Science can be both a curse and a blessing. The automobile gave us convenience, and air pollution. The atomic bomb ended World War II, but spawned the arms race.
Medicines can mend lives, but a few have wrought unintended, devastating consequences.
Henry W. Kendall co-founded the Union of Concerned Scientists, which strives to improve humanity's stewardship of Earth. A lot, according to Henry W. Kendall, who died last week at the age of 72 while on an underwater filming expedition in Florida. Public Awareness Many of his peers thought that scientists should stick with science and let others debate the consequences of their discoveries. Yet like the nuclear physicists who abhorred the legacy of the atomic bomb they created, Kendall believed scientists cannot afford to ignore the fallout from their efforts. A professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he repeatedly laid his reputation on the line to speak out on the risks entailed in scientific progress.