Article ID: CBB000641828

American Physicists, Nuclear Weapons in World War II, and Social Responsibility (2005)

unapi

Social responsibility in science has a centuries-long history, but it was such a minor thread that most scientists were unaware of the concept. Even toward the conclusion of the Manhattan Project, which produced the first nuclear weapons, only a handful of its participants had some reservations about use of a weapon of mass destruction. But the explosions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki not only made society more aware of the importance of science, they made scientists more aware of their responsibility to society. I describe the development of the concept of social responsibility and its appearance among American scientists both before and after the end of World War II. Key words. James Franck - J. Robert Oppenheimer - Ernest Rutherford - Leo Szilard - Robert R. Wilson - World War II - Manhattan Project - Hiroshima - Nagasaki - atomic bomb - fission - nuclear weapons - social responsibility

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Authors & Contributors
Wellerstein, Alex
Cioci, Vincenzo
Bini, Elisabetta
Vezzosi, Elisabetta
Ruhl, Christian P.
McRae, Kenneth D
Concepts
Nuclear weapons; atomic weapons
Science and war; science and the military
Physics
World War II
Atomic, nuclear, and particle physics
Cold War
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
20th century, late
Places
United States
Germany
Japan
Great Britain
Hiroshima-shi (Japan)
Ohio (U.S.)
Institutions
Hanford Nuclear Site (Washington)
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Physik, Berlin
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