American scientists as public citizens: 70 years of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. (January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kaiser, David; Wilson, Benjamin
• Is Part Of: Bulletin of the atomic scientists. Volume 71:Number 1(2015:Jan./Feb.)
• Page Start: 13
• Page End: 25
• Publication Date: 2015-01
• Subjects: Atomic Scientists of Chicago -- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists -- Cold War history -- Edward Teller -- Eugene Rabinowitch -- Federation of American Scientists -- Hans Bethe -- House Committee on Un-American Activities -- Robert Oppenheimer -- Ruth Adams; Nuclear energy -- Periodicals; Nuclear energy -- Government policy -- Periodicals; Nuclear energy -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Nuclear weapons -- Periodicals; Nuclear weapons -- Government policy -- Periodicals; Nuclear arms control -- Periodicals; 363.1799
• DOI: 10.1177/0096340214563679
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0096-3402

Abstract

For seven decades, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has served as a discussion forum for urgent issues at the intersection of science, technology, and society. Born in the aftermath of World War II and a roiling debate over the control of the postwar atom, the Bulletin has been a sounding board for major nuclear-age debates, from atomic espionage to missile defense. Since the end of the Cold War, the magazine has featured an expanding array of challenges, including the threat posed by global climate change. The Bulletin 's contributors have expressed their public citizenship by helping to bring the political aspects of science into proper focus. They have stood up for the political freedom of science, and sought to harness scientific knowledge to responsible ends in the political arena. Such efforts are needed now, as they were in 1945.