The Pugwash Conferences on science and world affairs.

The recent accident at Three Mile Island has once again raised the issue of the social responsibilities of scientists. Many lay people believe that scientists pursue applications of their research, heedless of the effects of their discoveries upon society. Such people are quick to point out the undesirable by-products of applied science to support this generalization. They paint an image of scientists without consciences. But the scientific community has always had its “conscience. ” Leonardo da Vinci did not publish his design for a submarine for fear that his invention would be used in warfare. I In this century, J.D. Bemal recognized that scientists are inextricably involved in questions of peace and war.z (p. 165-190) Unfortunately, his own political philosophy made him and others, like J,B. S. Haldane, less than effecti\e spokesmen for science. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the controversy over recombinant DNA research was the fact that scientists “blew the whistle on themsleves. ”s But this example of scientists accepting responsibility for the possible consequences of their research is not unusual. In 1945, Hyman H. Goldsmith and Eugene Rabinowitch founded the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, a monthly publication that calls attention to potentially dangerous applications of nuclear technology. In 1949, Victor Pashkis founded the Society for Social Responsibility in Science.d This group, which June 25, 197(