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A is for Atom 1952 General Electric Company; Introduction to Nuclear Physics
🕑 Added 2019-04-29 17:23:01 +0000 UTCmore at http://quickfound.net/
'Animated classic presenting what an atom is, how energy is released from certain kinds of atoms, the peacetime uses of atomic energy and the byproducts of nuclear fission.'
'Presents in lay terms what an atom is, how energy is released from certain kinds of atoms, the peace-time uses of atomic energy and the by-products of nuclear fission.
From The Field Guide to Sponsored Films:
RESOURCES: “Atom Educational Film Made Available by GE,” Wash Post, Aug. 9, 1953, R11; “A Challenge to Free Enterprise,” Bus Scrn15, no. 5 (1954): 33; advertisement, Bus
Scrn18, no. 7 (1957): 5.
Science film positioning atomic energy as both a peaceful and a warlike force. Sponsored by a corporation involved in the nascent nuclear industry, the film is an animated introduction to atomic energy and designed to be, as a Business Screen reviewer reported, “entertaining but scientifically accurate.” The periodic table, represented as “Element Town,” depicts each element in a distinctive shape suggesting its use by humans. Radium, whose giant head resembles an atomic nucleus, decays into an unstable state and begins to jitterbug to the sound of an old Victrola. The short ends with a majestic atomic giant straddling the earth. Our future, the narrator says, “depends on man’s wisdom, on his firmness in the use of that power.”
NOTE: This example from GE’s Excursions in Science series presents a portentous message in a humorous, self-deprecating manner. In its first three years of release, it was seen by more than 12 million people. Ten-minute theatrical version released in 35mm Anscocolor; 15-minute nontheatrical version, in 16mm Kodachrome. Received a Freedoms Foundation award in 1954 and the Second Grand Award for science films at the Venice Film Festival in 1954.'
Originally a public domain film from the Prelinger Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Is_for_Atom
Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
A Is for Atom is a 14-minute 1953 promotional animated short documentary film created by John Sutherland and sponsored by General Electric (GE). It is now in the public domain. The short explains what an atom is, how nuclear energy is released from certain kinds of atoms, the peacetime uses of nuclear power, and the by-products of nuclear fission. It is Sutherland's most-decorated film, having won numerous honors at film festivals...
Plot
A narrator begins the piece by relating what an atom is and how atomic energy can be harnessed by man to produce "limitless" energy. Dr. Atom (a caricature with an atom for a head) then explains the similarities between the solar system and atomic structure. He then goes on to relate how the atom is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. After this, the narrator explains how there are more than 90 elements with many possible isotopes for each.
The history of atomic energy is then overviewed beginning with the discovery of artificial transmutation. This then led to the discovery of nuclear fission and eventually nuclear weapons and nuclear energy using the chain reaction of radioactive material. The Oakridge uranium factory is then discussed as well as the first nuclear reactor and the first uses of plutonium. The future of fantastical nuclear power plants is then explained. The short ends on the uses of radio isotopes in medicine and agriculture...
