The medical consequences of thermonuclear war: still relevant a half-century later?

摘要

On 31 May 1962 - 50 years ago - a fledgling Boston organization, Physicians for Social Responsibility, powerfully influenced American understanding of apocalyptic risks with the peer-reviewed journal publication in The New England Journal of Medicine of five articles collectively titled 'The medical consequences of thermonuclear war' (Aronow 1962, Ervin et al. 1962, Leider-man and Mendelson 1962, Nathan et al. 1962, Sidel et al. 1962). Those articles constituted the first comprehensive analysis by physicians and medical scientists of a clearly defined and specified thermonuclear attack on the US, including its human and ecological consequences in a given area (metropolitan Boston and southern New England).