Edwin McMillan shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Glenn Seaborg. McMillan discovered element 93, or neptunium, in 1940 while working on the world's largest cyclotron at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Seaborg's discovery of element 94, or plutonium, was based on McMillan's

In this lesson plan students will examine primary sources to determine the level of threat caused by the buildup of Soviet nuclear missiles and weapons sites in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis and will analyze President Kennedy’s response.  This resource was produced to accompany the

This website reviews the early history of submarines and their radical transformation after World War II. Students will learn how submarines were built, how they work, and what they do. They will also learn the story of submariners and their families, Americans who were on the fron

In this online exhibition, students will learn how fear of Soviet domination galvanized reform in science and math education during the 1950's and 60's. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. In order win the "Space Race", the Uni

America's worst accident at a civilian nuclear power plant occurred on March 28, 1979. This online exhibition provides information about the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the course of the accident there and the steps-extending over almost 15 years-through which the nature and extent of

This circular slide rule describes the effects of a nuclear explosion on people. After World War II, scientists at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory prepared a report on forms of damage associated with the explosion of atomic bombs. These included physical damage, fire and heat, and nuclear ra

Students will learn how a "cold war" between the United States and the Soviet Union began after World War II in this section of the online exhibition The Price of Freedom: Americans at War. Americans led Western efforts to contain Communism. The Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlif

The family fallout shelter represents the public policy assumptions of the atomic age, namely, that with enough preparation, the American family and with it the nation's social and political fabric would survive a nuclear attack. This free-standing, double-hulled steel shelter was installed benea