ELFT HÍRADÓ

[Zoltan Mate <mate AT namafia.atomki.hu>]

Az MTA Atommagkutató Intézetének nagy előadójában
(Debrecen, Bem tér 18/c. 12. ép. III. em.)
2006. szeptember 25-én, HÉTFŐN (!) 11:00-kor

                
                   Robert Schulmann
     (Emeritus Professor of History, Boston University)

              Beware of Rotten Compromises:
        The Moral Foundations of Einstein's Politics        


címmel előadást tart.
Az előadás előtt 10:30-tól tea.
Vendégeket szívesen látunk.


                                   Máté Zoltán


Abstract:

Just before emigrating from Germany to the
United States in 1933, Einstein spent three winter
semesters at the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena. Hitler was beginning his consolidation of
power in Germany, prospects for another world war were
still far off, and the concept of a Cold War was
unimaginable. In a talk to students while at Caltech,
Einstein discussed the role of the scientist in
society: "If you want your life's work to be useful to
mankind, it is not enough that you understand applied
science as such. Concern for man himself must always
constitute the chief objective of all technological
effort. Failure to keep human values paramount will
render the blessings of scientific progress a curse on
all mankind."

In this talk I will set this aphorism in the
historical context of Einstein's life and attempt to
show why the issue of a scientist's
responsibility to society is today still so closely
linked with his person and work.