Must Destruction Be Our Destiny?

manhattan project scientist against nuclear weapons

First edition, first printing, presentation copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, 'To Bob - my first boss and by far my best one. Sincerely, Harrison'. The identity of the recipient is unclear.

Nuclear chemist Harrison Brown (1917-1986) was one of the pioneers of the isolation of gaseous uranium and plutonium compounds. The techniques he developed were used during the Manhattan Project to produce nuclear material for the cores of fission bombs. But Brown opposed the deployment of atomic weapons against civilians and signed an early petition asking that the bomb be demonstrated before it was used in Japan. After the war Harrison remained a strong advocate for limiting nuclear weapons, and gave 102 lectures on the topic within three months of the publication of this book (Atomic Heritage Foundation biography).

First edition, first printing, inscribed presentation copy; 8vo; contents faintly toned, partial tanning to endpapers; original black cloth, titles to spine and upper board gilt, top edge dyed red, cloth lightly rubbed at the tips, an excellent copy in the rubbed jacket with some small chips and toned lower panel; 158pp.