Albert Einstein, Whose Letter to FDR Helped Usher in the Nuclear Age, Urges Scientists to Avoid Military Involvement and to Rely on Morality in Taking Courageous Positions ("If those who see the light do not stand honestly and courageously for the good, the world will get deeper and deeper into the morass.")

Albert Einstein

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On scientists and military work: ?The majority of really good scientists in this country have withdrawn from military work?The young ones who cannot lean upon a standing of their own have generally given in to the almost irresistible pressure. One cannot expect it to be any different."?Einstein and other scientists faced the harsh reality of the product of their work after the war and the bombing of Japan; Here Einstein in a way grapples with his own role?On the timeless nature of fighting for what you believe: ?The truth appears foolish to the insane.Lost people are content to find themselves in agreement with the masses."Although Albert Einstein?s participation in the production of the atomic bomb was limited, the public perceived his role as crucial, and he was in fact the face of the project to many. The reasons were that although he did not work on the Manhattan Project, the US effort to build the bomb, his famous equation, E=mc2, provided the theoretical basis for understanding the immense energy released in nuclear fission, which is the process that powers the bomb. And his 1939 letter to President Roosevelt, co-signed by Leo Szil?rd, alerted the US government to the potential of nuclear weapons and prompted the start of research that eventually led to the Manhattan Project. Feeding the public perceptions of his responsibility were publications like The Smyth Report, a history of the development of the bomb published the day after the bombing of Nagasaki, which ascribed great historical weight to Einstein?s 1939 letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in catalyzing the development of the bomb. In 1946, Time magazine published the famous cover featuring Einstein?s portrait backgrounded by an enormous mushroom cloud emblazoned with ?E=mc2,? and the accompanying article by Whittaker Chambers referred to him as ?the father of the bomb,? a title which resonated in the popular imagination. A March 1947 Newsweek cover featured Einstein, above the headline ?Godfather of the Atomic Bomb? Einstein was hounded by the association throughout the rest of his life, culminating in his November 1954 admission to Linus Pauling, ?I made one great mistake in my life when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made?.?Albert Einstein was known for his dedication to morality, which he said was ?of the highest importance?, as well as beliefs that stemmed from morality, like pacifism, anti-militarism, and loyalty to the facts taught by science. He viewed morality as fundamentally human, and believed that ethical behavior should form a basis for both individual well-being and the collective good of humanity. Thus for Einstein, the pursuit of morality was the most vital human endeavor, essential for bringing beauty and dignity to life and ensuring the survival and thriving of the human race. He shared these beliefs with Dr. Herbert Jehle.Dr. Jehle was a pioneering theoretical physicist whose work spanned quantum field theory, biophysics, and astrophysics. He was a student and friend of Einstein in the 1920s in Germany; and a disciple and friend of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. At Princeton in 1947 he provided Richard Feynman with the spark which would lead to his path integral formulation. Einstein had left for the United States in 1933, the same year that Jehle received his doctorate from the Technische Hochschule Berlin. In the same year, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jehle's friend and mentor stepped down from his professorship at Berlin, in protest of the Nazi ascent to power. In 1940, Jehle refused to assist in the German armament and atomic project, and was interned in concentration camps. Escaping in 1941 with the help of Quaker and Christian relief organizations, Jehle made his way to the United States, where he took a position at Harvard University, until leaving for Princeton in 1947. At Princeton, Jehle's pacifist beliefs coincided with Einstein's own and they reconnected, bonding over shared views of social respons.

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• Titre: Albert Einstein, Whose Letter to FDR Helped Usher in the Nuclear Age, Urges Scientists to Avoid Military Involvement and to Rely on Morality in Taking Courageous Positions ("If those who see the light do not stand honestly and courageously for the good, the world will get deeper and deeper into the morass.")
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