US Undersecretary of Energy and MIT Professor of Physics Ernest J. Moniz and biologist and author Edward O. Wilson will be among the speakers at the Henry Kendall Memorial Symposium this Saturday, Oct. 23. The all-day symposium, sponsored by the Department of Physics and the Union of Concerned Scientists, will begin at 9am at the Marriott Hotel (2 Cambridge Center, Cambridge).
Dr. Kendall was the Julius A. Stratton Professor of Physics, chairman of the Union of Concerned Scientists and one of the 1990 physics Nobel laureates honored for the discovery of quarks. He died Feb. 15, 1999 during an underwater photography dive near Tallahassee, FL.
Professor Kendall's deep commitment to humanitarian causes led to the co-founding of the Cambridge-based Union of Concerned Scientists. He testified before Congress on the threat of nuclear war, energy policy, nuclear power issues, controlling oil well fires, and antipersonnel mine clearing. He authored and collaborated in numerous articles, reports, and studies related to the nuclear arms race, nuclear power and renewable energy.
Reflecting his interests, the symposium's topics include "The Global Environment: Critical Issues for the Next Century," arms control and security policy and the role of scientists in public policy.
Speakers include Timothy Wirth, president of the UN Foundation; Edward O. Wilson, University Research Professor at Harvard University; and Robert Watson, chairman of the World Bank's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Richard Garwin of the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center will speak on "Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century -- Prospects and Policy."
A panel on the role of scientists in public policy will include US Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ); Professor Moniz; and Sharon Begley, senior editor of Newsweek. Frank Wilczek, professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, will speak on "Quarks and Gluons: The Story of the Strong Interaction."
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 20, 1999.
