CIENTIFIC discoveries
are the raw material of

human progress. Since

modern times, scientific re-
Search has been a common
patrimony at the disposal of
Scholars and technicians.

This common property created
a solidarity throughout the
World and kept going a spirit
of international mutual help.
Each seeker after knowledge,
Whatever his particularity may
be, constantly benefits from dis-
Coveries made in every part of
the work,

For myself, I realize that I

have only been able to achieve

Certain results, thanks, for in-
Stance, to Rutherford, Niels
Bohr or Hahn, not to mention
My French colleagues, to Eng-
lish, American and Italian scien-
tists, and so on.

I acknowledge my debt of
Sratitude to them, and am only
too happy if my work has en-
abled certain English or Ameri-
Can research workers to pro-
gress along a path which I was
lucky enough to open to them.

; I consider as very dangerous

the position taken up by tht
United States during recent
talks regarding the maintenance
Of secrecy over atomic research,
because keeping the secrets of
the atomic bomb appears as a
Means of pressure.

What is serious is that it
Should be claimed by certain
People that it is possible to keep
Secret results obtained by scien-
tific research in the field of nu-
Clear science.

It woulq theréafter be impos-
Sible to visit laboratories of our
Speciality, to keep going normal
Telationships with colleagues
Who are friends and with whom
We have for so long collaborated
Over distances and frontiers.

It is true that for a long time
We have been accustomed to
industrialists keeping to them-
Selves their technical secrets
8nd methods of manufacture,
but this is the first time that
the free diffusion of the results
Of pure science has been for-
bidden by governments.

This principle of secrecy, once
accepted, could be extended to
all fields of science.

Chemistry,
Cine, biology,

electricity, medi-
even astronomy,

lead to discoveries which affect

the condition of man and can
be applied in a decisive man-
Ner to economics or war.

If secrecy is extended to these
Sciences the progress of civiliza-
tion will be slowed down, and
May even be halted.

We count on the union of
Scientists in every country to
Struggle against the mainten-
€ance of secrecy and to obtain
the widest publicity for all dis-
Coveries.

For ind “aevho says civilization,
Says communication. If our spe-
Cies has become the human
SPecies, it is doubtless because

We have a fairly large brain

@nd hands, and above all, be-

Cause we have been able to cre--

ate language, which enables men
a to communicate with one an-

other better than by gestures
and grimaces.

ll Ci aDE
sail

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Magic In China
by James S. Allen

: at (ee (HUH

ADIRIUEE

i. A (aE

By FREDERICK JOLIOT-CURIE

The stagnation of civilization
at certain periods seems to me
due to the isolation of men in
small groups.

It is significant
Middle Ages the best spreaders
of civilization were the Trou-
badours, who gave the different

groups contact with one an-
other. i
The Renaissance is particu-

establishment of a
of thought

larly the
vast circulation
among men.

It is desirable now to stop
this circulation, this universal
language by decree? This would
take us back to Merovingian
times, to the years , before
Charlemagne.

result would be a race
' scientific armaments.

ws

Each nation would think that —

its rival was outdistancing it
and would want to catch up.
Nuclear energy would be no
longer the servant of civiliza-
tion but only its destroyer.

If the impossible happened,
ang two great powers found
themselves to pe the sole pos-
sessors of the monopoly of this
secret arm, other countries, in
self-defense, would hasten to
discover and use arms more
secret, more terrible and, above
all, more treacherous. ‘

With the development of these
great arms, war could become
so secret that men would know
-nothing of its start.

But in the future, a country
feeling secure through having
in its possession a hundred
atomic bombs would one day
be warned by its statisticians:

“For five years now the num-
ber of abortions in the central
districts has grown to such pro-
portions that there is not one
normal birth in six; in the coast-
al ports fires destroying our
stocks have gone up ten-fold;
invasion by unknown parasites
has destroyed the harvest; the
drought in the north has de-

prived the country of its elec-
trical energy.”

rq il

fl NA ah i) |

NB

ecttTivssatlnirness aaideensinatinl

Page 10

The Speech That Challenged Truman

Page 11

ey A. Wallace

A
:

Sone ee reer

that in the

Official headquarters and par-
..liamentarians would pore over
these figures, make graphs and
find one explanation only of
these multiple catastrophes
for several years war has been
waged against their country
with immense destruction and
a considerable number of vic-

tims.

The enemy at that moment
might already have obtained
decisive victories and the coun-
try be conquered without hav-
ing fought. All that would be
left to it would be to capitulate,
to destroy the stock of atomic
bombs on which it haq blindly
relied for its security and which
had proved as much an illu
sion as a line of concrete in
1940.

When the world realizes the
possibilities of a secret war of
this kind people will start liv-
ing in a perpetual state of
siege.

