Breanna Rose (pictured here) and Cole Murphy interviewed Andrew Brown.
Andrew Brown was born in London and educated in England. For nearly thirty years, he has worked as physician — in training jobs as an oncologist in London then as a consultant (attending). He spent 1986–1987 as a clinical fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston, and in 1990 came with his family to live in Massachusetts. His wife is now Chief of the Pain Service at MGH, and their three sons have left home. For the past fifteen years, he has been a partner in Radiation Oncology Associates (NH), treating cancer patients. Two years spent as the medical director for the National Radiological Protection Board in the UK gave him experience in radiation protection. He has developed an interest in the 20th century history of science (especially the Cambridge University schools of physics and molecular biology). This has led to a number of lectures and publications, including two biographies of important Cambridge scientists. The biographies, The Neutron and the Bomb: a Biography of Sir James Chadwick (1997) and J. D. Bernal: the Sage of Science (2005) were both published by Oxford University Press. Writing these books has led him to examine the influence of scientists on political leaders. He listens to music and plays golf erratically.
Date of Interview: April 21, 2014
Interviewees: Andrew Brown
Joseph Rotblat was the reason for the success of the Pugwash conferences.
Andrew brown was asked to write a book about Rotblat by the Pugwash conference; he interviewd Joseph for a different book he wrote.
Q: What inspired you to write a book about Joseph?
A: Mr. Brown interviewed Rotblat for a different book, and was later approached by Pugwash (conference group, not village) and was asked to write a book about Joseph’s life and the work he did.
Q: Did you ever meet Joseph?
A: Yes I did meet him, I was interviewing him about a different book, on travel, I was writing at the time
Q: What was Joseph like? What type of person was he? Was he easy to talk to?
A: Joseph was very easy to talk to, he was of a different age, always immaculately dressed, very proper, extremely well mannered. He was remarkable, he had so much energy even as an old man, spent a lot of time with students.
Q: Would the Pugwash conferences have been such a success without Joseph’s involvement?
A: I don’t think they would have survived without his consistent input and effort. He was so dedicated he used to annoy people. Without him I don’t think that group of scientists would have kept going in the same direction they did.
Q: Do you think there will ever be a world without weapons of mass destruction, if so do you think the pugwash conferences will play a role in that? Will the conferences succeed in eliminating this type of weapon?
A: Less nuclear warheads in the world today, as compared to the time of the fall of the USSR. There are still too many, and over 90% of them are in the USA or Russia and it would be very easy to dispose of them. As numbers dwindle the possession of just a few becomes more important. At some point all other nuclear weapon states would have to reduce numbers as well
Q: do you think Pugwash will play a role in reducing numbers in the future?
A: I think so, there are all sorts of ally proposals and movements, there was a letter in the wall st journal 5-6 years ago pointing out that the continued existence of nuclear weapons is pointless they serve no military purpose, Rotbalt once said and if they serve any purpose at all it is to deter the use of nuclear weapons. The only reason they exist is to make sure nobody else uses them on you.
Q: When researching for this book how did you decide what to use and what not tuse?
A: he had a huge archive in his house of over 50 years, most of the rooms were shut up because they were so full of paper. It was about 4 tons of paper. I didn’t look at everything he kept stationary from every hotel he stayed at, he was a packrat. I looked at correspondence between him and other Pugwashites, you learn what was happening behind the scenes, and what people thought of what was happening. What the tensions were between different people...
Q: Did you talk to any of Joseph’s family while doing research?
A: i did the most important one was probably his niece who was a child in the Warsaw ghetto, and spent the whole war in Poland. When his family survived and came to England, she became very close to him.
Q: Where were you during the Berlin wall crisis? What was the mood?
A: i was in England at the time, at first the wall was barbed wire and guards, but i think the truth of it is that people leaving East Germany to west Berlin was a problem for both sides although the US won’t admit that, so really the wall suited both sides.
Q: Do you remember of the Cuban missile crisis?
A: i do, it was very frightening, Pugwash attempted to intervene but without any great effect.
Interviewees: Andrew Brown
Joseph Rotblat was the reason for the success of the Pugwash conferences.
Andrew brown was asked to write a book about Rotblat by the Pugwash conference; he interviewd Joseph for a different book he wrote.
Q: What inspired you to write a book about Joseph?
A: Mr. Brown interviewed Rotblat for a different book, and was later approached by Pugwash (conference group, not village) and was asked to write a book about Joseph’s life and the work he did.
Q: Did you ever meet Joseph?
A: Yes I did meet him, I was interviewing him about a different book, on travel, I was writing at the time
Q: What was Joseph like? What type of person was he? Was he easy to talk to?
A: Joseph was very easy to talk to, he was of a different age, always immaculately dressed, very proper, extremely well mannered. He was remarkable, he had so much energy even as an old man, spent a lot of time with students.
Q: Would the Pugwash conferences have been such a success without Joseph’s involvement?
A: I don’t think they would have survived without his consistent input and effort. He was so dedicated he used to annoy people. Without him I don’t think that group of scientists would have kept going in the same direction they did.
Q: Do you think there will ever be a world without weapons of mass destruction, if so do you think the pugwash conferences will play a role in that? Will the conferences succeed in eliminating this type of weapon?
A: Less nuclear warheads in the world today, as compared to the time of the fall of the USSR. There are still too many, and over 90% of them are in the USA or Russia and it would be very easy to dispose of them. As numbers dwindle the possession of just a few becomes more important. At some point all other nuclear weapon states would have to reduce numbers as well
Q: do you think Pugwash will play a role in reducing numbers in the future?
A: I think so, there are all sorts of ally proposals and movements, there was a letter in the wall st journal 5-6 years ago pointing out that the continued existence of nuclear weapons is pointless they serve no military purpose, Rotbalt once said and if they serve any purpose at all it is to deter the use of nuclear weapons. The only reason they exist is to make sure nobody else uses them on you.
Q: When researching for this book how did you decide what to use and what not tuse?
A: he had a huge archive in his house of over 50 years, most of the rooms were shut up because they were so full of paper. It was about 4 tons of paper. I didn’t look at everything he kept stationary from every hotel he stayed at, he was a packrat. I looked at correspondence between him and other Pugwashites, you learn what was happening behind the scenes, and what people thought of what was happening. What the tensions were between different people...
Q: Did you talk to any of Joseph’s family while doing research?
A: i did the most important one was probably his niece who was a child in the Warsaw ghetto, and spent the whole war in Poland. When his family survived and came to England, she became very close to him.
Q: Where were you during the Berlin wall crisis? What was the mood?
A: i was in England at the time, at first the wall was barbed wire and guards, but i think the truth of it is that people leaving East Germany to west Berlin was a problem for both sides although the US won’t admit that, so really the wall suited both sides.
Q: Do you remember of the Cuban missile crisis?
A: i do, it was very frightening, Pugwash attempted to intervene but without any great effect.