Helen\u2019s September 2 letter to Watson (who was by then in Mexico and trying to get home) offered another perspective on the complicated office politics:<\/p>\n

Cool-headed preparation eventually prevailed. When the writers learned that the War Department planned to release the official technical report at the end of that first week, they decided to start drafting background material yet \u201cnot get too far out on a limb.\u201d By the time copies of the Smyth Report arrived on Friday, Thone was already on his way to a meeting in Boston. Martha was racing back from vacation. For a time, \u201cwhich seemed then just a few minutes short of eternity,\u201d Helen wrote, \u201cthere was nobody but Jane, Marjorie, and me to carry on. When we three get together and pool our talents, you\u2019d be surprised what a good physicist we make!\u201d She described the Smyth Report as \u201camazing\u201d:<\/p>\n

That report, Helen told Charlotte, made \u201call physics and chemistry B.A.B. (Before Atom Bomb, of course) completely obsolete,\u201d and \u201cis beautifully written and as exciting as a detective story.\u201d Because the War Department wanted publishers to reprint the report \u201cin whole or in part,\u201d Helen \u201crear- ranged it and wrote connecting paragraphs,\u201d making it the central focus of the September 1945 Chemistry<\/em>. That issue was later praised for its clarity. Helen not only understood the technical aspects but also had the ability to explain them, as demonstrated in her revised edition of the \u201cLaws of Matter Up-to-Date\u201d feature in October 1945. During those same busy weeks, Helen even sketched mock-ups and text estimates for a brochure (\u201cAtomic Power\u201d) to advertise the organization\u2019s capability to answer technical questions like, \u201cWhen you split an atom of uranium, what elements do you have as a result?\u201d And she compiled a three-page list of \u201cimportant dates in the history of the atom\u201d to share with her colleagues.<\/p>\n

The real <\/em>news story, though, would involve unpacking the weapon\u2019s social, political, and economic consequences, attempting to understand whether and to what extent the awesome power would be \u201cgood only for the destruction of cities and of people\u201d as well as how its existence might affect future generations. The implications of that \u201calchemist\u2019s dream\u201d (Helen\u2019s ironic phrase) intensified public interest in all science. As the editor of the Pittsburgh Press <\/em>told his staff, \u201cAbstruse science has been popularized by a situation which has made the public read and discuss material it would otherwise never have heard of\u2014because it involved the lives and safety of their own loved ones.\u201d All over the country, adults and students began writing to newspapers, scientists, and public officials, asking for more information about atomic energy. One young woman who planned to major in chemistry and physics at Vassar College wrote directly to Vannevar Bush, head of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Bush\u2019s secretary asked Helen to respond. Helen answered each question (e.g., \u201cExactly what happens within the nucleus of the Uranium atom before it splits? What are the remaining materials after the atom splits? How long will it be before these radioactive materials disintegrate?\u201d) with detailed explanations and references to relevant sections of the Smyth Report, and enclosed the latest issue of Chemistry <\/em>as added encouragement to a budding young science student.<\/p>\n

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Modern tech journalism would likely look far differently today, if not for the efforts of Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson and a host of other trailblazing female reporters who staffed the Science Service throughout the publication’s history. These journalists were among the very first science communicators, making sense of the newfangled technological wonders of the 1920s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6293,56,3669,2124,1425,6292,130],"tags":[6295,67,3670,2126,1427,6294,134],"yoast_head":"\n