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The atomic age was born there
is no denying that since

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that moment the shadow of the atom bomb
has been across all our lives all men of

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good will earnestly hope that a
realistic control of atomic weapons can

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and will be achieved.

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Meanwhile good sense requires that all
of us prepare for any eventuality.

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But wisdom demands too

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that we take time to understand this force
because here in fact is the answer to a

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dream as old as man himself a giant
of limitless power at man's command

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and where was it science found that giant.

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In the atom a particle so infinitely small

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that it takes over one hundred billion
billion atoms to make up the head of a pin

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just as other millions

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and quadrillions of atoms the tiny building
blocks which make up everything in the

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world ships and shoes and sealing
wax and cabbages and kings.

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Although no one has ever seen an atom
scientists have learned a great deal about

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how they behave

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and there are widely accepted theories
as to what they're like Let's start by

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meeting a leading
authority on the subject.

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Dr Adam now observing
the professor himself.

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We can see

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that his structure resembles in many ways
something almost as fast as the atom is

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small the solar system and there
are certain similarities.

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Here is the center with electrons
in surrounding orbits.

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But whereas the planets movement
Trons is slightly different.

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There are other differences
to a whole day. Thank you.

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Now the solar system gathering is electrical
the electrons which are negative are

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attracted by the protons which
are positive and vice versa.

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But here in the nucleus are other particles
with no electrical charge called

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neutrons very important
characters too as we shall see.

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And equally important

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when it comes to atomic energy is what
scientists call the atoms binding force.

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It's a kind of cosmic blue
holding the nucleus together.

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This then is a single atom. But
certainly not all atoms are alike.

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There are in nature more than ninety
basic elements which is science term for

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families of atoms to scientists the
atoms of the individual atom families

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or elements are identified by number
that is the number of protons

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or positive charges in their nucleus

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and they vary all the way from
hydrogen which has just one proton to

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oxygen with eight protons to gold.
He's rich with seventy nine.

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Finally on to the heaviest of all natural
elements uranium with ninety two protons

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now within each element
or a family of atoms.

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There can be different members each
one having the same number of protons

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but differing in the number of neutrons
the total of an Adam's protons

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and neutrons is its atomic weight.

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Thus in natural uranium we have you
two thirty for you to thirty five.

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Five and you to thirty eight these
different members of the same element

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or atom family science calls isotopes some
elements ten for instance have a great

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many isotopes others like aluminum
are lone wolves with just one.

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Now most Adams of most elements are content
with their lot in life we speak of them

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as being stable but others are busy day

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and night being what science calls radioactive
like radium throwing off powerful

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rays along with some of its neutrons

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and protons until it actually
alters its own nuclear structure

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and changes to another family

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and then to another until it does become
stable at last this spontaneous changing

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of elements is called natural transmutation
its discovery gave man of science an

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idea if an atom could change itself.

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Why couldn't man change an atom using his
books the very particles which radium

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threw off noted British
scientists bombarded nitrogen

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and converted it to oxygen.
In terms of individual atoms.

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This is what happened.

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The radium nucleus threw off an alpha
particle consisting of two protons

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and two neutrons one of the protons was
absorbed into the nitrogen nucleus turning

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it to oxygen.

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This was artificial transmutation
man changing the elements from the

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first experiment others by the thousands
followed as scientists devised ever more

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powerful particle accelerators commonly
called atom smashers to transmute more

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and more kinds of atoms
scientifically important.

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But hardly world shaking them in
one nine hundred thirty nine.

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Some scientists were experimenting
with transmutation of uranium.

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What would happen.

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They wondered if they fired a neutron at a
uranium nucleus already the heaviest in

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nature. Why not try.

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So they try

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and the result nuclear fission instead
of a minor change the atom split into

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truly a discovery to change the
world for what had happened

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when the uranium atom split was a kind
of double miracle of science half of the

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miracle concerned that binding
force we spoke of before

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that kind of cosmic glue which holds the
atoms nucleus together we still don't know

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all about that binding force yet but
we do know it is equivalent to man.

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Therefore we may speak of it as having a
kind of weight of its own the two Adams

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into which uranium atoms split
also have binding force.

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But for some reason it takes less
of that glue to hold them together.

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And in the process of fission a tiny
fraction is left over what happens to it it

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explodes has energy proving
Einstein's theory that mass

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and energy are really the same

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but we spoke of a double miracle
to understand the second one.

