A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 



162-10'E 



11° 40 N 



FLORA 

 EDNA'S DiUGHTEl^ 

 EDNA 

 DAISY 

 -CLARA 



162-20E 



JANET 

 KATE 

 LUCY 

 PERCY 

 , , , MARY 



/_/_/_/_MARyS DAUGHTER. 

 NANCY 

 OLIVE 

 ■ PEARL 



I62°I0 E 



I62''20 £ 



H 



10 MILES 



Fig. 3 Enewetak Atoll nuclear tests with name, year of detonation, and approximate locations. 



expanding knowledge of the environmental setting in which 

 the tests were being conducted provided the basis for 

 discussions which led to the establishment of the EMBL. 



ESTABLISHMENT OF EMBL 



Of necessity, the nuclear testing program of the 1940s 

 and 1950s was conducted in a climate of national urgency 

 and classification security. Important scientific and strategic 



information had been lost to foreign powers in the immedi- 

 ate postwar period, and the pace of atomic weapons 

 research and development had become a vital indicator of 

 political power. In this environment, the establishment of a 

 university-associated research laboratory, with its traditions 

 of academic freedom and open publication of research 

 results, was nothing less than remarkable. It reflected the 

 enlightened scientific climate of the AEC and the AEC's 

 concern regarding the long-term consequences of applica- 



