This article provides an analysis of how military history museums in Germany, Britain, Belgium, Poland, and the United States exhibit and contextualize weapon technologies that were developed in the two world wars. The article focuses on technologies (gas warfare, the atomic bomb, tanks, and the V2 long-range rocket) that are directly connected to…

In this article, we analyze and compare photographic images from some of the most widely circulated Japanese and American high school history textbooks regarding their treatment of the Pacific War. We focus on the visual component of war technology, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the visibility or invisibility of women,…

Given Peenemünde's ambivalent military and technological history, from rocket development during the Nazi period to East German naval and air bases during the Cold War, its musealization was considered both a chance and challenge during the region's deindustrialization in the 1990s. Local residents' support of veteran engineers promoting an…

Security and intelligence agency concerns with universities range from the commissioning and protection of security-sensitive research, the ongoing recruitment of staff and students for covert security and intelligence work, as well as prominent counter-terrorist concerns. This is an ethically charged terrain of moral ambiguity which raises issues…

This article explores the case of a Vietnamese teacher whose conception of teaching changed greatly following a short but intensive series of lessons based on the Japanese experiences with atomic bombs. The following three issues are considered: 1) what types of efforts teachers should make to increase the depth of their lessons, on the basis of…

The classic "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1969/1991) and other writings of American novelist, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., resonate with young people and are sometimes part of the required curriculum in secondary schools, which necessitates an exploration of the ideas and ideals to which youngsters are exposed. This article explores the Atomic Age…

This essay presents Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential rhetoric as an iteration of an American synecdochal sublime. Eisenhower's rhetoric sought to re-aim civic sight beyond corporeal objects to the nation's transcendental essence. This rhetoric is intimately connected to prevailing political anxieties and exigencies, especially the problem of…

The dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II inaugurated a new era in world history, the atomic age. After the war, the Soviet Union, eager to develop the same military capabilities as those demonstrated by the United States, soon rivaled the U.S. as an atomic and nuclear superpower. Faced by the possibility of…

Guns, slug-throwing weapons, have evolved as humans have increased their grasp of the mechanical arts. In the near future, however, it seems likely that soldiers' rifles operating at punishing cyclic rates of fire face the limits of physics and materials science--heat and speed will cost accuracy and distance. This article considers not only the…

A review of 19 recently published, secondary-level United States and world history textbooks found only brief coverage of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan) bombings, slight attention to the arms race and disarmament, and concentration on scientific and technical developments behind the atomic bomb rather than on its effects. (Author/RW)

Summarizes several articles on safety in the science laboratory, an article on the science and history of chocolate, and an article on teaching nuclear physics from an historical perspective. (WRM)

Examines a unit approach to World War II that emphasizes totalitarianism, the military conduct of the war, and the Holocaust. Advocates using a variety of teaching strategies, methods, and materials. Includes several examples of innovative materials and activities. (MJP)

Explores how historical empathy can give students a richer understanding of the past, focusing on the development of the students' historical understanding through an analysis of 18 documents on President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan. (CMK)

Presents a secondary lesson plan based on primary sources recently released by the Central Intelligence Agency on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Provides a background essay on the event. Includes five maps and three documents, all of which have been declassified from top secret or secret status. (CFR)