Einstein

Appeal to support an International Einstein Year
Berlin, June, 8th 2004

In the year 2005, scientists throughout the world will be celebrating the centenary of the theory of special relativity and the light-quantum hypothesis, both developed by Albert Einstein in 1905. The celebrations will also honour the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death in 1955.

Einstein was not only an extraordinary scientist, but also a scientist who faced his social responsibilities, intervened in political affairs and stood up and fought for civil rights. For his whole life, he was committed to social justice, disarmament, and peace.

As Einstein repudiated nationalistic attitudes and meaningless social rituals, the International Einstein Year 2005 should therefore reflect his universal and cosmopolitan stance. The future of democratic societies rests on the comprehensive education and training of all its citizens. Scientific results must therefore be accessible to everyone. Education should not remain a privilege for the chosen few. The future of the citizens of all countries depends on the willingness of those who are prepared to commit themselves to a principle of solidarity whereby fair cultural and social services and economic trading, as well as an ecologically sound use of resources are indispensable. The future of mankind lies in the peaceful and tolerant cooperation between all countries and cultures. The elimination of atomic weapons and other means of mass destruction must therefore be the first and most important step in creating a world in which war as a means of solving conflicts no longer plays a role. To put it in Einstein's words:

"War cannot be humanized. It can only be abolished."

Scientists from all over the world are called upon to face up to their social responsibilities and to commit themselves to making scientific results the cultural heritage of all people. In doing so, poverty, under-development, and ecological destruction can be counteracted in a peaceful manner. In an interview from 1929 Einstein expressed his notion of a peaceful and commercially impartial world with the following words:

"Think of what a world we could build if the power unleashed in war were applied to constructive tasks! One tenth of the energy that the various belligerents spent in the World War, a fraction of the money they exploded in hand grenades and poison gas would suffice to raise the standard of living in every country and avert the economic catastrophe of world wide unemployment. We must be prepared to make the same heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart. Nothing that I can do or say will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice, I can help the greatest of all causes - good will among men and peace on earth."

We, the initiators of this appeal in support of the International Einstein Year 2005, aim to realize this vision of the future in the spirit of the great scientist and call on all peoples of the world for their support.

