The Social Responsibility of Scientists

Abstract

Most scientists spend their working life devoted to their subject, impelled by intellectual curiosity and the general cultural appeal of science as a magnificent human enterprise. But events may distract them from their introverted activities and turn their attention to the outside world. Those of Joseph Rotblat’s generation could not escape the impact of the Second World War and its aftermath. In my own case, after many years of quiet mathematical research, working out of the limelight, a major change occurred when unexpectedly I found myself president of the Royal Society, in a very public position, and expected to act as a general spokesman for the whole of science.