Harrison Brown

Harrison Brown

Harrison Brown (born Sept. 26, 1917 in Sheridan, Wyoming, died 1986) was an outspoken eugenicist and member of the International Eugenics Society who made recommendations for "sterilizing the feeble-minded" and other "unfit" substandard humans whom he thought should be "pruned from society." He was married to Theresa Tellez Brown.

Early Life

At the age of ten, Harrison Brown's father died and he and his mother moved to San Francisco. Here he completed primary and secondary school and then went on to receive his bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1938.

"The Challenge of Man's Future"

"The Challenge of Man's Future" is the book Harrison Brown is best know for. Much of this book surveys in great detail the "challenges" in our future, all of which serves as a set-up for the solution, which is to stop growth and limit the population.

Association of Oak Ridge Scientists

Harrison Brown was one of the most active of the founding members of the Association of Oak Ridge Scientists which was formed in Fall 1945 for the purpose of promoting education and discussion about the implications of nuclear weapons. He was a member of the organization's first executive committee, and he used the royalties from Must Destruction Be Our Destiny? to support its work. In October 1945 the Association joined with three sister organizations to form the Federation of Atomic Scientists. Brown initially served as the Federation's first Vice-Chairman before resigning and focusing his attention on a merger between the Association and the Federation of American Scientists in March 1946.

Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists

In Summer 1947, Leo Szilard persuaded Brown to become the executive vice-president of the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists.

The Committee desired from the outset to realize their idea of having an international conference of scientists - including Soviet scientists - to discuss the dangers of nuclear weaponry. This conference would eventually be known as the Pugwash Conference. Harrison Brown was delegated to pursue this possibility with Andrei Gromyko who was then the deputy foreign minister, and Soviet representative on the UN Security Council. Brown and Gromyko met twice to discuss the proposition. However the Soviets were not yet ready for such collaboration and it was not until July 1957 that the first conference took place. It was held in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. Brown was invited to this first conference, however was unable to attend. He did attend the third Pugwash Conference in 1958, and sixteen subsequently.

Pugwash Organizing Committee

The Pugwash Organizing Committee formed out of the conference sub-committee within the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists. Brown was a member of the international Pugwash Organizing Committee from 1959 to 1963, and was a long-time mainstay of the U.S. Pugwash Committee as well.

National Academy of Sciences

Brown served as the foreign secretary of the National Academy of Sciences.

International Council of Scientific Unions

Brown served as the president of the International Council of Scientific Unions.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Brown was active in the formative stages of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which was one of the most enduring creations of the atomic scientist's movement for arms control. When an editorial board first appeared on the masthead of the bulletin in June 1947, it listed Harrison Brown, Clyde Hutchinson and Edward Teller. As at October, 1986, Brown served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Bulletin.

Positions

• 1947: Was a faculty member in the Institute for Nuclear Studies at the University of Chicago
• Summer 1947: Leo Szilard persuaded Brown to become the executive vice-president of the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists

Publications

• Must Destruction Be Our Destiny?