Our Legacy: The First Use of Nuclear Weapons

Robert Oppenheimer and other members of the Manhattan Project knew the consequences of the development of the atomic bomb and the impact that it could have on the future of humanity. Yet, for reasons surrounding the state of the world at the time, the decision was made in August 1945 to use it and demonstrate to all the potential of nuclear weapons. As Isidor Issac Rabi, a Jewish American physicist mused “Drop a bomb, and it falls on the just and the unjust.”

Our presenter Bebo White will also draw parallels to some of the disruptive technologies of the present and how they, like the atomic bomb, can and will shape humankind’s and the earth’s future. 

Bebo White is retired from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the U.S. national laboratory for high-energy physics and basic energy science at Stanford University where he worked as a computational physicist. He also holds faculty appointments at multiple academic institutions, is involved with a number of major conferences series, and is a frequent conference and seminar speaker. He is the author (or co-author) of nine books, and over 100 papers and journal articles. 

For a mesmerizing look at the implications of the first use of nuclear weapons, join us to view the acclaimed French film Hiroshima Mon Amour on Wednesday, 8/3/25.