Russell – Einstein Manifesto The Russell – Einstein Manifesto was issued in London on 9 July 1955 by Bertrand Russell in the midst of the Cold War . It highlighted the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and called for world leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to international conflict . The signatories included eleven pre - eminent intellectuals and scientists , including Albert Einstein , who signed it just days before his death on 18 April 1955 . A few days after the release , philanthropist Cyrus S . Eaton offered to sponsor a conference — called for in the manifesto — in Pugwash , Nova Scotia , Eaton ' s birthplace . This conference was to be the first of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs , held in July 1957 . Background . The first detonation of an atomic weapon took place on 16 July 1945 in the desert north of Alamogordo , New Mexico . On 6 August 1945 , the US dropped " Little Boy " on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and , three days later , " Fat Man " on Nagasaki . At least 100 , 000 civilians were killed outright by these two bombings . On 18 August 1945 , the " Glasgow Forward " published the first known recorded comment by Bertrand Russell on atomic weapons , which he began composing the day Nagasaki was bombed . It contained threads that would later appear in the manifesto : After learning of the bombing of Hiroshima and seeing an impending nuclear arms race , Joseph Rotblat , the only scientist to leave the Manhattan Project on moral grounds , remarked that he " became worried about the whole future of mankind " . Over the years that followed Russell and Rotblat worked on efforts to curb nuclear proliferation , collaborating with Albert Einstein and other scientists to compose what became known as the Russell – Einstein Manifesto . Press conference , 9 July 1955 . The manifesto was released during a press conference at Caxton Hall , London . Rotblat , who chaired the meeting , describes it as follows : Russell had begun the conference by stating : Synopsis . The manifesto called for a conference where scientists would assess the dangers posed to the survival of humanity by weapons of mass destruction ( then only considered to be nuclear weapons ) . Emphasis was placed on the meeting being politically neutral . It extended the question of nuclear weapons to all people and governments . One particular phrase is quoted often , including by Rotblat upon receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 : The beginnings of the Pugwash Conferences . The manifesto called for an international conference , and was originally planned by Jawaharlal Nehru to be held in India . This was delayed by the outbreak of the Suez Crisis . Aristotle Onassis offered to finance a meeting in Monaco , but this was rejected . Instead , Cyrus Eaton , a Canadian industrialist who had known Russell since 1938 , offered to finance the conference in his hometown of Pugwash , Nova Scotia . The Russell – Einstein Manifesto became the Pugwash Conferences ' founding charter . The first of the conferences was held in July 1957 in London . Signatories to the manifesto . Ten of the eleven signatories of the Russell – Einstein Manifesto are Nobel Laureates , the exception being Leopold Infeld . Pugwash History Series , Number One ( 364K PDF ) May 2005 ( The text of the manifesto appears in Appendix A )