4 October 1960
Professor Otto Bastiansen
Institutt for Teoretisk Kjemi
Norges Tekniske Høgskole
Trondheim, NORWAY
Dear Otto:
I am pleased that you are interested in the history of the development of my ideas about peace.
You know that I was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1901, and that I attended the local schools and then the Oregon State Agricultural
College. In 1917-18 I was a cadet in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, but not old enough to be in the Army itself. By
1922 I had become the Cadet Major of the Infantry Regiment of the Reserve Officers Training Corps. Then in May 1922, after
thinking about militarism for awhile, I decided that I did not want to become a reserve officer, and I resigned from my commission
as Cadet Major.
Of course, during the period 1939 to 1945 I was very active in war work. I had been strongly opposed to the development of
Nazism in Germany, and I could see no alternative to working for the defeat of Germany. I received several awards from the
government, including the highest award given to a civilian, the Presidential Medal for Merit. The citation for this award
is attached.
When the first atomic bombs were exploded, in 1945, I became greatly troubled about the significance of these terrible weapons,
and I began, as did many other scientists, to give public lectures about nuclear fission and the nature of nuclear war. I
have continued this activity with greater and greater vigor up to the present time. During the last two or three years I
have given public lectures and television and radio appearances on this subject at the rate of about one hundred per year.
When I was young I was a Republican - that is, a member of the Conservative Party in America. In this I was just following
my mother. In 1932 I began to think about politics, and became a Democrat. Since that time I have been a member of the Democratic
Party. In 1948, when Henry Wallace ran for the Presidency as a Progressive, I supported him, and I gave several public addresses
in support of his candidacy.
I have decided that I am really a socialist, but I am not able to join the American Socialist Party - Social Democratic Federation.
In order to join the Socialist Party - Social Democratic Federation, it is necessary that one pledge himself not to take any
political action except in conformity with the constitution, principles, and decisions of the Socialist Party. I, of course,
am not willing to make any such pledge, and accordingly am prevented from joining. Nevertheless, I shall continue to work
for socialism in America, and to hope that sometime we shall have a good socialist party that is really democratic and also
a power in the land.
During recent years I have become more and more interested in philosophical and ethical questions. One year ago I gave the
Messenger Lectures at Cornell. These lectures are supposed to be on the evolution of civilization. I chose as my title The
Molecular Basis of Civilization. The lectures were in part scientific, but involved much discussion of philosophical and
ethical questions. I hope that in two or three years from now I shall have completed preparing them for publication.
I have decided that it is not possible to work for peace without at the same time working for civil liberties. It is the
attack on me that convinced me about this matter. Senator Dodd is attempting to prevent international agreements that will
lead to a decrease in world tensions and to disarmament, and as part of his effort he attempts to throttle public discussion
by attacking me and the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy. I think that it is necessary to fight back.
I believe that during the next few months I shall probably write an account of my experiences as a book, which perhaps will
have the title Fighting for Peace and Freedom. I plan that it will be a popular book, designed to strengthen the peace movement
in the United States.
The principal printed document about peace that I have written is my book No More War!, which has been translated into several
foreign languages. I am sending you a copy of the British edition and also a copy of the American paperback edition under
separate cover.
During the first few years when I was working for peace I did not publish any articles. My work began to be effective when,
in 1946, I became a trustee of the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, of which Professor Einstein was Chairman. I
addressed many audiences for this Committee.
During recent years many of my addresses have been printed, starting with the address The Ultimate Decision that I gave at
a great meeting in Carnegie Hall, New York, on 13 February 1950.
Under separate cover I am sending you some documents. A list of these documents is given on the attached sheet.
Sincerely yours,
Linus Pauling:lh
