Oregon State UniversitySpecial Collections & Archives Research Center

“We the People: A Prescription for Ending the Arms Race,” Dr. Helen Caldicott

Third Annual Ava Helen Pauling Memorial Lecture for World Peace

October 17, 1984

Abstract

Helen Caldicott
Helen Caldicott (Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament)

“We the People: A Prescription for Ending the Arms Race”  Watch Video

An outspoken advocate for nuclear disarmament, Dr. Caldicott uses her expertise as a physician to detail the medical dangers of nuclear war. In so doing, she traces the history of nuclear weapons from their infancy with Albert Einstein and the Manhattan Project, through Edward Teller and the hydrogen bomb, and up to Ronald Reagan - whom she had interviewed a year and a half before - the Soviet Union and the Cold War.

Dr. Caldicott uses her talk to paint a chilling portrait of the damaging effects of nuclear war on people and the planet. She concludes her presentation by calling upon the audience to involve themselves in world affairs, suggesting several mechanisms by which individuals may take action against militarism and nuclear proliferation.


Related Names: Linus Pauling, Ava Helen Pauling