A new sense of shared international responsibility is unmistakable in the voices of the United Nations and its agencies, and in the civil society of thousands of supra-national NGOs. John Charles Polanyi
Better to die in the pursuit of civilized values, we believed, than in a flight underground. We were offering a value system couched in the language of science. John Charles Polanyi
For scholarship - if it is to be scholarship - requires, in addition to liberty, that the truth take precedence over all sectarian interests, including self-interest. John Charles Polanyi
Individual scientists like myself - and many more conspicuous - pointed to the dangers of radioactive fallout over Canada if we were to launch nuclear weapons to intercept incoming bombers. John Charles Polanyi
Instead, in the absence of respect for human rights, science and its offspring technology have been used in this century as brutal instruments for oppression. John Charles Polanyi
Others think it the responsibility of scientists to coerce the rest of society, because they have the power that derives from special knowledge. John Charles Polanyi
Our assessment of socio-economic worth is largely a sham. We scientists should not lend ourselves to it - though we routinely do. We should, instead, insist on applying the criterion of quality. John Charles Polanyi
