Bernard T. Feld Explained

Bernard Taub Feld (December 21, 1919 – February 19, 1993) was a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He helped develop the atomic bomb, and later led an international movement among scientists to banish nuclear weapons.^[1]

Early life

Feld was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from the City College of New York with a bachelor of science degree in 1939. He began graduate school at Columbia University, but suspended his studies to join the American war effort. He spent the war serving as an assistant to Enrico Fermi and Leó Szilárd working on the Manhattan Project. After World War II, he returned to Columbia University to receive his PhD in 1945 with thesis advisor Willis Lamb.

Career

Feld was on the faculty of MIT from 1948 until he retired in 1990. During this time, he was President of the Albert Einstein Peace Prize Foundation, editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and head of the American Pugwash Committee.^[2]

Feld was a Ford Foundation Fellow and a visiting scientist at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland.^{[3] [4]}

The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995. Feld was a leader in these conferences, serving as U.S. Chairman from 1963 to 1973 and as International Chairman from 1973 to 1978. It was in this role that he attracted the anger of Richard Nixon's White House. He was eleventh on Nixon's list of enemies, a fact that pleased him tremendously.

"One month after the election of Ronald Reagan, Feld being an editor of 'Bulletin of the American Atomic Scientists' reported that his publication had decided to move the hands on the Doomsday Clock featured on its cover from seven to four minutes to midnight, because, as 'the year drew to a close, the world seemed to be moving unevenly but inexorably closer to nuclear disaster.' "^[5]

Selected publications

Articles

• Feld, Bernard T.. Nuclear moments. Annual Review of Nuclear Science. 2. 1. 1953. 239–260. 10.1146/annurev.ns.02.120153.001323 . 1953ARNPS...2..239F . free.
• 2. 10.1080/00963402.1962.11454340. More Important than Shelters . April 1962 . Feld . Bernard T. . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . 18 . 4 . 8–11 . 1962BuAtS..18d...8F .
• 2. 10.1080/00963402.1964.11454726. The Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons . December 1964 . Feld . Bernard T. . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . 20 . 10 . 2–6 . 1964BuAtS..20j...2F .
• 2. 10.1103/PhysRev.138.B190. Energy-Dependent Pion-Nucleon Phase-Shift Analysis . 1965 . Roper . L. David . Wright . Robert M. . Feld . Bernard T. . Physical Review . 138 . 1B . B190–B210 . 1965PhRv..138..190R .
• 2. 10.1103/PhysRev.145.925. New Type of Accelerator for Heavy Ions . 1966 . Janes . G. S. . Levy . R. H. . Bethe . H. A. . Feld . B. T. . Physical Review . 145 . 3 . 925–952 . 1966PhRv..145..925J .
• 2. 10.1080/00963402.1967.11455074. A Pledge: No First Use . May 1967 . Feld . Bernard T. . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . 23 . 5 . 46–48 . 1967BuAtS..23e..46F .
• 2. 10.1080/00963402.1974.11458105. The Menace of a Fission Power Economy . April 1974 . Feld . Bernard T. . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . 30 . 4 . 32–34 . 1974BuAtS..30d..32F .
• 2. 10.1080/00963402.1976.11455618. The consequences of nuclear war . June 1976 . Feld . Bernard T. . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . 32 . 6 . 10–13 . 1976BuAtS..32f..10F .
• 2. 10.1080/00963402.1979.11458591. Einstein and the politics of nuclear weapons . March 1979 . Feld . Bernard T. . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . 35 . 3 . 5–16 . 1979BuAtS..35c...5F .

Books

• Book: Feld, B.T.. Feshbach, H.. Goldberger, M.L.. Goldstein, H.. Weisskopf, V.F.. Final Report of the Fast Neutron Data Project. Report number: NYO-636, United States Atomic Energy Commission . January 1951 . Washington, D.C.. U. S. Government Printing Office.
• Book: 2. Feld, Bernard T.. A voice crying in the wilderness: essays on the problems of science and world affairs. Pergamon Press. 1979. 0080231063. ^[6]

External links

• Obituary from MIT News Office

Notes and References

1. Remembering Bernie. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. May 1993. 13–17.
2. https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/research/collections/collections-mc/mc167.html Preliminary Inventory to the Papers of Bernard Taub Feld MC.0167, MIT, Institute Archives and Special Collections
3. Web site: Professor Bernard Feld dies at 73. 24 February 1993. MIT News. 2019-07-12.
4. Web site: Elementary Particle Physics - Lecture Courses Given at Cern in 1961. Bernard T.. Feld. CERN Yellow Reports. 2019-07-12.
5. [Richard Pipes]
6. Review of A voice crying in the wilderness by Bernard T. Feld. Hodgson, Peter. Peter E. Hodgson. 22 November 1979. New Scientist. 630.