The Role of Science Education in the Nuclear Age: UNESCO’s Promotion of "Atoms for peace" in 1946-1968

The ramifications of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and the Atom for Peace resolution adopted by the UN in 1954 has been the object of study for some time now, especially with regard to international relations, national security policies and popular culture. Far less attention has been paid to the impact of the subsequent UNESCO Atoms for Peace initiatives within science education. This article traces the international ideas about the role of education in the atomic age, as they were formulated by central agents within UNESCO’s Natural Science Department, Section of Science Teaching, Social Science Department and the Department of Education. Moving from the rhetoric of international ‘Big Politics’ to the local level of primary schools, the article explores how the Atom for Peace initiative was related to the general science teaching discourse and the already ongoing UNESCO projects. It thus yields new insights into how the ideas of the role of education in the atomic age were translated into action plans, text book revisions and concrete teaching and syllabus recommendations and carried into member states via UNESCO’s educational missions.