Contrary
to T.S. Eliot's concern, our world could end with a
bang or a whimper: nuclear war or environmental
collapse. From the very beginning of the nuclear age
in 1945 and the environmental age in the 1960s Fred
Knelman has been a founding member, and often a
founder, of the citizens' and scientists'
organizations which sprang up in response to these
issues. This book represents the culmination of a
life-long involvement and commitment to peace and
environment. It is both a social and a personal
history.
The theme of globalization and the nature of global
change provide the context and environment of the
book's analysis. Knelman first deals with the nature
of science and the behaviour of scientists, using the
decision to drop the atom bomb on Hiroshima in 1945
and its lasting legacy, as a case study. He then
turns to an analysis of nuclear power, military and
civil, and the fatal link between them. A history of
environmental thought precedes a shift to the global
stage: the phenomenon of global change and the
challenge of global governance. The last chapter
describes a model of social sustainability.
Table of Contents
Fred H. Knelman received his doctorate in Physics and
Engineering at the University of London, U.K. For
almost fifty years, he has been synonymous with the
anti-nuclear and peace movements in Canada and
throughout the Western hemisphere: founder of the
earliest Environmental Non-Governmental Organization
in Canada, as well as founder of Scientists For
Social Responsibility. He is the author of numerous
publications including 1984 and
All That, Nuclear
Energy: The Unforgiving Technology, Anti-Nation,
Reagan, God and the Bomb, The Right to Food, America,
God and the Bomb.
As listed in the 1997 edition of Who's Who, Knelman
is the recipient of many awards including: World
Wildlife Fund Prize, 1967; the World Federalists
Peace Essay Prize, 1970; the White Owl Conservation
Prize, 1972; the Ben Gurion University Medal of
Merit, 1983; the United Nations Association Special
Achievement Award 1983; a special award for
meritorious service to the cause of common security
by the Canadian Peace Research and Education
Association, 1987; World Peace Prize, 1994.
256 pages, bibliography, index, illustrations
Paperback ISBN: 1-55164-136-4 $24.99
Hardcover ISBN: 1-55164-137-2 $53.99
Current Affairs
International Politics
December 1998
