Petition from Leo Szilard and Other Scientists to President Harry S

The Szilárd petition, drafted and circulated in July 1945 by scientist

Leo Szilard Leo Szilard (; hu, Szilárd Leó, pronounced ; born Leó Spitz; February 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964) was a Hungarian-German-American physicist and inventor. He conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, patented the idea of a nuclear ...

, was signed by 70 scientists working on the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Metallurgical Laboratory in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It asked President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

to inform Japan of the terms of surrender demanded by the allies, and allow Japan to either accept or refuse these terms, before America used atomic weapons. However, the petition never made it through the

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

to President Truman. It was not declassified and made public until 1961. Later, in 1946, Szilard jointly with Albert Einstein, created the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists that counted among its board, Linus Pauling (

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

in 1962).

Background

The petition was preceded by the Franck Report, written by the Committee on the Social and Political Implications of the Atomic Bomb, of which

James Franck James Franck (; 26 August 1882 – 21 May 1964) was a German physicist who won the 1925 Nobel Prize for Physics with Gustav Hertz "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom". He completed his doctorate i ...

was the chair. Szilárd and Met Lab colleague

Glenn T. Seaborg Glenn Theodore Seaborg (; April 19, 1912February 25, 1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His work i ...

co-wrote the report, which argued that political security in a post-nuclear world would rely upon international exchange and ownership of atomic information, and that in order to avoid a nuclear arms race and preserve goodwill towards the United States, Japan must be given proper warning ahead of the dropping of the bomb. Unlike the Franck Report, which by and large focused on the politics of using the atomic bomb and the possibility of international collaboration, the Szilárd Petition was a moral plea. Its signatories, foreseeing an age of rapid nuclear expansion, warned that, should the United States drop the bomb to end the war in the Pacific theater, they would "bear the responsibility of opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale." They feared that, in using the bomb, the United States would lose moral authority to bring the subsequent

nuclear arms race The nuclear arms race was an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War. During this same period, in addition to the American and Soviet nuc ...

under control. More than 50 of the initial signatories worked in the Chicago branch of the Manhattan Project. After much disagreement among the other scientists in Chicago, lab director

Farrington Daniels Farrington Daniels (March 8, 1889 – June 23, 1972) was an American physical chemist who is considered one of the pioneers of the modern direct use of solar energy. Biography Daniels was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 8, 1889. Dani ...

took a survey of 150 scientists as to what they believed the best course of action would be, regarding the bomb. The results were as follows: * 15% - the bomb should be used as a weapon by the military in order to bring about Japanese surrender with the fewest possible Allied casualties. * 46% - the bomb should be demonstrated by the military in Japan, with the hope that surrender would follow; if not, the bomb should be used as a weapon. * 26% - the bomb should be part of an experimental demonstration in the United States, with a Japanese delegation present as witnesses in the hope that they would bring their observations back to the government and advocate for surrender. * 11% - the bomb should be used only as part of a public demonstration. * 2% - the bomb should not be used in combat and total secrecy should be maintained afterwards. Szilárd asked his friend and fellow physicist,

Edward Teller Edward Teller ( hu, Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–Ulam design), although he did not care for ...

, to help circulate the petition at Los Alamos in the hopes of recruiting more signatures. However, Teller first brought Szilárd's request to Los Alamos director

J. Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer (; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist. A professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is oft ...

, who told Teller that politicians in Washington were already weighing the issue and that the lab scientists would do better to stay out of it. Thus, no new signatures for the petition were collected at Los Alamos.

Summary

The petition was addressed to President Truman and states that the original intention of the Manhattan Project was to defend the United States against a possible nuclear attack by Germany, a threat that had by then been eradicated. They then pleaded with Truman to make public the full terms of surrender and to await a Japanese response before dropping the atom bomb, and to consider his "obligation of restraint":

"If after this war a situation is allowed to develop in the world which permits rival powers to be in uncontrolled possession of these new means of destruction, the cities of the United States as well as the cities of other nations will be in continuous danger of sudden annihilation ..The added material strength which this lead gives to the United States brings with it the obligation of restraint and if we were to violate this obligation our moral position would be weakened in the eyes of the world and in our own eyes. It would then be more difficult for us to live up to our responsibility of bringing the unloosened forces of destruction under control. We, the undersigned, respectfully petition: first, that you exercise your power as Commander-in-Chief, to rule that the United States shall not resort to the use of atomic bombs in this war unless the terms which will be imposed upon Japan have been made public in detail and Japan knowing these terms has refused to surrender; second, that in such an event the question whether or not to use atomic bombs be decided by you in the light of the considerations presented in this petition as well as all the other moral responsibilities which are involved."

Aftermath

In the spring of 1945, Szilárd took the petition to the man who was soon to be named Secretary of State,

James F. Byrnes James Francis Byrnes ( ; May 2, 1882 – April 9, 1972) was an American judge and politician from South Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in U.S. Congress and on the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as in the executive branch, ...

, hoping to find someone who would pass on to President Truman the message from scientists that the bomb should not be used on a civilian population in Japan, and that after the war it should be put under international control in order to avoid a post-war arms race. Byrnes was not sympathetic to the idea at all. Thus, President Truman never saw the petition prior to the dropping of the bomb. Szilárd regretted that such a man was so influential in politics, and he appeared to also be despondent at having become a physicist, because in his career he had contributed to the creation of the bomb. After the meeting with Byrnes, he is quoted as having said, "How much better off the world might be had I been born in America and become influential in American politics, and had Byrnes been born in Hungary and studied physics." In reaction to the petition, General

Leslie Groves Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves Jr. (17 August 1896 – 13 July 1970) was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project, a top secret research project ...

