Linus Pauling: Well now there is another matter that is related to this. I have mentioned that these
bad genes were formed at a certain rate by the natural mutagenication, cosmic rays
and so on, and that rate is now increased by the fact that man has obtained power
over the nuclei of atoms, that he is able to cause the fission of heavy elements,
the nuclei of these heavy elements, at will, and has done it in very large amounts
in the nuclear bomb tests, also in the efforts to obtain peace-time use of atomic
energy. This is also dangerous.
But not so dangerous as the military uses, the bomb tests. Because if you work carefully
in a carefully planned building you can take steps to control the radioactivity that
is being released. If you explode a bomb in the upper atmosphere, you can't control
it. The fallout radiation, Strontium-90, and similar things, spread over the world,
drop down. Everybody in the world now has Strontium-90 in his bones, radioactive material,
and nobody had it 15 years ago, 10 years ago. Strontium-90 did not exist. This is
a new hazard to the human race, a new hazard to the health of people, and scientists
need to talk about it.
