Crime Science Investigating Hiroshima

The atomic bombs that leveled the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 were like nothing the world had ever seen. The Japanese refer to the "Pika-don," or the “flash-bang”. The devastation in the fractions of seconds between the flash and the bang are now described in illuminating detail in The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back.

The new book combines contemporary forensic technology with accounts by survivors to paint a graphic portrayal of the aftermath of the blasts, millisecond by millisecond. And as a note of warning, some of the descriptions in this segment may be distrurbing, so we urge listeners to exercise discretion. Author Charles Pellegrino is a scientist and pioneer in the emerging field of forensic archaeology. He applies today's data to explain the fastest deaths in human history - bodies evaporated before a single nerve could register pain; vaporized before the sound of the explosion could be heard a kilometer away.

Along with the horror, we meet Japanese and American pilots, and survivors, including Tsutomu Yamaguchi and others who lived through the bombings of both cities. Yamaguchi, who died earlier this month, dedicated himself to non-proliferation in the hope that no one would experience nuclear attack as he had.

Read an excerpt from The Last Train From Hiroshima

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