Robert F. Bacher

The Hydrogen Bomb

Can it be made? Will it add to our national security? How effective will it be as a military weapon? How much more effective than the atomic bomb? Will the Russians be able to make it? Here are the answers to some of the questions most people ask about the H-bomb.

On the reduction of nuclear weapons

The United States, in 1946, proposed that an international authority be formed to control the dangerous parts of atomic energy. The proposal met with very little success, except to lead to the conclusion that there was no apparent reason why it was not technically feasible. Discussions on nuclear weapons testing, initiated in 1958, reached some agreement on test restrictions in Subsequent years.

A time to find solutions

Carroll Wilsons article, Nuclear Energy: What Went Wrong (Bulletin. June 1979), is both interesting and perceptive. He points out quite correctly that at least two of the most criticized areas at the back end of the fuel cycle--reprocessing and nuclear wastes--required much more attention than was given. Also he Points out that for nuclear power the whole cycle must work. His comments on control rooms are well taken in addition to his comparison to the vastly more complicated Boeing 747. The quality and training of operators have now been singled out for special criticism in the recent Kemeny Report on the Three Mile Island accident.

A Voice of Conscience Is Stilled

On the afternoon of May 18, 1973, members of his family, colleagues and friends gathered in a flower-banked chamber of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. to pay tribute to Eugene Rabinowitch. The beautiful memorial service was illuminated by a series of eulogies, spoken by close associates of the Bulletins editor-in-chief. They heightened the realization of loss in the passing of one of the great scientist-humanists of the twentieth century.Herewith we publish excerpts from some of the eulogies which describe the life and work of Eugene Rabinowitch and which reflect his philosophy. These remarks are followed by messages from members of the world scientific community which Eugene Rabinowitch served as a powerful voice of conscience.

IUPAP–Past and future

Although “everyone” has heard of IUPAP, many of us are unaware of what it is (a membership organization? an organization of other organizations?), what it does, and how it is financed (does the money come out of our American Physical Society or Optical Society dues? out of our taxes?).

The Physicist and the Future Development of Atomic Energy

In a speech delivered to members of the American Physical Society in New York City on January 30, Dr. Bacher discussed certain aspects of the atomic energy program that are currently of greatest concern to the countrys physicists. Dr. Bacher was formerly Professor of Physics at Cornell University and associate director of the Los Alamos Laboratory. He is now a member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.