Science, technology and the arms race
DOI: 10.1063/1.2914604
The arms race, in particular the nuclear weapons competition between the Soviet Union and the US, threatens the very existence of man’s civilization. One must admit, albeit reluctantly, that the nuclear balance between these two powers deserves at least partial credit for the absence of all‐out hostilities for the longest period in recent history. But even in the absence of total conflict, the increase of potential devastation and the growth in the number of states possessing nuclear weapons have created tensions that increasingly overshadow all other concerns of mankind. Many hold science, which led to the release of nuclear energy, responsible for this evolution. But others look to science for the tools to reverse this threat to all humanity.
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Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
