is a time when things must be done before their time." The issue focused on the Doomsday Clock moving forward from four minutes to three minutes to midnight.

Moving the Doomsday Clock forward in 1984: Three minutes to midnight

By A Bulletin editorial | Doomsday Clock

Robert J. Oppenheimer, who is often called "the father of the atomic bomb," was the first chairman of the Bulletin’s board of sponsors.

Reflections from 1967 on Oppenheimer’s legacy and impact on the Bulletin

By A Bulletin editorial | Nuclear Risk

This is a screenshot from a 1988 Bulletin magazine issue that came after a period of profound nuclear fears that were sparked by U.S.-Soviet friction in the late 1970s. Articles focused on how to educate the public about nuclear weapons and policy, nuclear fiction for children, and other aspects of nuclear education.

Weird science: Livermore’s x-ray laser flap

By Deborah Blum | Nuclear Risk

A section of the April 1969 issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' magazine. This issue was published at the height of the Vietnam war and commented on nuclear activism, the impacts of nuclear tests, agricultural development in Africa, and how science is actually a form of art.

A view from the height of the Vietnam War: Scientists and youth in revolt

By Eugene Rabinowitch | Analysis

This is a section of the cover of a December 1991 Bulletin magazine issue that marked the move of the Doomsday Clock from 10 minutes to midnight to 17 minutes to midnight. It shows an Earth with the Doomsday Clock hands overlaid on it, set at 17 minutes to midnight.

A new era: The farthest the Doomsday Clock ever moved backward

By A Bulletin editorial | Doomsday Clock

This is a section of the cover of a 1972 Bulletin magazine issue that focused on the impact humans have on the environment.

Tomorrow’s fossils: Experimental embryology and endangered animal species in 1972

By Robert T. Francoeur | Climate Change

Members of the Atomic Energy Commission Patrol at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1947.

The first report of the Atomic Energy Commission

By The Atomic Energy Commission | Nuclear Risk

Nuclear pursuits, 2012

By Hans M. Kristensen, Robert S. Norris | Nuclear Notebook

Global warming: How skepticism became denial

By Spencer Weart | Uncategorized