Nuclear energy and its uses in peace [antikvár]

PREFACE Almost any new discovery in science may be used for good or for evil. It is men who decide, according to their needs of the moinent, and according to their morál and philoso-phical conceptions. With peace now prevailing, with the peoples of every nation eager for the good life, and with ample knowledge now available frorn 15 years of research, the time is certainly ripe for developing the beneficent and constructive uses of the atom for peace. The proposal to do so by international co-operation was unanimously approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1954 and by the General Conference of Unesco, at is eighth session. The first major event is the United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of the Atom, held in Geneva in August 1955, 10 years after Hiroshima. Thus a new era opens. The science of atomic materials and the engineering uses of atomic energy will be shared by all the ivorld. It becomes as important for the public to learn the new facts as it has been to understand the use of coal and steam. The new power will be widely used long before school textbooks can be rewritten and before the children who study them can become adults. An introduc-tion to the new knowledge and to its use in ordinary peaceful living is needed at once, especially for the educators—those who teach in schools and those who write for the public as well. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is charged ívith the enhancement of peace through international co-operation in education and in science. On the occasion of the Geneva Conference, therefore Unesco takes pleasure in publishing this little booklet on a great development that promises to improve the standard of living of all mankind during the years just ahead. Luther H. Evans Director-General