1st Printing: August 1945 THE END - OR THE BEGINNING? When the United States Army Air Forces dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, it meant the end of Japan as a war-making power - and the beginning of a new age. For, with this newly-released force, man can destroy himself or create a world rich and prosperous beyond all previous dreams. From the day of the alchemists, generations of scientists have tried to unlock this energy. Now, when the fantastic dream has literally and figuratively burst into reality, men and women find themselves shaken and wondering whence it came, what it is, what it will mean in our daily lives - and how we can control it. The answers which scientists, thinkers, religious and political leaders, and the American people themselves have given to these challenging questions form the substance of this book.