Published in 1914 by H.G. Wells, The World Set Free is a novel that foretold the coming of nuclear weapons.
Wells held the effect of energy and technological advance as constant themes in his writing. The novel begins: \"The history of mankind is the history of the attainment of external power. Man is the tool-using, fire-making animal.\"
The world was aware at the time of this writing that radioactive decay of elements like radium continues for thousands of years and that the total amount released is tremendous. Wells did have knowlege of atomic physics. He writes here about \"atomic bombs\" that have no more power than any ordinary high explosive, but they \"continue to explode\" for days on end.
Wells actually has a physicist splitting atoms in this hair-raising book, The World Set Free.
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