SCIENTISTS MEET IN MOSCOW

THE SIXTH OF THE PUGWASH conferences on world peace and the role of the scientists was held in December of last year in the Soviet capital. The next conference is scheduled for this coming summer and will meet in the United States.

The Pugwash movement was initiated several years ago by Cleveland industrialist Cyrus Eaton, a long time advocate of American-Soviet friendship, with such eminent men of science as Albert Einstein, Frederic Joliot-Curie and Bertrand Russell participating. It derived its name from the small Canadian town where the first meeting was held.

Assembled in Moscow's Friendship Club for the sixth conference were 76 distinguished scientists from 15 countries. The United States and the USSR had the largest representations. Soviet participants included Alexander Nesmeyanov, Alexander Topchiev, Igor Tamm, Pyotr Kapitsa, Nikolai Semyonov, Alexander Tupolev, Yevgeni Fyodorov, Dmitri Skobeltsyn, Nikolai Bogolyubov and Vasili Yemelyanov—all men of international stature. Among the 26 noted American scientists were L. Szilard, J. Weisner, D. Inglis, R. Leghorn, H. Brown, E. Rabinowitch and B. Glass.

Some 50 papers were read at the ten-day conference touching on the manifold phases of the most important of contemporary problems—general and complete disarmament, the history and danger of the arms race, prohibition of nuclear weapon tests, measures to insure against surprise attacks, guarantees to preserve the peace during the disarmament period and after, and the responsibility of the scientist in preventing war and organizing international cooperation.

Professor Paul Doty contributed a paper on "Changing Views on Disarmament in the United States" and Professor Bernard Feld a paper on problems of armament inspection and controls, both of which evoked thoughtful discussion by the international gathering. Premier Nikita Khrushchev said in his message to the conference, "It is most gratifying that the problem of disarmament is being considered by the leading scientists of our time. In our age of remarkable scientific discoveries their voices are listened to throughout the world."

Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus Eaton came to Moscow for the conference and were cordially welcomed by Soviet leaders Anastas Mikoyan, Yekaterina Furtseva and Dmitri Polyansky. They called on Nina Khrushcheva and met other members of the Chairman's family. Madame Khrushchev, Mr. Eaton said in an interview subsequently, was one of the finest people he had ever met anywhere. She creates good will and friendship for the Soviet Union, he commented.

He also met with many Soviet scientists and thought them people with broad interests—not only concerned with their own specialized research areas but active participants in the general, and powerful, movement for peace. "It is a good thing," he said, "that the scientists of many countries can get together and discuss the problems of peace and general and complete disarmament. I was glad to see the spirit of understanding and cooperation which reigned at the Pugwash conference."

This is Mr. Eaton's second visit to the Soviet Union. Moscow, he commented, was expanding fast in all ways, "I mean not only in extensive construction of buildings of all kinds. Moscow is a great world capital. One sees here people from every nation of the world." As for Muscovites, he thought them wonderful—healthy, vigorous, intelligent.

In a letter published in the press addressed to the Soviet people, Mr. Eaton wrote, "You have achieved tremendous successes and you have a very promising future in store which will bring prosperity and happiness to the whole of your vast population." He said that he hoped to get better acquainted with the Soviet people and their great country and looked forward to the day when the Pacific Ocean, the common frontier between the two countries, would become a great bridge for American-Soviet trade.

Answering a question put to him on prospects for broader American-Soviet cultural and scientific exchange, Mr. Eaton replied that he hoped to see them expanded. Visiting Soviet musicians, artists and writers are very popular in the United States, he noted; they contribute to understanding and to greater cooperation.

Mr. Eaton thought that American and Soviet farmers could, with mutual profit, trade ideas on seed selection and breeding stock. He had been very much impressed by the work Soviet farmers were doing in animal husbandry, to judge by the fine horses he had seen.

Adverting to his own field, he went on to say that American industrialists like himself and Soviet executives in iron and steel, coal, power and railroads should be seeing more of each other. "As experience has shown, our cooperation in all these fields will be mutually helpful. . . . I have always said that if there exist two countries that have everything to gain from friendship and nothing to gain from war, they are the United States and the Soviet Union."