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"The bomb could have ignited the atmosphere," No, it could not have.

• fit2rule 6y ago
  The point is not whether it could have, or not. Its whether they knew it wouldn't. And in fact, they didn't know it wouldn't ignite the atmosphere - there was a chance it might and they went ahead anyway. It was a calculated risk.
  • dogfoods 6y ago
    No, Bethe and others knew in the 40s it could not have. Enough nuclear physics was known then to know that the atmosphere cannot be ignited by a nuke. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/bethe-teller-trinity-and-the-end-of-earth/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/bethe-telle...
    • fit2rule 6y ago
      They didn't know for sure until they'd tested it in the real world. That's the point of the hubris.
      • dogfoods 6y ago
        No, they did know for sure.