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Photographer: Mike Wintermantel
Taken: May 14, 2014
Caption: Building The Bomb
Additional Description: "At the time, we believed Germany was close to developing an atomic bomb. Even when they failed to do so, ending the war with Japan remained a priority. The regrettable bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did bring that conflict to an end, and saved countless tens of thousands of lives on both sides."

Dr. Philip Morrison

Dr. Morrison grew up in Pittsburgh, attended its public schools and graduated from Carnegie Tech. He earned his doctorate in theoretical physics at the University of California, studying under J. Robert Oppenheimer. Later, he was one of the physicists whose work on the Manhattan Project produced the atomic bomb.

After a post-war visit to Hiroshima, Dr. Morrison became an opponent of nuclear proliferation. He co-founded the Federation of American Scientists and helped form the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies. A highly respected professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he was widely published and also appeared frequently on radio and television programs aimed at a general audience. Most notably, he contributed to The Price of Defense, the first book to propose a detailed alternative defense strategy for the United States.

Although he was a staunch pacifist who abhorred war, Dr. Morrison did not regret having contributed to the building of nuclear weapons: "My only regret is the dark period that followed."
Submitted: May 14, 2014, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Database Locator Identification Number: p273328
File Size: 1.771 Megabytes

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