From the discovery of x rays at the turn of the century, to the tragedy of Fukushima, we’ve had 120 years of the nuclear age.  Yet something that was once so modern, so cutting edge, filled with so much promise, is now viewed as a scourge upon mankind.

While nuclear medicine makes life saving procedures possible, nuclear proliferation still drives international concern.  While the physics of the atom tries to give us a better understanding of our past, the fear is still pervasive that the same physics could be the end of that history. The contradictions and emotions of splitting the atom still haunt us. 

It's a remarkable and complex history, told by Craig Nelson, in    The Age of Radiance: The Epic Rise and Dramatic Fall of the Atomic Era. My conversation with Craig Nelson: