On the 6th of August, 1945, the United States of America unleashed an unprecedented weapon against the populous of Hiroshima, Japan. A fission-based nuclear device, code named Little Boy, was detonated at an altitude of 1,800 feet above the city. The 9,000 pound bomb released an explosive force equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT. Upwards of 100,000 civilian casualties were documented after the attack as a result of the force of the weapon and attendant radiation sickness.
This rice bowl, recovered from Hiroshima, is part of the Science and Industry Collection at The World Museum in Liverpool. This specimen displays the fusing of liquified soil into glass upon the ceramic surface of this domestic object. The rice bowl serves as a model to the forces released from Little Boy in an undeniable manner, a marker of our transition to using forces greater than ourselves, forces that live on in geologic timescales.
Hiroshima Rice Bowl
Submitted by: Bryan McGovern Wilson
Hiroshima Rice Bowl, The World Museum, Liverpool
On the 6th of August, 1945, the United States of America unleashed an unprecedented weapon against the populous of Hiroshima, Japan. A fission-based nuclear device, code named Little Boy, was detonated at an altitude of 1,800 feet above the city. The 9,000 pound bomb released an explosive force equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT. Upwards of 100,000 civilian casualties were documented after the attack as a result of the force of the weapon and attendant radiation sickness.
This rice bowl, recovered from Hiroshima, is part of the Science and Industry Collection at The World Museum in Liverpool. This specimen displays the fusing of liquified soil into glass upon the ceramic surface of this domestic object. The rice bowl serves as a model to the forces released from Little Boy in an undeniable manner, a marker of our transition to using forces greater than ourselves, forces that live on in geologic timescales.