Bernard T. Feld

Dr. Bernard T. Feld, "an emeritus professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who helped usher in the atomic era as an assistant to Enrico Fermi and then became a leading voice for nuclear disarmament for nearly half a century, died Friday (Feb. 19 [1993]) at his home in Brooklyn, N.Y., of lymphoma. He was 73...

"Outside of MIT, Dr. Feld was at various times a Guggenheim Fellow and visiting professor at the University of Rome; a Ford Foundation Fellow and visiting scientist at the European Center for Nuclear Research in Geneva, Switzerland; visiting professor at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris; research associate at the Centre de Recherche Nucleaire, Saclay, France; and visiting professor of theoretical physics at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London.

"Dr. Feld published extensively in professional journals and wrote the book, Neutron Physics (1954) and Models of Elementary Particles (1969). as well as an extensive review article, "Neutron Physics." He also was a founding and associate editor for many years of Annals of Physics, an MIT-based journal presenting original work in all areas of basic physics research. In addition, he served 10 years as Consulting Science Editor for Blaisdell Publishing Company, a division of Random House, Inc., helping to develop a series of college-level physics textbooks.

"His extensive study of arms control and disarmament, and his activities supporting the movement, took him throughout the world. He was vice-president of the Federation of American Scientists, one of the first groups dedicated to controlling nuclear weapons, president of the Council for a Liveable World and the Albert Einstein Peace Foundation, a member of the editorial board of the journal Disarmament and Arms Control, and editor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. The Bulletin printed the "doomsday clock," a symbolic representation of how close the world was, in the magazine's opinion, to nuclear war.

"Dr. Feld also became deeply involved in the international "Pugwash" Conferences on Science and World Affairs, serving two-years as secretary-general of the conferences...

"He was co-director of MIT's Program on Science and Technology for International Security and he co-edited two books addressing the issue of disarmament: Impact of New Technologies on the Arms Race (with T. Greenwood, G.W. Rathjens and S. Weinberg, 1971) and The Future of the Sea-Based. Deterrent (with K. Tsipis and A.H. Cahn, 1973). He also published a collection of his papers, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness: Essays on Science and World Affairs, 1979)."