A collection of essays by a Nobel Prize Laureate on a wide range of critical issues facing the
world and the role of scientists in solving these problems. Kendall has been closely involved
with the Union of Concerned Scientists a group that began as an informal assocation at MIT in
1969 to protest US involvement in Vietnam and is today an organization with an annual budget
exceeding $6 million with 100 000 supporters worldwide. UCD is today a voice of authority in
US government science policy particularly with regard to environment issues most recently the
worldwide initiatives on global warming. Together these essays represent both the sucessses
and failures of science to impact public policy the challenges facing scientists and offers
practical guidelines for involvement in science policy. The essays are roughly chronological
organized by subject with introductions beginning with the controversies on nuclear power
safety and Three Mile Island then followed by sections on national security issues global
environmental and resource problems and radioactive cleanup and other current issues. Kendall's
Nobel Prize lecture as well as a more popular version thereof is also included (and is the only
really technical material in the book). The photos in the book are Kendall's from an 1992
exhibition of his work. Henry Kendall was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics (jointly with
J.I.Friedman and R.E. Taylor) in 1990 for his research in the structure of the proton and
netron. In 1969 he was one of a group of physicist who founded the Union of Concerned
Scientists (UCS) and is currently Chairman of its Board of Directors.
