All but the most inaccessible few know about the bomb. The impact of the atomic bomb on the minds of the American people has had few parallels in our history. In the full report of the survey, public cognizance of the bomb is described thus: To the investigator of public opinion the fact that such an event as the release of atomic bombs over Japan came within the ken of 98 percent of the heterogeneous American public is most impressive. To some it will perhaps be incredible that as many as two percent of the American people should not by last August have heard of the atomic bomb. This article deals almost entirely with the findings of the intensive surveys. The impending Naval experiments with the bomb at Bikini seemed to the sub-committee to offer a focal opportunity for appraising public reactions the surveys were accordingly conducted in two parts, one part in June and the other in August. This study was planned so that both polling and intensive methods of surveying public opinion were employed. What are their attitudes toward the bomb and toward the issues it has raised? Whatever social or political action is taken as a result of the discovery of the bomb will inevitably involve the people generally. Not the least of the questions confronting the scientists and public leaders who must cope with the problem of the atomic bomb is, What is the public frame of mind? For better or for worse, the bomb is a political problem, and “public opinion,” however measured or guessed at, is a political instrument.
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