Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2008 APS April Meeting and HEDP/HEDLA Meeting
Volume 53, Number 5
Friday–Tuesday, April 11–15, 2008; St. Louis, Missouri
Session S6: FPS/FHP Awards Session |
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: FPS FHP Chair: Lawrence Krauss, Case Western Reserve University Room: Hyatt Regency St. Louis Riverfront (formerly Adam's Mark Hotel), St. Louis H |
Monday, April 14, 2008 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
S6.00001: Abraham Pais Award Lecture Invited Speaker: |
Monday, April 14, 2008 2:06PM - 2:42PM |
S6.00002: Andrei Sakharov Prize Invited Speaker: Ever since my youth, the writings of Einstein had always enlightened my life. However, I later began to follow Marxism and threw myself into the Chinese revolution. Yet, ironically, after the victory of the revolution I myself became a target of the revolutionary dictatorship. Started from 1962 I collected, edited and translated ``Collected Works of Einstein'' in the countryside. Fourteen years later the three-volume collected works were published in China, which created immense impacts to Chinese intellectuals. It was Einstein's thoughts on human rights and democracy that awakened me. Since then I have devoted myself to the fight for human rights and to the cause of democratic enlightenment in China. My goal is to transform an autocratic China that tramples human rights into a democratic and free modern China that respects human rights. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 14, 2008 2:42PM - 3:18PM |
S6.00003: Joseph A. Burton Forum Award: Nuclear Non-proliferation: the Future depends on us Invited Speaker: - [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, April 14, 2008 3:18PM - 3:54PM |
S6.00004: Leo Szilard Lectureship Award Invited Speaker: |
Monday, April 14, 2008 3:54PM - 4:30PM |
S6.00005: Leo Szilard Lectureship Award Talk: Nuclear disarmament after the cold war Invited Speaker: Now that the cold war is long over, our thinking of nuclear weapons and the role that they play in international security has undergone serious changes. The emphasis has shifted from superpower confrontation to nuclear proliferation, spread of weapon materials, and to the dangers of countries developing nuclear weapon capability under a cover of a civilian program. At the same time, the old cold-war dangers, while receded, have not disappeared completely. The United States and Russia keep maintaining thousands of nuclear weapons in their arsenals, some of them in very high degree of readiness. This situation presents a serious challenge that the international community has to deal with. Although Russia and the United States are taking some steps to reduce their nuclear arsenals, the traditional arms control process has stalled -- the last treaty that was signed in 2002 does not place serious limits on strategic forces of either side. The START Treaty, which provides a framework for verification and transparency in reduction of nuclear arsenals, will expire at the end of 2009. Little effort has been undertaken to extend the treaty or renegotiate it. Moreover, in recent years Russia has stepped up the efforts to modernize its strategic nuclear forces. The United States has resisted joining the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and has been working on controversial new nuclear weapon development programs. The U.S. missile defense program makes the dialogue between Russia and the United States even more difficult. The reluctance of Russia and the United States to engage in a discussion about drastic reductions of their nuclear forces undermines the case of nuclear nonproliferation and seriously complicated their effort to contain the spread of nuclear weapon technologies and expertise. One of the reasons for the current lack of progress in nuclear disarmament is the contradiction between the diminished role that nuclear weapons play in security of nuclear weapon states and the inertia of cold-war institutions that are involved in their development and support. Dealing with this contradiction would require development of new mechanisms of cooperation between nuclear weapons states and their strong commitment to the cause of nuclear nonproliferation. One important area of cooperation is development of a framework that would prevent the spread of nuclear materials and technology at the time when increasing number of countries is turning toward expanded use of nuclear power to cover their energy needs. [Preview Abstract] |
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