We decided to create a Historical Website this year together, because we have worked well together for the past 4 years, respect each other's intelligence and would like to continue our quest for excellence. We chose the topic 'Nuclear Fission: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb' because we thought it would be interesting and would adhere to the theme well.
     Our research began mainly on the Internet, where we attained a basic overview of the subject. We then began to investigate primary sources, such as interviews with those who worked with nuclear fission, related documents, and actual accounts of its bombing effects; these proved to be the most valuable. We found many books at school, our county library, and also the UC Berkeley Library. Books, magazines and media also greatly contributed to our research.
     We did not encounter any major dilemmas when creating our historical website, although time was a constraint. Our school does not require us to enter the contest this year, but our devotion and dedication to NHD compelled us to enter. We have had four years of experience; therefore, we had a detailed mental overview of what needed to be accomplished in order to produce an excellent website.
     Our topic, Nuclear Fission, adheres to the theme perfectly. Our research has concluded it to be one mankind's greatest frontiers in history, not only because of its scientific qualities, but also because of the problems that society has had to face due to its discovery and development. The manifestation of nuclear fission involves some of the most famous people, covert places, and ingenious ideas.
     Nuclear Fission was a frontier in history in three ways: first, it was a realm of science that had never before been ventured into, and its potential power was not yet understood; second, once the power was manifested, harnessing the power posed a seemingly impossible task; third, the worldwide economic and political changes that would occur, would not be ones of peace and excellence, but ones of grief and fear, and would cause the whole world to revolutionize their customs. As we reminisce our past, and the frontier that nuclear fission was, we can see how quickly such a new technology and scientific achievement turned from a path to glory into a "destroyer of worlds"; and how the modern world was left to repair and reconstruct a civilization now under nuclear regime.