Abstracts
Abstract
In 1957, a small group of world-renown scientists gathered in Pugwash, Nova Scotia to discuss the growing threat of nuclear arms. Funded by industrialist Cyrus Eaton and spearheaded by philosopher Bertrand Russell and physicist Joseph Rotblat, this 1957 meeting founded an organization of scientists that believed they had a duty to speak out against escalating nuclear testing and what they saw as the irresponsible use of science. However, not every scientist felt that it was appropriate to take a public and political stand. This paper gives a brief history of the Pugwash movement and how its first meeting came to be held in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. The perspectives of involved scientists are examined, contrasting the attitudes of participants in the conference with the attitudes of scientists who declined a public role. This paper explores how scientists perceived their own responsibility to act, examining the willingness to use their cultural identity as scientists to lobby for a particular political position.
Résumé
En 1957, un petit groupe de scientifiques de renommée mondiale se réunit à Pugwash, en Nouvelle-Écosse pour discuter de la menace croissante des armes nucléaires. Financée par l’industriel Cyrus Eaton et dirigée par le philosophe Bertrand Russell et physicien Joseph Rotblat, cette réunion 1957 mène à la fondation d’une organisation de scientifiques croyant qu’ils ont le devoir de s’élever contre l’escalade des essais nucléaires et de ce qu’ils considèrent comme l’utilisation irresponsable de la science. Cependant, pas tous les scientifiques estiment qu’il est approprié de prendre une position publique et politique. Ce document donne un bref historique du mouvement Pugwash et pourquoi sa première réunion s’est tenue en Nouvelle-Écosse. Nous examinons les points de vue des scientifiques impliqués, et contrastons les attitudes des participants à la conférence avec celles des scientifiques qui ont refusé de jouer un rôle public. Cet article explore comment les scientifiques perçoivent leur propre responsabilité pour agir, examinant leur volonté d’utiliser leur identité culturelle en tant que scientifiques pour faire pression pour une position politique particulière.
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Appendices
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Janis Langins and Nicholas Griffin for advice on earlier drafts of the above work, as well as the reviewers, for their constructive feedback. This work was made possible in part by a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Any errors or omissions are the author’s own.
Biographical note
Sylvia Nickerson is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Science and Technology Studies at York University, where she is analyzing nineteenth century British media to discover the origins of the science versus religion narrative for the “Clash Narratives in Context” project, and helping with the John Tyndall Correspondence Project.