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Let's slow down that fission a million

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or so times a single particles start the
reaction splitting the uranium atom

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here now is the release of
energy as heat and blast.

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Here are powerful rays being given
are similar to X. Rays. But here.

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Here are free neutrons driven
out with tremendous speed

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and provided there is sufficient
you to thirty five present

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but science calls a critical mass.

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Those do try bombard other uranium
atoms causing them to split

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and split Still others.

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The result chain reaction exploding

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within two seconds. And the force.

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It would take Yankee stadium full of
dynamite to equal the energy released in the

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complete fission of an amount of U two
thirty five the size of a baseball

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with this discovery at the time the
free world faced a war for survival.

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It was little wonder the
first thought was a weapon.

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But how to obtain enough
material for even a single bomb.

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Only a small fraction of natural uranium
is the U two thirty five isotope which

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will fission in a chain reaction

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and just separate enough you to
thirty five quickly enough seemed all

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but impossible but the
impossible became reality.

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As industry labor science

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and the military combined their efforts
to build Oakridge where enough you two

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thirty five was separated to build
the first atomic bomb at Hanford

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Washington another Impossible
Project proved possible.

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When a huge plant was built for the mass
production of the artificial element

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plutonium this process involves what may
be called the furnace of atomic energy the

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reactor pile. Here is a structure

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or pile of graphite block in the
reactor placed rods of natural uranium

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containing both you to thirty five

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and you to thirty eight as you to thirty
five begins to fission the graphite slows

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down the free neutrons and some of
them get other you to thirty five

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that I'm keeping the chain reaction going
but others of those slow down new.

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Try and get you to thirty eight
and here's what happened.

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Remember we said that you two thirty
eight wouldn't support a chain reaction.

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However it will capture neutrons
from you to thirty five fission

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and start a process which converts the
YOU TO thirty first two neptunium

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then two plutonium

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and plutonium will fission in chain reaction
thus the reactor itself is a source of

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atomic fuel.

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Besides producing plutonium the nuclear
reactor makes possible two very important

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peacetime uses of atomic energy.

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Remember

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that the chain reaction process in the
reactor creates tremendous heat which

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scientists have learned how to control.

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That's a reactor may be substituted in
many industrial applications where heat is

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now provided by coal or petroleum.

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But such uses in the foreseeable
future are limited.

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For one thing a reactor pile must be shielded
to protect the workers around it from

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dangerous radiation and this
shielding adds tremendous weight.

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However an atomic energy power plant
has already proved feasible the future

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supplying of electric power to entire
cities is far from impossible.

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While nuclear power in
locomotives submarine ships

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and even very large airplanes may all

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but revolutionized future
transportation on land sea and air

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but perhaps the most valuable byproduct
of the nation's reactor piles is

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radioactive isotope research has revealed

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that many elements not naturally
radioactive became so

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when placed in a nuclear reactor

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and these isotopes working as tracers
with such measuring devices as a Geiger.

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Counter became invisible detective aiding
the cause of science in many different

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fields

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in agriculture isotopes are now used
to test such things as the effect of

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fertilizers on plant growth

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and the proper timing for their
use helping to ensure bigger

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and better yields from
tomorrow's farm industry

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isotopes have found literally hundreds of
new uses such as the automatic thickness

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control of sheet aluminum saving
hundreds of man hours of labor

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and assuring accuracy never before
possible in the fields of medicine

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and biochemistry isotopes are
performing near miracles of diagnosis

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and discovery with radioactive sodium
doctors are solving more of the seeming

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mysteries of heart disease

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and circulatory disturbances radioactive
phosphorous has been used to locate tumors

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in the brain

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and greatly simplify operations for their
removal Iodine one thirty one finds one

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of many uses in revealing
conditions of the fire eyes

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and there are many more new ways of using
isotopes are being discovered constantly

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through the tireless work of modern pioneers
in such fields as chemistry metallurgy

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medicine

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and biology truly the super power which
man has released from within the Adams

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heart is not one but many giant
One is the warrior the destroyer.

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Another is the engineers seeking to provide
vast quantities of energy to run the

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world's machines. Another is a farmer
helping to better feed Tomorrow's World.

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Still another is the healer
helping to diagnose.

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Sin cure the sick

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and the last is the research work working
on in the fields of pure science to

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reveal more of the
mysteries of the universe

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but are within man's power subject
to his command on man's wisdom

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on his freeness in the use of that power
depends now the future of his children

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and his children's children in the
new world of the atomic bomb.