From: a@a
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Heidleberg Appeal
Date: 17 Nov 92 23:59:41 GMT
Organization: Michigan State University

Wall Street Journal      Jun 1 1992; sec A, p 12 col 3

Headline:  Beware of False Gods in Rio

Abstract:  The full text of a petition called the Heidleberg Appeal,  
signed by 46 prominent scientists and intellectuals in the US in an appeal  
to the heads of state attending the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro Brazil  
in Jun 1992, is presented.

Subjects:  RIO DE JANEIRO BRAZIL; SCIENTISTS; SUMMIT CONFERENCES;  
ENVIRONMENT

Article Length:  Long (more than 18 col inches)

-----WSJ article reprinted below without permission-----

  Forty-six prominent scientists and intellectuals in the U.S., including   
27 Nobel Prize winners, have joined 218 scientists in other countries in  
an appeal to the heads of state attending the Earth Summit in Rio this  
week.  They call their petition the Heidleberg Appeal, after a conference  
held in Heidleberg, Germany, in April on hazardous substance use.

  The full text is below, followed by the names of the U. S. signers.

------

  The undersigned members of the international scientific and intellectual  
community share the objectives of the "Earth Summit," to be held at Rio de  
Janeiro under the auspices of the United Nations, and support the  
principles of the following declaration.

  We want to make our full contribution to the to the preservation of our  
common heritage, the Earth.

  We are however worried, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, at the  
emergence of an irrational ideology which is opposed to scientific and  
industrial progress and impedes economic and social development.

  We contend that a Natural State, sometimes idealized by movements with a  
tendency to look toward the past, does not exist and has probably never  
existed since man's first appearance in the biosphere, insofar as humanity  
has always progressed by increasingly harnessing Nature to its needs and  
not the reverse.

  We fully subscribe to the objectives of a scientific ecology for a  
universe whose resources must be taken stock of, monitored and preserved.

  But we herewith demand that this stock-taking, monitoring and  
preservation be founded on scientific criteria and not on irrational  
preconceptions.

  We stress that many essential human activities are carried out either by  
manipulating hazardous substances or in their proximity, and that progress  
and development have always involved increasing control over hostile  
forces, to the benefit of mankind.

  We therefore consider that scientific ecology is no more than an  
extension of this continual progress toward the improved life of future  
generations.

  We intend to assert science's responsibility and duties toward society  
as a whole.

  We do however forewarn the authorities in charge of our planet's destiny  
against decisions which are supported by pseudo-scientific arguments or  
false and non-relevant data.

  We draw everybody's attention to the absolute necessity of helping poor  
countries attain a level of sustainable development which matches that of  
the rest of the planet, protecting them from troubles and dangers stemming  
from developed nations, and avoiding their entanglements in a web of  
unrealistic obligations which would  compromise both their independence  
and their dignity.

  The greatest evils which stalk our Earth are ignorance and oppression,  
and not Science, Technology and Industry whose instruments, when  
adequately managed, are indispensable tools of a future shaped by  
Humanity, by itself and for itself, overcoming major problems like  
overpopulation, starvation and world-wide diseases.

------

  Bruce N. Ames, director, National Institutes of Environmental Health  
Sciences Center, Berkeley;
  Philip W. Anderson, Nobel (Physics), department of physics, Princeton;
Christian B. Anfinsen, Nobel (Chemistry), biologist, Johns Hopkins;
  Julius Axelrod, Nobel (Medicine), Laboratory of Cell Biology, National  
Institutes of Mental Health;
  Samuel H. Barondes, Langley Porter Psychiatric  Institute;
  Baruj Benacerraf, Nobel (Medicine), National Medal of Science,  
Dana-Farber Inc.;
  Hans Albrecht Bethe, Nobel (Physics), Newman Laboratory of Nuclear  
Studies, Cornell;
  Nicolaas Bloembergen, Nobel (Physics), , Harvard;
  Thomas R. Cech, Nobel (Chemistry), University of Colorado;
  Stanley Cohen, Nobel (Medicine), professor of biochemistry, Vanderbilt;
  Morton Corn, director of Environmental Health Engineering, Johns  
Hopkins;
  Erminio Costa, director, Fidia-Georgetown Institute for Neurosciences,  
Georgetown Medical School;
  Gerard Debreu, Nobel (Economics), professor emeritus of economics,  
University of California;
  Carl Djerrassi, professor of chemistry, Stanford, U.S. Academy of  
Sciences;
  Leon Eisenberg, professor of social medicine, Harvard;
  Ivar Giaever, Nobel (Physics), professor of physics, Rennselaer  
Polytechnic Institute;
  Donald A. Glaser, Nobel (Physics), physicist, University of California;
  Roger Guillemin, Nobel (Medicine), Whittier Institute;
  Dudley R. Herschbach, Nobel (Chemistry), professor of science, Harvard;
  Roald Hoffmann, Nobel (Chemistry), professor of chemistry, Cornell;
  Jerome Karle, Nobel (Chemistry), chief scientist, U.S. Naval Research  
Laboratory;
  Wen Hsiung Kuo, Department of Sociology, University of Utah;
  Arel Lajtha, director, Center for Neurochemistry, The N. S. Kline  
Institute for Psychiatric Research;
  M. Daniel Lane, director Department of Biochemistry, Johns Hopkins;
  Arthur M. Langer, director, Environmental Science Laboratory, Institute  
of Applied Science, Brooklyn College;
  Yuan T. Lee, Nobel (Chemistry), Department of Chemistry, University of  
California, Berkeley;
  Wassily Leontief, Department of Economics, NYU;
  Richard S. Lindzen, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, MIT;
  Harold Linstone, professor emeritus of systems science, Portland State  
University;
  William N. Lipscomb, Nobel (Chemistry), Department of Chemistry,  
Harvard;
  Brooke T. Mossman, professor of pathology, University of Vermont;
  Joseph E. Murray, Nobel (Medicine), professor emeritus of surgery,  
Harvard;
  Daniel Nathans, Nobel (Medicine), professor, Johns Hopkins;
  Robert P. Nolan, Environmental Science Laboratory, Institute of Science  
and Medicine, Brooklyn College;
  Linus Pauling, Nobel (Chemistry, Peace), Linus Pauling Institute of  
Science and Medicine;
  Arno A. Penzias, Nobel (Physics), Bell Laboratories;
  Malcolm Ross, Research Minerologist, U.S. Geological Survey;
  Jonas Salk, professor in International Health Sciences, The Sarl  
Institute for Biological Studies;
  Joseph F. Sayegh, research scientist, N. S. Kline Institute for  
Psychiatric Research;
  Elie Shneour, director of Biosystems Institutes Inc.;
  Charles Townes, Nobel (Physics), physicist, University of California;
  Harold E. Varmus, Nobel (Medicine), microbiologist, University of  
California;
  Thomas Huckle Weller, Nobel (medicine), professor emeritus, Harvard;
  Elie Wiesel, Nobel (Peace), Boston University;
  Torsten N. Wiesel, Nobel (Medicine), President, Rockefeller University;
  Robert W. Wilson, Nobel (Physics), head physics research department,  
AT&T Bell Laboratories