Technologist-Historian: Data Visualization Meets the Archive

NukeMap is an interactive data-visualization website that allows visitors to detonate virtual nuclear bombs on global targets of their choice.1 It is the creation of Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science and technology who launched the site in early 2012. In NukeMap, the visitor selects a type...

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Main Authors: Shell, Hanna Rose, Wellerstein, Alex
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Muse - Johns Hopkins University Press 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106163
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4538-5819
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author Shell, Hanna Rose
Wellerstein, Alex
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society
Shell, Hanna Rose
Wellerstein, Alex
author_sort Shell, Hanna Rose
collection MIT
description NukeMap is an interactive data-visualization website that allows visitors to detonate virtual nuclear bombs on global targets of their choice.1 It is the creation of Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science and technology who launched the site in early 2012. In NukeMap, the visitor selects a type of nuclear device, defining its size, or chooses from a menu of predefined options that model the effects that an actual historical bomb would have on a present-day target. Interactive-display options allow visitors to explore map layers and datasets such as blast radius, fallout pattern, and number of casualties. Hyperlinks connect to additional historical resources. He or she may, for example, see how much damage “Little Boy,” the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945, would do if dropped on modern Mumbai, or “Gadget,” the bomb detonated over the New Mexican desert in the Trinity test, would do if dropped on Manhattan today.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1061632022-10-02T07:30:49Z Technologist-Historian: Data Visualization Meets the Archive Shell, Hanna Rose Wellerstein, Alex Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Science, Technology and Society Shell, Hanna Rose NukeMap is an interactive data-visualization website that allows visitors to detonate virtual nuclear bombs on global targets of their choice.1 It is the creation of Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science and technology who launched the site in early 2012. In NukeMap, the visitor selects a type of nuclear device, defining its size, or chooses from a menu of predefined options that model the effects that an actual historical bomb would have on a present-day target. Interactive-display options allow visitors to explore map layers and datasets such as blast radius, fallout pattern, and number of casualties. Hyperlinks connect to additional historical resources. He or she may, for example, see how much damage “Little Boy,” the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945, would do if dropped on modern Mumbai, or “Gadget,” the bomb detonated over the New Mexican desert in the Trinity test, would do if dropped on Manhattan today. 2016-12-28T18:48:59Z 2016-12-28T18:48:59Z 2015-01 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1097-3729 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106163 Shell, Hanna Rose, and Alex Wellerstein. “Technologist-Historian: Data Visualization Meets the Archive.” Technology and Culture 56.1 (2015): 204–208. © 2015 Society for the History of Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4538-5819 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/tech.2015.0015 Technology and Culture Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Muse - Johns Hopkins University Press Johns Hopkins University Press
spellingShingle Shell, Hanna Rose
Wellerstein, Alex
Technologist-Historian: Data Visualization Meets the Archive
title Technologist-Historian: Data Visualization Meets the Archive
title_full Technologist-Historian: Data Visualization Meets the Archive
title_fullStr Technologist-Historian: Data Visualization Meets the Archive
title_full_unstemmed Technologist-Historian: Data Visualization Meets the Archive
title_short Technologist-Historian: Data Visualization Meets the Archive
title_sort technologist historian data visualization meets the archive
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106163
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4538-5819
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