The Nuclear-Arms Race and the Physician

Abstract

The possibility that nuclear weapons may cause an unprecedented catastrophe for humanity has not halted the nuclear-arms race. On the contrary, the insecurity resulting from these weapons is a factor in their multiplication. Nuclear devices of varying size, sophistication, and destructiveness now number in excess of 40,000.1 Prof. George Kistiakowsky, a former head of the Explosives Division of the Manhattan Project and science advisor to President Eisenhower, recently stated that it would be a miracle if no nuclear warheads were exploded in anger before the end of this century, and only a slightly smaller miracle if that did not lead . . .