Dwight E. Neuenschwander
Editor, Radiations Magazine
Chair, Department of Physics
Southern Nazarene University
Bethany, OK

Talk Title: Taking the Ethics of Einstein into the 21st Century

Abstract
We are an inquisitive species. Our curiosity about the structure of matter led to the discovery of the nucleus. In the cultural and political environment of the times, how short were the steps from the innocence of discovery to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Cold War that followed! If you had been a graduate student in 1942, invited to help build these nuclear weapons, what would you have done? If the choice of how to end World War II had been yours to make instead of President Truman's�invade Japan, or use the new atomic bomb�what would you have decided? The deeper issues did not go away in 1945. They continue to haunt all scientists today, from hydrogen bombs to genetic manipulation to environmental sustainability. How do intellectual questions about nature lead to potentially horrific applications of knowledge? What are our ethical responsibilities as physicists? What ethical principles should guide scientific research and its applications?

We are an ambitious species. Physics depends on mutual integrity that must be earned continuously. Every principle, technique, and instrument that we use depends on the work of others. As part of this community, what are my obligations? How open has the professional culture been to participation by all kinds of people? How do tenure systems and proprietary claims complicate the conversation that physicists have with nature?

Sigma Pi Sigma's Mission Statement calls us to Honor, Encouragement, Service, and Fellowship. At the 2004 Congress we will discuss the role of Sigma Pi Sigma members, collectively and individually, as a dynamic source of encouragement for scientific integrity within in our communities of influence.

Biographical Sketch
Dr. Dwight E. Neunschwander, Professor of Physics at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, OK, is former Director, Education at the American Institute of Physics, and former Director of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma.

Dr. Neunschwander writes for and handles editing of the SPS Observer (formerly the SPS Newsletter), Radiations magazine, the official publication of Sigma Pi Sigma, and other publications. He is also the At-Large member of the SPS Executive Committee.