This program provides a historical perspective on one of the major developments of the 20th century: the development and use of the atomic bomb. The program tells the story of the atom bomb, from the dramatic beginnings of the nuclear age at the end of the Second World War, through the arms race of the Cold War, to the great disarmament agreements of the 1980s. The program also looks at the peaceful uses of nuclear power, from the euphoria over the harnessing of this new source of energy to the more skeptical views of the post-Chernobyl disaster years. Among those interviewed in the program are a nuclear scientist who was part of the team that built the first atom bomb, and a military officer involved with testing nuclear weapons. (49 minutes)