Atoms for Peace poster, Philippines p. 4: What Is Atomic Energy? (English photo sheet distributed in the Philippines)
Page 4 of an English-language folded photo sheet, 'What Is Atomic Energy?'. A text panel explains atoms and fission, and drawings compare one cube of Uranium-235 with quantities of gas, fuel oil and coal. Photographs translate that energy into a Philippine jeepney, a Filipino home's lighting and an inter-island ship. The tell is plain-folks: familiar local vehicles, homes and routes carry the argument for atomic energy.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- April 10, 1956
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- U.S. Information Agency (predecessor: State Department International Information and Educational Exchange Program), Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East series
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Eisenhower Administration
- Leader
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Theme
- Science and technology
- Event
- Cold War
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 306, Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, April 10, 1956. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 6948913, 306-PPB-81d).
Text on the object
WHAT IS ATOMIC ENERGY? On Earth, everything is composed of tiny, invisible particles called atoms — a name given to them more than two thousand years ago by the Greek philosopher, Democritus. Although more than a billion atoms could rest on the head of a pin, each one is believed to resemble a miniature solar system, with a nucleus of protons and neutrons in the center and other smaller particles called electrons rotating in orbits around that nucleus. Scientists have learned that by splitting or fissioning certain atoms, a nuclear chain reaction can be started in which tremendous amounts of useful heat and energy are released. This is atomic energy! REACTOR RADIOISOTOPES Atomic reactor (left), furnace of the nuclear age, produces energy and heat for power and helps make wonder-working radioisotopes, radioactive elements which benefit mankind in medicine, industry and agriculture. One cube of Uranium-235 this size contains energy equal to that produced by: 1,135,000 LITERS OF GAS 908,000 LITERS OF FUEL OIL 1,180,000 KILOGRAMS OF COAL THIS EQUIVALENT ENERGY IS SUFFICIENT TO.... ...run a fully-loaded jeepney on al- most seven thousand trips from Aparri, Cagayan, in northernmost Luzon, to Legaspi, Albay, in Bicolandia...OR... ...provide complete night-time elec- trical illumination for all of the rooms in a typical Filipino home for more than one thousand years...OR... ...propel the M.S. Elcano on 16 round trips between Manila and Davao, with stops at Dadiangas, Cotabato, Zambo- anga, Cebu, Pulupandan and Iloilo. 4
