Evening star., 1945-10-11


ming of the war seems minor
matter by comparison with the
Importance of applying fully and
controlling wisely the power of the
atom. If we misapply the knowl.'
edge we now have or fail to carry
forward our research with the
utmost vigor, we may be passing a
sentence of death on the future of
our own country and the entire
world"
DR.. Irving Langmuir, General
Electric Co. scientist-"There is no
possibility of permanently keeping
the secret of the atomic bomb.
Russia is behind us at the moment,
but she has tendency to go ahead
at faster rate than we dos
Their development could reach such
a stage that all they would have to
do would be to push button and
destroy every American city"
DR.. Harlow Shapley, Harvard
scientist-"We must, as soon as it
is emotionally possible, accept the
, principle that scientists are world
citizens, that they serve all man.
kind, that they work, not for the
past but for the future"
Doubtless many other persons said
things on the same subject equally
worth quoting, for everybody is still
talking about the atomic bomb, still
asking what we shall do about the
great destructive force released by
science in the last days of the war.
Agreement seems general that we
cannot for the present safely share
our secret manufacturing processes
with any other nations except
Britain and Canada. Above all, we
feel, we cannot share our knowledge
with Russia, for reasons akin to
those indicated by DR.. Langmuir.
There is no point in blinking the
fact that we have war with Russia
on our minds or, to put it more
correctly, we have fear of war with
Russia IN our hearts, fear that due
to stupidity or cussedness, we may
become involved in war with that
great new world power.
And nobody wants 1t to happen.
Everybody seems to realize that,
with or without the atomic bomb,
that would truly be the war to end
all wars-and all civilization.
In one of the quotations above
the answer to our dilemma may be
found. 1t is not in what General
Marshall said. although the Gen.
eral may have 1t In his mind. The
sentences attached to his name are
from his biennial report as Chief
of Staff of the Army and in this
report he deals with the world as
1t still is, not the world he hopes
some day to see. But he does say,
In the immediate years ahead,
the United Nations will unquestion-
ably devote their sincere energies
to the effort to establish a lasting
peace. To my mind there Is now
greater chance of success in this
effort than ever before in history"
The possible answer is not found
in the statements attributed to Sec
retary Patterson and DR.. Langmuir.
1t is found in this, said by DR.. Shap-
ley:
I'VE must accept the prin-
ciple that scientists are world citi-
zens, that they serve all mankind
81
That may be the key to the solu-
ton Of our problem. We are afraid,
at this stage, to turn our secret
over to the United Nations as now
partly organized. But, if a real
world government grows out of the
United Nations, need we then con-
tinue to be afraid? Keep in mind
that there is much more to be
known about atomic energy than
the scientists have yet learned and
that still greater discoveries in this
field are almost certain. These dis
coveries may be made in our own
country: they may be made in an
other. For the safety of everybody
concerned, 1t woulo seem clear that
these discoveries should come into
the custody of a world government,