, the director of the Manhattan Project, sought evidence of unlawful behavior against Szilárd. The first atomic bomb, known as

Little Boy "Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...

, was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. It was followed three days later by a second bomb, known as

Fat Man "Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...

, over

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

. The deployment of these bombs led to an estimated 200,000 civilians dead and, debatably, Japan's eventual surrender. In December 1945, a study by Fortune business magazine found that over three-quarters of Americans surveyed approved of the decision to drop the bombs. In spite of this, a group of the most prominent scientists of the day united to speak out against the decision, and about the future nuclear arms race.
One World or None: A Report to the Public on the Full Meaning of the Atomic Bomb
' was released in 1946, containing essays by Leo Szilárd himself, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Arthur Compton, Robert Oppenheimer, Harold Urey, Eugene Wigner, Edward Condon, Hans Bethe, Irving Langmuir, and others. The theme of the book, which sold over a million copies, was that nuclear arms should never be used again and that international cooperation should govern their use.

Signatories

The 70 signers at the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago, in alphabetical order, with their positions, were: # David S. Anthony, Associate Chemist # Larned B. Asprey, Junior Chemist, S.E.D. #

Walter Bartky Walter Bartky (1901–1958) was an American astronomer, applied mathematician, and educator, noteworthy for his role in the Manhattan Project. Education and career Walter Bartky received his B.S. from the University of Chicago in 1923 and his Ph.D ...

, Assistant Director # Austin M. Brues, Director, Biology Division #

Mary Burke Mary Patricia Burke (born April 30, 1959) is an American businesswoman. She was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in the 2014 election. She served as a member of the Madison, Wisconsin school board from April 30, 2012 until Jul ...

, Research Assistant # Albert Cahn, Jr., Junior Physicist # George R. Carlson, Research Assistant-Physics # Kenneth Stewart Cole, Principal Bio-Physicist # Ethaline Hartge Cortelyou, Junior Chemist # John Crawford, Physicist # Mary M. Dailey, Research Assistant # Miriam Posner Finkel, Associate Biologist # Frank G. Foote, Metallurgist # Horace Owen France, Associate Biologist # Mark S. Fred, Research Associate-Chemistry # Sherman Fried, Chemist # Francis Lee Friedman, Physicist # Melvin S. Friedman, Associate Chemist # Mildred C. Ginsberg, Computer # Norman Goldstein, Junior Physicist # Sheffield Gordon, Associate Chemist # Walter J. Grundhauser, Research Assistant # Charles W. Hagen, Research Assistant # David B. Hall, Physicist # David L. Hill, Associate Physicist, Argonne # John Perry Howe, Jr., Associate Division Director, Chemistry # Earl K. Hyde, Associate Chemist # Jasper B. Jeffries, Junior Physicist, Junior Chemist #

William Karush William Karush (1 March 1917 – 22 February 1997) was an American professor of mathematics at California State University at Northridge and was a mathematician best known for his contribution to Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions. In his master's ...

, Associate Physicist # Truman P. Kohman, Chemist-Research # Herbert E. Kubitschek, Junior Physicist #

Alexander Langsdorf, Jr. Alexander Suss Langsdorf Jr. (May 30, 1912 – May 24, 1996) was an American physicist on the team that developed the atomic bomb and several devices related to nuclear physics. He was a vocal opponent of the use and proliferation of nuclear we ...

, Research Associate # Ralph E. Lapp, Assistant To Division Director # Lawrence B. Magnusson, Junior Chemist # Robert Joseph Maurer, Physicist # Norman Frederick Modine, Research Assistant # George S. Monk, Physicist #

Robert James Moon Robert James Moon (February 14, 1911 – November 1, 1989) was an American physicist, chemist and engineer. A graduate of the University of Chicago, he served on the faculty there and participated in the Manhattan Project. References Externa ...

, Physicist # Marietta Catherine Moore, Technician # Robert Sanderson Mulliken, Coordinator of Information # J. J. Nickson, edical Doctor, Biology Division# William Penrod Norris, Associate Biochemist # Paul Radell O'Connor, Junior Chemist # Leo Arthur Ohlinger, Senior Engineer # Alfred Pfanstiehl, Junior Physicist # Robert Leroy Platzman, Chemist # C. Ladd Prosser, Biologist # Robert Lamburn Purbrick, Junior Physicist #

Wilfrid Rall Wilfrid Rall (August 29, 1922 - April 1, 2018) was a neuroscientist who spent most of his career at the National Institutes of Health. He is considered one of the founders of computational neuroscience, and was a pioneer in establishing the in ...

, Research Assistant-Physics # Margaret H. Rand, Research Assistant, Health Section # William Rubinson, Chemist # B. Roswell Russell, ''position not identified'' # George Alan Sacher, Associate Biologist # Francis R. Shonka, Physicist # Eric L. Simmons, Associate Biologist, Health Group # John A. Simpson, Jr., Physicist # Ellis P. Steinberg, Junior Chemist # D. C. Stewart, S/Sgt S.E.D. # George Svihla, ''position not identified'' ealth Group# Marguerite N. Swift, Associate Physiologist, Health Group #

, Chief Physicist # Ralph E. Telford, ''position not identified'' # Joseph D. Teresi, Associate Chemist # Albert Wattenberg, Physicist # Katharine Way, Research Assistant # Edgar Francis Westrum, Jr., Chemist #

Eugene Paul Wigner Eugene Paul "E. P." Wigner ( hu, Wigner Jenő Pál, ; November 17, 1902 – January 1, 1995) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who also contributed to mathematical physics. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 "for his con ...

, Physicist # Ernest J. Wilkins, Jr., Associate Physicist # Hoylande Young, Senior Chemist # William Houlder Zachariasen, Consultant

References

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