GRIM SHADOWS OF HIROSHIMA

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24905, 19 June 1946, Page 6

GRIM SHADOWS OF HIROSHIMA

PROFESSOR’S POSSIBLE EXPLANATION DOUBTS OF OTHER SCIENTISTS ? “A great many grim stories have come out of atom-bombed Hiroshima, but none so weird as the one ‘News of the World’ correspondent, A. Noyes Thomas,’sent home'last week,” said “News Review” of March 7. Mr Thomas retold his story in an interview in “The Press” yesterday. A possible explanation of what sounded like an incredible tale came from Professor Rudolph Peierls, of Birmingham University, who worked in Britain on research connected z with atom-bomb production, the magazine reported. He drew a parallel between the intense heat radiated by an atomic explosion and the effect of a few moments of hot sunshine. “One’s face would be deeply tanned, except in the shaded parts—such as the patch in the shadow of the nose.” An atomic explosion would sear the ground, but less deeply in the shadow of a bridge or a person. The “shadows” would perhaps not b.e noticed for some time. “Grass or other vegetation burned by the heat when the bomb exploded might have begun to grow again emphasising the shaded patch against the area around it,” said Professor Peierls. An atom expert, Professor M. L. E. Oliphant, seemed to agree with this view. He said: “The results reported would not be impossible in certain circumstances.”

Two other, scientists disagreed. “On the surface it seems a fantastic story,” said Professor A. O. Rankine: and Sir Charles Darwin, director of the National Physical Laboratory, was also doubtful about existence of the “shadows.”