Tracing Atomic Utopia and Dystopia in Japan (18.05.2020 - 18:30~20:00)

18.05.2020 18:30 - 20:00

This virtual lecture by Maika Nakao explores the background and transition of the image of radiation and nuclear energy in Japan.

Abstract:

In prewar Japan, radiation was considered having positive effects on the human health and during the war, there were discourses embracing the production of atomic bombs. How was this positive image of radiation and nuclear weapons before and during the war created and what changed after the war? This talk explores the background and transition of the image of radiation and nuclear energy in Japan and shows how scientists, media, and the public were involved in the emergence of atomic utopia and dystopia.

Bio:

Maika Nakao is Assistant Professor at Nagasaki University and currently Research Fellow at the University of Vienna's history department. She is working on the cultural history of nuclear science and technology. After receiving her Ph.D. in history of science from the University of Tokyo (2015), she published two books,『核の誘惑: 戦前日本の科学文化と「原子力ユートピア」の出現』[Allure of Nuclear: Science Culture in Prewar Japan and the Emergence of "Atomic Utopia"]  (Keisō Shōbō, 2015) and『科学者と魔法使いの弟子ー科学と非科学の境界ー』[Scientists and the Sorcerer's Apprentice: The Border between Science and Non-Science] (Seidosha, 2019).

Date & Time:

Monday 18.05.2020, 18:30~20:00
max. 100 participants 

Plattform & Link:

Further Questions?

 Please contact bernhard.leitner@univie.ac.at.

Organiser:

Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies

Yomiuri Shimbun 19 Nov 1940

Mighty Atom

Maika Nakao