Scientists and public responsibility

NOV 01, 1957

Allen V. Astin

A meeting of the American Physical Society in Boulder, Colorado, is an occasion that brings considerable pleasure to the physicists of the National Bureau of Standards. We value highly the long traditional association of the Society’s Washington spring meeting with the Bureau. We naturally regret that the rate of growth of the Society over the past fifteen to twenty years has so completely out‐distanced the growth of the Bureau’s facilities to accommodate meetings that almost all the Society’s technical sessions now have to be held elsewhere. When the radio and cryogenic engineering branches of the Bureau were located here a few years ago, one of our major hopes was that the Bureau, in conjunction with the University of Colorado, would provide a sufficient nucleus of scientific interest that the larger professional societies could be induced to meet here occasionally with the magnificent natural attractions of the area offering only fringe benefits.

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References

1. Hildebrand, Joel H.: “Social Responsibility of the Scientist”, American Scientist, Vol. 43, p. 450, July, 1955.https://doi.org/AMSCAC
2. Weaver, Warren: “Science and People”, Science, Vol. 122, p. 1255, December, 1955.https://doi.org/SCIEAS
3. Hill, A. V.: “Scientists are Quite Ordinary Folks”, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 7, p. 371, December, 1951.
4. James B. Conant: On Understanding Science, originally published by Yale University Press, also Mentor Book, 1951.
5. L. R. Hafstad: “Science, Technology and Society”, American Scientist, Vol. 45, p. 157, 1957.https://doi.org/AMSCAC
6. Dael, Wolfle: “Science and Public Responsibility”, Science, Vol. 125, p. 179, 1957.https://doi.org/SCIEAS
7. E. Bright Wilson: An Introduction to Scientific Research, McGraw‐Hill 1952 (Wilson quotation also used by Hafstad).
8. Also reference 2 where J. Bronowski quotation is used.
9. Alexander, Haddow: “The Scientist as Citizen”, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 12, p. 247, 1956.
10. “The Brotherhood of Science”, Life, Feb. 25, 1957, p. 36.

More about the Authors

Allen V. Astin. National Bureau of Standards.