° :

S far as we French scientists
are concerned, in spite of
this regrettable secrecy, it is
possible for us to construct ma-
chines for the purpose of pro-
ducing new radio-active elements)
and to liberate atomic energy

for beneficial purposes, for
France is the country which
gave birth to and developed
nuclear physics. And that is our
aim. :

The atomic bomb represents
but one of the applications of
nuclear energy. Let us hope it
becomes the least important to
mankind.

These machines supplying
energy will enable important
‘quantities of radio-active  ele-

ments to be made, the applica-
tion of which will be of the
greatest use to industry ang will
open the way to certain sue-
cesses in biology and medicine.
One can even foresee pacific
application of the atomic bomb
itself. It could doubtless be used
to. transform the. surface of
large’ portions of the earth, or
to make clouds and bring down
rain over huge .areas.

Or it could, under _ suitable
conditions—for example, in coal
seams placed between hard,
heat-resistant layers
turn large quantities of coal into
industrial diamonds, to the bene-
fit of engineering. \

i

rock

We know even now that one
day we shall be able to modify

. War could become so secret men
would know nothing of its start’

countour and climate,
before many years have gone

perhaps

by, and we are now glimpsing
hitherto unthinkable possibili-
ties.

New radio-active elements are
going to permit of chemistry at
a very high temperature, ap
proaching that of the solar sur-
face.

We will work as much as is
necessary to bring, within the
scope of our country, our con-
tribution to the international in-
dustrial and scientific develop-
ment which will enable man to
progress to a better state.

If secrecy is maintained, that
will not prevent us from push-
ing forward with our work and _
arriving at results that will be |
both honorable and profitable. —

But a nation can only justify
its existence by exporting its
achievements and by the blos-
soming of its thought. We are
working to this end, and France —
will give its share to the world.

We are optimists. We are cer-
tain that men will not allow
progress to be shackled by a
monopoly in thought.

@ Frederick Joliet-Currie is di-
rector of the French govern-
ment’s atomic energy com-_
mission |

AN

A guide to good reading

N his simply told story of the

underground route over which
large numbers of the Jewish
survivors in Europe are press-
ing toward Eretz Israel the
promised land of Palestine, I.
F. Stone has written one of
the most interesting books of
the year. It is Underground to
Palestine, published by case and
Gaer ($3.00).

The dismal picture of the Jews
as shattered, demoralized people
crouching helplessly in the dark
corners of Europe will not sur-
vive after reading this book.
Instead one is impressed with
the courage, determination and

_ resiliency of the Jewish charac-

‘ter, and admiration for a people
who refuse to be destroyed.

Stone does not go far into
the ramifications of the Pales-
tine problem or the Zionist ques-
tion. He is dealing with the fact
that thousands of the Jews who
survived the fascist scourge are*
struggling to Palestine in a
stream that British officialdom
may well find irresistible.

It is mainly a book of simple
and sincere reporting. Stone’s
own words are: “I can only re-
port what I saw and heard

' great

travelling with the least fortun-
ate but the bravest of. my peo-
ple.” It is these people whom
he lets speak through his pages
and it’s the expression of their
courage and hope which makes
Underground to Palestine a
good book to read.

OGRESSIVE people long ago
,came to a good understand-
ing of the reactionary role Chi-

ang Kai-Shek is playing in the |

long bitter processes of the Chi-
nese revolution. Much has been
written about him in a succes-
sion of excellent books by wes-
tern correspondents. Yet it is
left for Chiang in his own book
to reveal how truly reactionary
his basic ideas are and the
sources from which they are
derived. ¢

China’s Destiny is his blue-
print for the future of this
section of humanity, a
document which has been lab-
elled by some the Mein Kampf
of China. It has been withheld
from western’ thought for years
by both American and Chinese
censorship for obvious reasons.
It is the political testament of
an anti-western, feudal-minded

dictator who is contemptuous
of democracy and afraid of pro-
gress. The reactionary mould —
into which China would harden
but for the agitation and arm-
eq resistance of the Chinese
Communists and their handful
of liberal allies is unmistakable.
Two editions of this book have
just been published, an official
expurgated translation and an
unofficial unexpurgated trans-
lation with a foreword, running
commentary and concluding
chapter by Philip Jaffe, editor
of Amerasia. It is this latter
edition which should be read
by all who are interested in the
Chinese struggle. Jaffe’s com-
ments are penetrating and of
great assistance in bringing out
the true nature of Chiang Kai-
shek’s basic philosophy. — HAL
MILLER. :

RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Sailor On Horseback—by Irv-
ing Stone—$3.50.
Hurry Up, Please, It’s Time—
by Elizabeth Hawes—$3.00. ae
Out Of Your Pocket by ‘Dar-
cel McConkey—$1.00. ;
Why Work For Nothing —by :
Schendel—s be

Herman