Scientific Posts in the Development of Atomic Energy

Abstract

ACCORDING to the Daily Mail of August 3, Mr. L. J. F. Brimble, joint editor of Nature, attacked “Secrecy over the appointment of scientists to post in the development of atomic energy”, at a gathering of “scientists at Wadham College, Oxford”. This statement is so inaccurate as to convey the opposite of that which Mr. Brimble actually did say. He. was addressing the summer school of the British Social Hygiene Council on “Science and Social Progress”. In dealing with atomic energy, Mr. Brimble pleaded that public (especially lay) opinion should be based on more accurate and fuller knowledge. He gave a brief history of atomic research in an attempt to show that no one country could claim all the credit, and emphasized the important pioneer work of Dalton in Manchester followed later by the crucial researches under Rutherford at Cambridge. This, he claimed, should be more widely known, for it might surprise some if they knew how widespread among the lay public was the belief that all atomic research had so far been practically confined to the United States. As regards the appointment of physicists to posts dealing with atomic research, Mr. Brimble neither said nor implied anything. In fact it should here be stated that in the opinion of the Editors of Nature, such posts as exist in Britain are held by the most suitable and competent men of science, and, so far as they are aware, there has been no “secrecy” in appointing them. Mr. Brimble did, however, direct attention to the hasty decisions being made in appointing personnel to certain scientific and educational bodies-decisions which seem to be made by a few without consulting other authorities-and often not followed by any published announcement of such appointments. Those bodies which Mr. Brimble had in mind are far removed from atomic energy, o or indeed any other kind of scientific research.