19 April 1961
Dear Mr. Hammarskjold:
On 16 February we submitted to you an Appeal to Stop the Spread of Nuclear Weapons.
A copy of the Appeal is attached to this letter. This Appeal was presented as a petition
by us and our 720 cosigners, whose names were given to you, as individuals. We mentioned
in our letter of transmittal that no organization had been responsible for the planning
or the writing of the petition or for the collection of signatures.
Shortly thereafter some additional signatures reached us. On the attached sheets
there are given the names of 62 people to whom we had written, and who are to be classed
among the initial signers of the petition.
We may point out that there are two Nobel Laureates in this list, bringing the number
of Nobel Laureates who have signed the petition up to 40. Moreover, some additional
countries are now represented.
We have also had copies of the petition printed, and have circulated these copies
in the United States and other countries. We are submitting herewith some of these
copies, with the attached signatures: a total of more than 50,000 from the United
States and Canada. Other copies will be submitted to you later.
We continue to feel that the problem of achieving international control of armaments,
leading ultimately to a total and universal disarmament, would be greatly complicated
and increased in difficulty if many nations or groups of nations were to have stockpiles
of nuclear weapons. We continue to hope that the spread of nuclear weapons to more
nations or groups of nations can be delayed long enough to permit an effective attack
to be made on the problem of achieving peace and disarmament in the world.
Sincerely Yours,
[Linus Pauling, Ava Helen Pauling]
P.S. Professor A. Butenandt, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Germany, has also signed
the Appeal as an initial signer. His signature, which appears on the back of the
petition, brings the number of signatures of Nobel Laureates up to 41.
