The social responsibility of scientists

JUN 01, 1981

The scientific community, which enjoys freedoms and benefits from its activities, has a duty to inform the public fully about the impact of scientific developments.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2914603

Andrei Sakharov

Because of the international nature of our profession, scientists form the one real worldwide community which exists today. There is no doubt about this with respect to the substance of science: Schrödinger’s equation and the formula ${E = mc}^{2}$ are equally valid on all continents. But the integration of the scientific community has inevitably progressed beyond narrow professional interests and now embraces a broad range of universal issues, including ethical questions. And I believe this trend should and will continue.

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Andrei Sakharov, Academy of Sciences, USSR.

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