David Wargowski, a retired scientist who also makes visual art out of early nuclear weapons history, has just pointed me to a fascinating short TV segment of Edward Murrow’s See It Now show (check out Wargowski’s screening on X). It’s a quasi reenactment, on December 2, 1952, of the very first reactor in Chicago ten years earlier.
A microphone gets passed between various original participants in that famous day, while they stand in the famous squash court. Oh, how wonderful to see cameos from Arthur Compton, Enrico Fermi, Leo Szilard, Leona Marshall, Herbert Anderson, Walter Zinn, and a couple of others. Take a look and marvel.
