The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the writings of the late Professor Sakae Shimizu provide rich resources of historical fact.

In conjunction with other sources, a complex mosaic of sophisticated activity is presented. The Japanese scientists in the pre war era were world leaders in fundamental science and physics. In the aftermath of the bombing, this knowledge enabled Japanese science to document in fine detail the radiological effects of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

The tragedy and hope of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain to remind us all that the weapons exist, are cruel beyond words, and today could snuff out all life.

Do we know the full facts of the effects of the World War 2 bombs? Or are there secrets still? The Japanese scientists who entered Hiroshima days after the bombing found radio phosphorous in bone. Understanding neutron activation, they were not surprised. This is but one example of the depth of knowledge held in 1945 and which must not be forgotten today.

Paul Langley served in the Australian Army in the 1970s. Receiving basic radiological safety training, he served at a military unit that serviced radiation detection devices. The unit assisted in the monitoring of fallout as it arrived in Australia from the French South Pacific nuclear tests of that era.