The Nuclear Legacy
Atomic
Archive. A commercially-produced site providing biographies,
historical documents, a glossary, information on nuclear test
sites, references, a time-line, photographs, videos, maps, and
personal reflections related to nuclear weaponry. An excellent
introduction to the Cold War.
Fifty
Years from Trinity. Drawn from a special series in the Seattle
Times, this site contains 3 articles on Trinity, the Nevada test
site, and Hanford, as well as some supplementary materials and
an interactive quiz. Articles provide both historical and contemporary
information.
Remembering Nagasaki. The Exploratorium,
a science museum in San Francisco, constructed this site. The
highlight of the site are the photographs of the city in ruins
taken by Yosuke Yamahata. A considerable portion of the site
is dedicated to visitors' memories and impressions of the bombing.
Trinity
Atomic Web Site. Nuclear Weapons: History, Technology, and Consequences.
Constructed by Gregory Walker, this site is one of the most comprehensive
of all. Historical and contemporary photographs, government documents,
eyewitness accounts, and AEC criticality and radiation accident
reports.
Missile Silo Snooping. One of the most interesting
sites on the World Wide Web, this link takes visitors on a very
unofficial tour of an abandoned missile site somewhere in the
United States. (The exact location of this silo is not revealed.)
Heavily graphic-intensive, this site takes a long time to load
and may be frustrating for visitors with slow connections, but
it is worth the wait.
Virtual
Tour of a Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility. Informative
description (complete with text and images) of this type of "disassembly"
facility. Vistors should note, however, that web site (courtesy
of the Henry L. Stimson Center) loads very slowly. Set up as
a single long document, rather than a series of short pages,
this site is more of an essay than an interactive tour.
Diefenbunker A history
and virtual tour of "Canada's 'secret' bunker [which] quietly
began operation in 1961. Throughout its 33 year lifetime the
Diefenbunker was the Central Emergency Government quarters for
Canada. Federal government budget cuts led to its being decommissioned
in 1994." This site provides a nice illustrated history.
Compare to the Congressional Bunker
in West Virginia.
The Enola Gay Controversy
The
Enola Gay Debate. Compiled by the Air Force Association,
the organization largely responsible for the evisceration of
the Smithsonian's Enola Gay exhibit, this site presents documents
and articles related to that controversy. Web sites that once
provided some balance to the AFA site have now gone offline,
but if any reappear we'll put them here.
The Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall Photo Exhibit
Tenth
Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. This exhibit
chronicles the Berlin Wall with about 100 photos and annotations
in German, French, and English.
Frederik Ramm's recollections and photos
of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ramm was a school kid on Nov.
9, 1989; he managed to catch a flight to Berlin to take in the
scene with pen and lens. His site contains about 60 photos, as
well as links to news articles (most in German) and other sites.
Soviet Exhibits
Library of Congress Soviet Archives Exhibit.
Drawing from recently-opened Soviet archives, this excellent
exhibit offers new perspectives on the history of the Soviet
Union from 1917 to 1991. Topics include: Soviet domestic and
foreign policy and Soviet-American relations. Clear and well-organized,
the exhibit provides both an easy-to-follow tour and a hypertext
outline for those who do not wish to follow the tour. Some of
the primary documents (translated into English) are available
on-line.
Andrei Sakharov
Foundation web site has links to Sakharov's archives, related
sites, the Sakharov Museum, and other information about the noted
Soviet dissident.
Citizen
Kurchatov is a website founded in conjunction with the excellent
PBS documentary about the brilliant Soviet physicist who spearheaded
the construction of the Soviet atomic bomb. The site outlines
Kurchatov's complex life in the grey area between science and
Stalin's totalitarian regime. Well worth exploring.
The
Klaus Fuchs Site contains much biographical data about the
Soviet Union's primary spy in the Manhattan Project.
Smithsonian
Institution
Miscellaneous
American
Red Cross Virtual Museum. Well-organized and easy to navigate,
this web site sets a good example for other museums to follow.
Scholars may find the historical analysis somewhat limited, but
for those unfamiliar with the history of this organization, this
web site is a serviceable introduction to the history of the
Red Cross. Thumbnail photographs from each historical time period
are found on all pages.
Leo
Szilard Home Page. Biographical site of the famous physicist
contains photographs, documents, and articles related to Szilard's
scientific and political activities.
Todd's Atomic Homepage. Don't let its flip
name fool you, this is one of the most comprehensive sites out
there on nuclear science, particularly for contemporary materials.
U.S. Nuclear Weapons Photos from the Brookings
Institution. Many pictures of U.S. missiles, deployments,
tests, and production facilities.
Coldwar.org
is a website soliciting contributions for a coldwar museum. The
bulk of its information appears to come from the 1998 Grolier's
Encyclopaedia CD-ROM.