Table Of ContentA DISTANT LIGHT
SCIENTISTS AND
PUBLIC POLICY
Masters ofModem Physics
Advisory Board
Dale Corson, Cornell University
Samuel Devons, Columbia University
Sidney Drell, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Herman Feshbach, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Marvin Goldberger, University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles
Wolfgang Panofsky, Stanford Linear AcceleratorCenter
William Press, Harvard University
Published Volumes
The Roadfrom Los Alamos by Hans A. Bethe
The Charm ofPhysics by Sheldon L. Glashow
Citizen Scientistby Frank von Hippel
Visit to a Small Universe by Virginia Trimble
Nuclear Reactions: Science and Trans-Science by Alvin M. Weinberg
In the Shadow ofthe Bomb: Physics and Arms Control
by Sydney D. Drell
The Eye ofHeaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Kepler
by Owen Gingerich
Particles and Policy by Wolfgang K.H. Panofsky
AtHome in the Universe by John A. Wheeler
Cosmic Enigmas by Joseph Silk
Nothing Is Too Wondeiful to Be True by Philip Morrison
Arms and the Physicist by Herbert F. York
Confessions ofa Technophile by Lewis M. Branscomb
Making Waves by Charles H. Townes
OfOne Mind: The Collectivization ofScience by John Ziman
Einstein, History, and Other Passions by Gerald Holton
Bright Galaxies, Dark Matters by Vera Rubin
Atomic Histories by RudolfE. Peierls
Essays ofa Soviet Scientist by Vitalif 1. Gol'danskif
This Gifted Age: Science and Technology at the Millenium
by John H. Gibbons
A Distant Light: Scientists and Public Policy
by Henry W. Kendall
A DISTANT LIGHT
SCIENTISTS AND
PUBLIC POLICY
Henry W. Kendall
Foreword by
Howard Ris
,
Springer
Henry W. Kendall (deceased)
Departmentof Physics
Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
USA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationData
Kendall,Henry Way, 1926-
Adistant light: scientistsandpublic policyI HenryW.Kendall.
p. cm.-(Mastersofmodem physics)
Includes bibliographical references andindex.
ISBN 0-387-98833-5 (hardcover :alk.paper)
1.Scienceandstate-UnitedStates. 2.UnionofConcerned
Scientists. I.Title. II.Series.
Q127.U6K46 1999 99-20533
338.97306--dc21
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©2000 Springer-VerlagNewYork,Inc.
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He was born with the gift oflaughter
and a sense that the world was mad.
Opening line, Scaramouche, Raphael Sabatini
The West Peak ofNevado Huandoy in the Cordillers Blanca, Peru. Photograph by
the author.
FOREWORD
Henry Kendall reached the end of his life unexpectedly in February 1999.He died
while scuba diving in the company of a National Geographic Societyexpeditionin
WakullaSprings, Florida, doing whatheloved best:exploringtheworld'sgreatnat
ural treasures.
At the time of Henry's death, he had not yet completed the task of assembling
and proofmg the final manuscriptfor this book. I volunteered for that task, having
worked closely with Henry at the Union ofConcerned Scientists for the last eigh
teen years and having provided some help in reviewing early drafts of the intro
ductory material thathepreparedforeachsection ofthebook.Workingonthisbook
remindedmeyetagain ofthestaggeringbreadth and depth ofHenry'scontributions
to a great many fields, ranging from physics to the environment to national secu
rity. He was a truly remarkable human being; I was privilegedto be his friend and
colleague.
I know that Henry very much wanted this book to serve notjust as a summary
ormemoirofhis work, butasaguide andinspirationforotherscientists whose par
ticipation in the public policy process is badly needed.I hope any changes or cor
rections I have made will serve that purpose well, and I am grateful to the staffat
Springer-VerlagandWordCraftersEditorialServicesforremainingsteadfastintheir
desire to see this book published.
HowardRis
Executive Director
Union ofConcernedScientists
Cambridge, Massachusetts
ABOUT THE SERIES
Masters of Modem Physics introduces the work and thought of some of the most
celebrated physicists of our day. These collected essays offer a panoramic tour of
the way science works, how it affects our lives, and what it means to those who
practice it.Authors report from the horizons ofmodem research, provideengaging
sketches of friends and colleagues, and reflect on the social, economic, and politi
cal consequences of the scientific and technical enterprise.
Authors have been selected for their contributions to science and for their keen
ability tocommunicate tothe general reader-often with wit,frequently in finelit
erary style.Allhave beenhonored by their peersand most have beenprominent in
shaping debatesinscience,technology, andpublicpolicy.Somehaveachieveddis
tinction in social andcultural spheres outside the laboratory.
Many essays are drawn from popular and scientific magazines, newspapers,
and journals. Still others-written for the series or drawn from notes for other
occasions-appearforthefirsttime.Authorshaveprovidedintroductionsand,where
appropriate, annotations.Onceselectedforinclusion,theessaysarecarefullyedited
and updated so that each volume emerges as a finely shaped work.
Masters of Modem Physics is overseen by an advisory panel of distinguished
physicists. Sponsored by the American Institute of Physics, a consortium of major
physics societies,theseriesservesasanauthoritative surveyofthepeopleandideas
that have shaped twentieth-century science and society.
PREFACE
Like manyscientists,Ihavealways hadinterestsfardifferentfromthoseofmypro
fessional life. Among them has been the challenges of dealing with the array of
problems humanityfaces,including howtoexploit theearth'sbounty withoutdam
aging it and how to deal with the conflicts between nations, for which extraordi
narily destructive weapons stand at the ready. At issue are not just the unwanted
side effects of a few technologies but the cumulative impact of ahost of technolo
gies and human activities that appear to threaten humanity and the global environ
ment in a deep way.
For many years such matters-what I call survival issues-have claimed much
of mytimeandattention,providing extensiveexperience inavarietyofpubliccon
troversies,mostinvolving substantial scientific ortechnical matters.This volunteer
work in thequasipolitical world ofpublic policy debate has proved vastlydifferent
from my professional work as an experimental particle physicist. It was my good
fortune to find a second home base-the Union of Concerned Scientists-whose
course Ihelped guideandfrom which Icould researchissues, publishmyfindings,
and involve myself and others in the effort to shape public policy.
In 1992 the American Institute of Physics' publishing division approached me
with an invitation to prepare a volume for its series Masters ofPhysics. A typical
volume in this series is based mainly on the author's principal scientific publica
tions. In the course of preparing some material for the World Bank on public pol
icy problems, a different approach seemed appropriate in my case: to devote the
proposed volumeprimarilytomaterial dealing withscience andpublicpolicyprob
lems. The book could serveas a stimulus andaresource for others inthe scientific
community who might also wish to turn their attention to such concerns.The sci
entific community has many fine minds that can advance understanding of public
problems andnudgesocietytoward sensiblepolicies.Thekeyisgettingenoughsci
entists involved in sustained and constructive ways.
This focus would require a very different mix of material than would a collec
tion of physics reprints. It would also include written matter that customarily does
not appear on publication lists, such as news releases, public statements, and dec
larations, for example, that can beof great importance to those engaged indebates
