Atomic Mirror Returns to Hay Festival

Joseph Rotblat Memorial Lecture

British Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, delivered the first Joseph Rotblat Memorial Lecture this morning (Sunday, May 28 2006) to a packed crowd of over 400 people at the Guardian Hay Literature Festival in Wales. Journalist Jon Snow of Channel Four News introduced him and moderated questions and answers. Sir Martin honored the late Professor Joseph Rotblat, the only scientist to walk away from the Manhattan Project, citing his initiation of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto and acting as the “prime mover and untiring inspiration” behind Pugwash. He devoted most of his talk to the “promises and threats of science in the 21st century,” citing his grounds for being a “techno optimist,” despite the widespread global threats. Because the decisions we face are political in nature, everyone “needs a feel for science and a realistic sense of risk.” He encouraged scientists, citizens and politicians to engage in the debate together.

Read the lecture online at the Come Clean website

Visit the Hay Festival website

Press Coverage:
Dark materials
Essay by Martin Rees, The Guardian
June 10 2006

Terror or error: is humanity on the eve of destruction?
James Randerson, The Guardian
May 29 2006