ECAS

The Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists 

To Albert Einstein’s horror, during the late 1930s, physicists began seriously to consider whether his equation E = mc2 might make an atomic bomb possible. In 1920 Einstein himself had considered but eventually dismissed the possibility. However, he left it open if a method could be found to magnify the power of the atom. Then in 1938–39 Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann, Lise Meitner, and Otto Frisch showed that vast amounts of energy could be unleashed by the splitting of the uranium atom. The news electrified the physics community. In July 1939 physicist Leo Szilard asked Einstein if he would write a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt urging him to develop an atomic bomb. Following several translated drafts, Einstein signed a letter on August 2 that was delivered to Roosevelt by one of his economic advisers, Alexander Sachs, on October 11. //F.D. Roosevelt,President of the United States,White HouseWashington, D.C. // //Sir: // //Some recent work by E.Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain aspects of the situation which has arisen seem to call for watchfulness and, if necessary, quick action on the part of the Administration. I believe therefore that it is my duty to bring to your attention the following facts and recommendations: // //In the course of the last four months it has been made probable—through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America—that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium,by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future. // //This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable—though much less certain—that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may thus be constructed. A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory. However, such bombs might very well prove to be too heavy for transportion by air. // //The United States has only very poor ores of uranium in moderate quantities. There is some good ore in Canada and the former Czechoslovakia, while the most important source of uranium is Belgian Congo. // //In view of this situation you may think it desirable to have some permanent contact maintained between the Administration and the group of physicists working on chain reactions in America. One possible way of achieving this might be for you to entrust a person with this task who has your confidence and who could perhaps serve in an inofficial capacity. His task might comprise the following: // //a) to approach Government Departments, keep them informed of the further development, and put forward recommendations for Government action, giving particular attention to the problem of securing a supply of uranium ore for the United States; // //b) to speed up the experimental work,which is at present being carried on within the limits of the budgets of University laboratories, by providing funds, if such funds be required, through his contacts with private persons who are willing to make contributions for this cause, and perhaps also by obtaining the co-operation of industrial laboratories which have the necessary equipment. // //I understand that Germany has actually stopped the sale of uranium from the Czechoslovakian mines which she has taken over. That she should have taken such early action might perhaps be understood on the ground that the son of the German Under-Secretary of State, von Weizsäcker, is attached to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut in Berlin where some of the American work on uranium is now being repeated. // //Yours very truly, Albert Einstein // Roosevelt wrote back on October 19, informing Einstein that he had organized the Uranium Committee to study the issue. <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">During the war, Einstein’s colleagues were asked to journey to the desert town of Los Alamos, N.M., to develop the first atomic bomb for the __Manhattan Project__. Einstein, the man whose equation had set the whole effort into motion, was never asked to participate. Voluminous declassified Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) files, numbering several thousand, reveal the reason: the U.S. government feared Einstein’s lifelong association with peace and socialist organizations. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover went so far as to recommend that Einstein be kept out of America by the Alien Exclusion Act, but he was overruled by the U.S. State Department. Instead, during the war Einstein was asked to help the U.S. Navy evaluate designs for future weapons systems. <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Einstein was on vacation when he heard the news that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan. Almost immediately he was part of an international effort to try to bring the atomic bomb under control, forming the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists. The physics community split on the question of whether to build a hydrogen bomb. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the atomic bomb project, was stripped of his security clearance for having suspected leftist associations. Einstein backed Oppenheimer and opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, instead calling for international controls on the spread of nuclear technology. <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists (ECAS) was founded by Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd in 1946. Its aims were to warn the public of the dangers associated with the development of nuclear weapons, promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and ultimately work towards world peace, which was seen as the only way that nuclear weapons would not be used again. <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Committee was established in the wake of the "Szilárd petition" (1945) to United States president Harry S. Truman opposing the use of the atomic bomb on moral grounds, which was signed by 68 scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project. A majority of scientists working on the Manhattan Project did not know entirely what they were creating at the time. <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Committee only ever consisted of the eight members of the Board of Trustees, who were: <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> * Albert Einstein Chairman <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> * Harold C. Urey Vice-Chairman <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> * Hans Bethe <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> * T.R. Hogness <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> * Philip M. Morse <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> * Linus Pauling <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> * Leó Szilárd <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> * Victor Weisskopf <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Half the members had worked directly on the Manhattan Project and all had been indirectly involved or consulted on the production of the first atomic bomb. <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Several members of the committee gave lecture tours to promote the committee's message of peace. They produced supporting promotional materials, including one of the first films to illustrate what a full nuclear war might be like. ECAS was also very vocal in its opposition of the development of the first hydrogen bomb. <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">ECAS was active for four years, until 1950 when it was gradually disbanded, although most of the members continued to campaign against nuclear war, and participated in the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Bibliography: <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[] <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[]