Signatories

• Prof. Dr. Marion Addy, University of Accra, Ghana
• Prof. Dr. Zhores I. Alferov, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics 2000, Russia
• Prof. Dr. Josef Altshuler, President of the Cuban Society for the History of Science and Technology, Cuba
• Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1987, Costa Rica
• Prof. Dr. Fernando de Souza Barros, Pugwash Council, Brazil
• Prof. Dr. Ulrike Beisiegel, Hospital of the University of Hamburg (UKE), Chairperson of the European Atherosclerosis Society, Germany
• Prof Dr. Baruj Benacerraf ,Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine, 1980,USA
• Prof. Dr. Hans Bethe, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics 1967, USA
• Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Boutwell, Executive Officer at the American Academy of Arts and Science, Executive Director of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, USA
• Col. (ret.) Pierre Canonne, former Head of TDB at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague and Pugwash Council,France
• Ernesto Cardinal, Writer, Nicaragua
• Prof Dr. Arvid Carlsson, Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine 2000, Sweden
• Prof. Dr. Ana-Maria Cetto, Secretary- General of the International Council for Science, Mexico
• Prof. Dr. Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Pugwash Council, Secretary of USPID, Italy
• Prof. Dr. Paul Crutzen, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1995, Germany/Netherlands
• Prof. Dr. Jean Dausset, Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine 1980, France
• Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala, former UN Under-Secretary General for Disarmament, Sri Lanka
• Prof. Dr. Ogunlade Davidson, scientific advisor of UNEP, South Africa
• Prof. Dr. Francisco Jose Delich, Former Rector of the National University of Cordoba and Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Prof. Dr. Johann Deisenhofer, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1988, USA
• Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Dürr, MPI for Astrophysics, Alternative Nobel Laureate 1987, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Manfred Eigen, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1967, Germany
• Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1980, Argentina
• Prof. Richard R. Ernst, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1991, Switzerland
• Prof. Dr. Dietrich Fischer, Director of the European Peace Museum, USA/Austria
• Prof Dr. John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist at Harvard University, USA
• Prof. Dr. Johan Galtung, Alternative Nobel Laureate 1987, Norway
• Prof. Dr. Vitaly Ginzburg, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics 2003, Russia
• Mikhail Gorbachev, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1990, Russia
• Prof. Dr. Cleve W.J.Granger, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics 2003, USA
• Prof. Karen Hallberg, Pugwash Council, board of Physics Association, Argentina
• Prof. Dr. Gerd Harigel, CERN, Switzerland
• Prof. Dr. Herbert A. Hauptmann, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1985, USA
• Prof. Dudley R. Herschbach, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1986, USA
• Prof. Dr. Dieter B. Herrmann, Director of the Archenhold Observatory, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Frank von Hippel, Princeton University, Former President of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), USA
• Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pugwash Council, Pakistan
• Prof. Dr. Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1981, USA
• Prof. Dr. Tim Hunt, Nobel Prize Laureate Physiology/Medicine 2001, UK
• International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, (IPPNW), Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1985
• International Peace Bureau, (IPB), Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1910
• Prof. Dr. Gordana Jovanovic, University of Beograd, Serbia and Montenegro
• Prof. Dr. Jerome Karle, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1985, USA
• Prof. Dr. Matthias Kreck, Mathematics, University of Heidelberg, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Walter Kohn, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1998, USA
• Prof. Dr. Masahashi Koshika, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics 2002, Japan
• Dr. David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Vice President of INES, USA
• Prof. Dr. Paul Kurtz, President of the International Academy of Humanism, USA
• His Holiness Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1989, India
• Dr. David Lange, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Alternative Nobel Prize Laureate 1983, New Zealand
• Prof. Dr. Anne McLaren, Former Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, Pugwash Council, UK
• Prof. Dr. Jean Marie Lehn, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1987, France
• Beisel Lemke, Alternative Nobel Laureate 2000, Turkey
• Prof. Dr. Rita Levi- Montalcini, Nobel Prize Laureate Medicine 1986, Italy
• Prof. Dr. Jiri Matousek, advisor to the OPCW, University of Brno, Czech Republic
• Prof. Dr. Claus Montonen, President of INES, Finland
• Prof. Dr. Phil Morrison, (MIT) Manhattan-Project, Founder of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), USA
• Robert O. Muller, Thomas Gebauer, Co-founders of the "International Campaign to ban landmines", Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1997, USA/Germany
• Prof. Dr. Erwin Neher, Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine/Physiology 1991, Germany
• Dr. Götz Neuneck, Pugwash Council, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Hitoshi Ohnishi, Pugwash Council, Vice President of Tohoku University, Japan
• Prof. Dr. Luis de la Pena Averbach, former President of the Mexican National Society of Physics, Mexico
• Prof. Dr. Hugo Perez, Director at the Institute of Cybernetic Mathematics and Physics, Cuba
• Prof. Dr. Peter H. Plesch, Professor of Chemistry, University of Keele, UK
• Prof. Dr. Jürgen Renn, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Horst–Eberhard Richter, Director of the Sigmund-Freud-Institute, Germany
• Douglas Roche, Senator, President of the Middle Power Initiative (MPI), Canada
• Prof. Dr. Joseph Rotblat, Peace Prize Laureate 1995, UK
• Acad. Dr. Yury Ryzhov, Pugwash Council, former member of the Presidential Council, Russia
• General (ret) Mohammed Kadry Sahid, Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Pugwash Council, Egypt
• Prof. Dr. Frederick Sanger, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1985, UK
• Dr. Hermann Scheer, Alternative Nobel Laureate 1999, Germany
• Prof.Dr. Jürgen Schneider, board member of German Initiative Science for Peace and Sustainability
• Mycle Schneider, Alternative Nobel Prize Laureate 1997, France
• Prof. Dr. Joseph Stachel, Biographer of Albert Einstein, USA
• Prof. Dr. Jacques Steinberger, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics 1988, CERN, Switzerland
• Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1984, South Africa
• Dr. Marc Byung-Moon Suh, Pugwash Council, South Korea
• Prof. Dr. Joseph H. Taylor, Nobel Prize in Physics 1993, USA
• Prof. Dr. John Walker, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1997, UK
• Dr. Jakob von Uexküll, Founder of the Alternative Nobel Prize/Right Livelihood Award, Sweden/Germany
• Prof. Dr. Joseph Weizenbaum, formerly Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA/Germany
• Prof. Dr. Carl-Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Manfred Wekwerth, stage director, Germany
• Harry Wu (Wu Hongda), Executive Director, Laogai Research Foundation, China/USA
• Prof. Dr. Herbert Wulf, former Director of the Bonn International Conversion Center, Germany
• Dr. Alla Yaroshinskaja, Alternative Nobel Prize Laureate 1992, Russia
• Preliminary NGO Organizing Committee "Einstein, a modern, courageous citizen": Reiner Braun (INES), Otfried Nassauer (BITS), Ekkehard Sieker & Milena Wazeck (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science), Herbert Wulf (BICC)
• Preliminary Working Group "WorldViews" - Arts & Culture in the Year of Einstein: Ortrun Blase (fine arts & performance), Eva Diegritz (dramaturg & curator), Katrin Lock (artist, graphics, design and new media), Otfried Nassauer (BITS), Jürgen Neugebauer (university lecturer), Ekkehard Sieker (MPIWG), Peer Wredenhagen (fine arts/graphics & design)

Aufruf als druckerfreundliche PDF-Datei runterladen