The splitting of an atom produces a huge amount of energy and scientists from the very beginning have studied ways of harnessing this power to serve mankind. It was from such studies that the first atomic piles or reactors were built.

In 1942 Enrico Fermi and his colleagues became the first to make this major conquest. But a world war was raging and the first use that the energy from nuclear fission was put to was the atomic bomb. Later, however, this new source of energy was placed in the service of man.

Today the heat produce in atomic reactors is used to generate electric power. Soon, whole cities could be heated by nuclear power stations, the waters of the seas could be desalinated and made fresh by atomic power and the world’s deserts irrigated so that they become fertile. Nuclear power has already been harnessed to power the engines of ships and submarines.

The various radioactive materials produced in reactors are now produced in reactors are now employed in many ways of aid mankind. They have helped doctors to treat dangerous diseases and farmers to produce more and better crops. Atomic science can also be used to explore the Earth and help us find its still hidden stores of riches.

Another use of atomic power is to preserve foodstuffs for longer periods and this will help man to deal with the problems of world hunger in the future. The splitting of the atom has opened up a new era for the world.