A peril and a hope: The scientists' movement in america: 1945-47

Abstract

The development of atomic weapons and the resulting atomic age forced scientists to consider the implications of their work on a global scale. The scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project tried to persuade the government to communicate its new knowledge to Russia and to explore ways to make the bomb a tool of peace rather than war. They organized at various sites and then formed a federation to warn the public of the dangers of nuclear weapons and to advocate international control. The main points they stressed were that there could be no monopoly on the bomb, that no effective defense against it existed, and that a nuclear arms race would probably lead to the destruction of civilization. This movement was the source of much of the concern that the American public, and indeed the world, began to feel about atomic energy. – AI-generated abstract