London Meetup on Thursday Evening

From the archive: Atomic physicist Leo Szilard thought that scientists could rule the world better. The insiders who pushed him aside demonstrate what it actually takes to run the show.

Upcoming Event

Palladium is holding a meetup in London this Thursday, July 27th, from 6:30 pm onwards, in the vicinity of Horse Guards in Westminster, hosted by executive editor Matt Ellison. Please reach out to london.event@palladiummag.com for more information.

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Palladium Archive: Leo Szilard’s Failed Quest to Build a Ruling Class

This week we are featuring Zachary Lerangis’s 2021 article, which also appeared in PALLADIUM 08: Scientific Authority. It relates the story of Leo Szilard, the physicist who discovered the nuclear chain reaction in 1933 and cowrote a letter to President Roosevelt with Albert Einstein that initiated the Manhattan Project.

Szilard did not just have scientific ambitions. He tried to popularize the “Bund,” a hypothetical coalition of scientists who would be allowed to direct their technical problem-solving skills to political issues. While the Manhattan Project could be seen as a demonstration of what such a group could accomplish in a short time frame, Szilard was not necessarily on board with its military use:

During this time, he never forgot the Bund. The idea permeated all of his efforts, leading him to clash many times with the civilian and military authorities of the Allies, particularly the United States. And though he was certainly the most zealous proponent of the cause, Szilard was not alone in this quest. He had a coterie of followers assembled from bright students, and many of his peers had similar views, including Einstein. These allies supported his efforts and mounted their own. Nonetheless, they were defeated in their quest to shape the development and use of nuclear technology. Instead of the scientists, it was the politicians, the generals, and the bureaucrats who took control of nuclear technology and determined how it would be used.

Szilard’s efforts to create a scientist-guardian class were unsuccessful, as he had underestimated just how differently power operated among the decision-makers that made his scientific projects possible. It fell to politically connected men like Vannevar Bush to secure patrons for a nationally-backed mobilization of American scientists and engineers. 

But Szilard did use his extant political connections to some effect. After the end of World War II and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, Szilard did everything he could to ensure atomic proliferation in the United States would remain within civilian hands. You can read about his results here.

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Here’s what’s been on the front page lately:

Don’t Learn Value From Society by Wolf Tivy. We face a crisis of false value. Ancient perspectives like that of Abraham offer a way out.

The Triumph of the Good Samaritan by Ash Milton. Those trying to justify parasitic behaviors often invoke the language of charity and compassion. But true charity is about enforcing a superior form of life.

When Every Child Is a Choice by Ginevra Davis. As a normal life becomes more difficult for middle-class parents to acquire, optimizing a child’s upbringing for educational and career success has become the norm—but at great expense. Is there another way?

The Answer Is Better Gangs by Seth Largo. As long as criminal enterprises offer the best gangs around, kids will continue to enter them. The question is where the better gangs could be.

Why I Live in San Francisco by Chris Robotham. San Francisco is upstream of America, and its social crises are spilling across the country. It is also the best place to find a path out.

That’s all for now.