I’d love to have seen a nuke go off, from a safe distance of course. The scientist Richard Feynman was the only one at the Trinity test to view it in full glory without eye shielding. He figured sitting in a car the glass would not let the dangerous UV rays pass though, which is true. I read about this in the great book The Making of the Atomic Bomb, about the Manhattan Project by Richard Rhodes. Speaking of good books about Richard Feynman’s adventures, Tuva or Bust by Ralph Leighton. It is one of the best books I have read out of the hundreds I have read.

Now that there is no more above ground testing. The best I can do is visit the  National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, NM and the Bradbury Science Museum a window into the Los Alamos National Laboratory in NM. The Bradbury Musuem was seen in one of the early episodes of Breaking Bad as a meet up spot. After these museums, it would only be appropriate to drive up to Santa Fe and visit art museums as well, being just a short drive away. Someday I will make it to beautiful New Mexico and see the sights.

Richard Feynman TED talk

TED has a series of videos that feature Richard Feynman. In these videos he takes normal everyday things that we take for granted and explores them using science to bring out aspects that we may not have thought of. He does it in a way that makes it understandable for anyone. This talk is a stitched together series of short video interviews that essential is a posthumous TED talk featuring Richard Feynman.

Richard Feynman TED talk

Atomic Art

As an aside, I have actually done art that features an atomic bomb. This is why I would be interested in both the nuclear museums and the art museums in New Mexico! This piece represents the style of art that I have taken a liking to working in. I start in pencil and sometimes even thickening and darkening the work with pen or marker. Then I scan the piece in and work on the color and detail of bringing in different elements such as the background by using the GIMP editor. Essentially the piece is made up of different parts that are merged together in a final image. The sky, tower and ground were all created independently and merged.