Szilárd petition
Encyclopedia
The Szilárd petition, drafted by scientist Leó Szilárd
, was signed by 155 scientists working on the Manhattan Project
in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
, and the Metallurgical Laboratory
in Chicago, Illinois. It was circulated in July 1945 and asked President Harry S. Truman
to consider an observed demonstration of the power of the atomic bomb first, before using it against people. However, the petition never made it through the chain of command to President Truman. It also was not declassified and made public until 1961.
In 1946, Szilárd jointly with Albert Einstein, will create the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists
that will count among its board, Linus Pauling
(Nobel Peace Prize
in 1962).
Leó Szilárd
Leó Szilárd was an Austro-Hungarian physicist and inventor who conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, patented the idea of a nuclear reactor with Enrico Fermi, and in late 1939 wrote the letter for Albert Einstein's signature that resulted in the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb...
, was signed by 155 scientists working on the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
, and the Metallurgical Laboratory
Metallurgical Laboratory
The Metallurgical Laboratory or "Met Lab" at the University of Chicago was part of the World War II–era Manhattan Project, created by the United States to develop an atomic bomb...
in Chicago, Illinois. It was circulated in July 1945 and asked President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
to consider an observed demonstration of the power of the atomic bomb first, before using it against people. However, the petition never made it through the chain of command to President Truman. It also was not declassified and made public until 1961.
In 1946, Szilárd jointly with Albert Einstein, will create the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists
Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists
The Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists 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...
that will count among its board, Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
(Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
in 1962).
Petition excerpt
- [W]e, the undersigned, respectfully petition: first, that you exercise your power as Commander-in-Chief, to rule that the United States shall not resort to the use of atomic bombs in this war unless the terms which will be imposed upon Japan have been made public in detail and Japan knowing these terms has refused to surrender; second, that in such an event the question whether or not to use atomic bombs be decided by you in the light of the considerations presented in this petition as well as all the other moral responsibilities which are involved.
Signatories
The 70 signers at the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago, in alphabetical order, with their positions, were:- DAVID S. ANTHONY, Associate Chemist
- LARNED B. ASPREY, Junior Chemist, S.E.D.
- WALTER BARTKY, Assistant Director
- AUSTIN M. BRUES, Director, Biology Division
- MARY BURKE, Research Assistant
- ALBERT CAHN, JR., Junior Physicist
- GEORGE R. CARLSON, Research Assistant-Physics
- KENNETH STEWART COLE, Principal Bio-Physicist
- ETHALINE HARTGE CORTELYOU, Junior Chemist
- JOHN CRAWFORD, Physicist
- MARY M. DAILEY, Research Assistant
- MIRIAM P. FINKEL, Associate Biologist
- FRANK G. FOOTE, Metallurgist
- HORACE OWEN FRANCE, Associate Biologist
- MARK S. FRED, Research Associate-Chemistry
- SHERMAN FRIED, Chemist
- FRANCIS LEE FRIEDMAN, Physicist
- MELVIN S. FRIEDMAN, Associate Chemist
- MILDRED C. GINSBERG, Computer
- NORMAN GOLDSTEIN, Junior Physicist
- SHEFFIELD GORDON, Associate Chemist
- WALTER J. GRUNDHAUSER, Research Assistant
- CHARLES W. HAGEN, Research Assistant
- DAVID B. HALL, position not identified
- DAVID L. HILL, Associate Physicist, Argonne
- JOHN PERRY HOWE, JR., Associate Division Director, Chemistry
- EARL K. HYDE, Associate Chemist
- JASPER B. JEFFRIES, Junior Physicist, Junior Chemist
- WILLIAM KARUSH, Associate Physicist
- TRUMAN P. KOHMAN, Chemist-Research
- HERBERT E. KUBITSCHEK, Junior Physicist
- ALEXANDER LANGSDORF, JR., Research Associate
- RALPH E. LAPP, Assistant to Division Director
- LAWRENCE B. MAGNUSSON, Junior Chemist
- ROBERT JOSEPH MAURER, Physicist
- NORMAN FREDERICK MODINE, Research Assistant
- GEORGE S. MONK, Physicist
- ROBERT JAMES MOON, Physicist
- MARIETTA CATHERINE MOORE, Technician
- ROBERT SANDERSON MULLIKEN, Coordinator of Information
- J. J. NICKSON, [Medical Doctor, Biology Division]
- WILLIAM PENROD NORRIS, Associate Biochemist
- PAUL RADELL O'CONNOR, Junior Chemist
- LEO ARTHUR OHLINGER, Senior Engineer
- ALFRED PFANSTIEHL, Junior Physicist
- ROBERT LEROY PLATZMAN, Chemist
- C. LADD PROSSER, Biologist
- ROBERT LAMBURN PURBRICK, Junior Physicist
- WILFRED RALL, Research Assistant-Physics
- MARGARET H. RAND, Research Assistant, Health Section
- WILLIAM RUBINSON, Chemist
- B. ROSWELL RUSSELL, position not identified
- GEORGE ALAN SACHER, Associate Biologist
- FRANCIS R. SHONKA, Physicist
- ERIC L. SIMMONS, Associate Biologist, Health Group
- JOHN A. SIMPSON, JR., Physicist
- ELLIS P. STEINBERG, Junior Chemist
- D. C. STEWART, S/SGT S.E.D.
- GEORGE SVIHLA, position not identified [Health Group]
- MARGUERITE N. SWIFT, Associate Physiologist, Health Group
- LEO SZILARD, Chief Physicist
- RALPH E. TELFORD, position not identified
- JOSEPH D. TERESI, Associate Chemist
- ALBERT WATTENBERG, Physicist
- KATHERINE WAY, Research Assistant
- EDGAR FRANCIS WESTRUM, JR., Chemist
- EUGENE PAUL WIGNER, Physicist
- ERNEST J. WILKINS, JR., Associate Physicist
- HOYLANDE YOUNG, Senior Chemist
- WILLIAM F. H. ZACHARIASEN, Consultant