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Lind, Bertil, July 2, 1947
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Telephone Bryant 9-7688 CABLES "LINDBERTIL"
Bertil Lind 26 West 44th Street New York 18, N.Y.
July 2, 1947
Professor Harold C. Urey Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists Room 28, 90 Nassau Street Princeton, New Jersey
Dear Mr. Urey:
I have received your letter of June 25th and also the copy of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists which you mentioned, and I thank you for both.
We all owe you and your colleagues on the Committee, and the many anonymous collaborators which you doubtless have, a great debt of gratitude for your unselfish devotion to the interests of mankind in this work. I have not the slightest doubt but that the man in the street would eagerly welcome an opportunity to do his bit in this work were he only aware of it. I happened to be approached by the Committee, but this was a pure hazard, and naturally it has been impossible for you to reach any but a very restricted number. It seems to me, therefore, that what you need more than anything else to help along this great work is publicity, or rather contact with the public. If this were established I am certain that the amount of $1,000,000 which you seek to obtain to finance your work would be swiftly oversubscribed. It is in these circumstances an insignificant sum. The Bulletin, as I understand it, addresses itself mainly to people who may influence decisions and is not intended for a general educative purpose.
May I ask you, therefore, whether it would not be possible to arrange, in order to create a wide contact with the American people, for a syndicated column, for instance appearing three times a week and signed by you or by Professor Einstein, or by the group as such. It seems to me that it would be easier to arouse public opinion, strange as it may seem, by stressing the great values rather than the great danger of the atomic developments. If you were to appeal to the imagination of the American public by bringing out in such a column the great vistas which atomic science opens in the fields of industry, communications, medicine, et cetera, you would, I am sure, arouse an eager interest in your field. This can not possibly develop without those interested at the same time realizing the