The Philosopher & The Scientist

Tony Simpson tells us how the Russell-Einstein manifesto led to Pugwash.

- Tony Simpson

“He was not only a great scientist but a greatman, a man whom it is good to have known and consoling to contemplate.” With these words Bertrand Russell concluded his Preface to Einstein on Peace (1960). Down the years, Russell and Albert Einstein had met from time to time, but they did not see much of each other except in 1943, when they were both living in Princeton. Then they would meet weekly at Einstein’s house to discuss “various matters in the philosophy of science.” Wolfgang Pauli and Kurt Gödel also attended. “I found these informal discussions very illuminating and exceedingly valuable,” said Russell.

Later, the US hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean in March 1954 had spread radioactive fall-out across wide areas, contaminating Japanese fishermen and their catch aboard the Lucky Dragon fishing boat. Both the United States and the Soviet Union now had the hydrogen bomb. So in February 1955, Russell sent Einstein a proposal:

“In common with every other thinking person, I am profoundly disquieted by the armaments race in nuclear weapons. You have on various occasions given expression to feelings and opinions with which I am in close agreement. I think that eminent men of science ought to do something dramatic to bring home to the public and governments the disasters that may occur. Do you think it would be possible to get, say, six men of the very highest scientific repute headed by yourself, to make a very solemn statement about the imperative necessity of avoiding war?”

Notwithstanding his failing health, Einstein responded enthusiastically: