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[Caps indicate a word underlined in the original letter]

Route 1 Guilford College, N.C. July 29, 1947

Dr. Harold Urey Univ. of Chicago

Dear Dr. Urey:

I appreciate your letter of June 25, 1947. And I have been glad to receive the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. I should like to continue to receive the Bulletin and am enclosing check for subscription. But I am sending it, with this letter, to you because I want to accompany it with this letter.

I am myself a chemist (retired now), Ph.D. of Columbia University, so I appreciate perhaps more than the non-scientist, how magnificent a service the atomic scientists have done. But it was perhaps to be expected that some traces of the 'faith of all the years' should remain and that the atomic scientists should believe that if he only told world the truth, the world would be wise enough to act upon that truth wisely.

Because the work of the Emergency Committee stopped there, with informing the public about the NATURE of ATOMIC ENERGY, I have not continued my small contribution to the Committee. The fear of the atomic bomb has been used by militarists and politicians to bolster schemes of action which are the opposite of the aims of the atomic scientists. But I am glad to see recently that the atomic scientists are THEMSELVES attempting to translate their message into political language. Maybe "you all" are not accomplished statesmen but neither are ninetynine percent of all the people who make our national policy. And you have a sense of world unity, a respect for fair dealing, a method of evaluating theories and proposals, and many other things that are desperately needed in the world councils today. So I hope that you will continue to relate atomic energy to machinery for world peace, not allow it to remain isolated in peoples' thinking or be made a football of politicians. After all, is not biological warfare as much a threat? Practically all the fearful devastation of World War II was done without the atomic bomb, and it could be repeated a hundredfold over. No one is in a better position than atomic scientists themselves to point that out.

The plan for control of atomic energy, for instance. Suppose we got the Baruch plan, are we to have another for control of biological warfare, for poison gas, etc.? As I see it there is no way for peace except to GET RID OF WAR ITSELF, and the FEAR OF WAR. So it was very heartening to us members of United World Federalists to have your organization come out for real world government. If all scientific people would stand for that and NOTHING LESS it would be a great step forward.

Very sincerely yours,

Ada M. Field