The Pioneer of H.S.P.

Doc Edgerton is generally credited with pioneering the use of the stroboscope to freeze fast motion. 
He eventually helped found EG&G, which used some of Edgerton's methods to capture the physics of explosions required to detonate nuclear weapons. 
See, for example, the photograph of an explosion using a Rapatronic camera.

Nuclear explosion photographed by Rapatronic camera less than 1 millisecond after detonation.

The fireball is about 20 meters in diameter. The spikes at the bottom of the fireball are due to what is known as the rope trick effect.