Academic Physicists as National Security Advisers

当美国加入第一次世界大战时，国家研究委员会，国家科学院的运作机构，成立了，为政府提供有关战争努力的技术问题的建议。然而，科学家在第一次世界大战中只扮演了一个边缘角色。直到第二次世界大战，科学家，尤其是物理学家，才为取得胜利做出了重大贡献。这些物理学家从战争中走出来，深信他们现在在国防政策中发挥着关键作用。不用说，美国政府同意这个结论。Aaserud博士一直在研究这些物理学家的角色，专注于对“JASON”科学家小组最初15年的具体历史调查。JASON成立于1960年初，目的是让新一代杰出的科学家为美国政府提供国家安全建议。由于这项倡议是由一群在第二次世界大战期间担任顾问的老物理学家提出的，JASON的绝大多数成员将由物理学家组成。因此，该小组提供了第二次世界大战后物理界和国防界密切关系的一个杰出例子。然而，杰森的成员，或“杰森”，不只是物理学家变成了政府顾问。他们大多在夏天提出建议，但仍留在自己的科研岗位上，继续为物理学做出重要贡献。事实上，由于大多数杰森都有学术职位，并且在著名的理论高能物理领域工作，JASON的会员资格是物理学界最高荣誉的标志之一。因此，对杰森的历史研究不仅有望揭示物理学家对政府建议的影响，而且这些活动如何反馈到物理的理论和实践中。

When the United States entered World War I, the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences, was established to provide the government with advice concerning technical matters bearing on the War effort. Scientists played only a marginal role, however, in this First World War. It was only with the Second War that scientists, most especially physicists, made significant contributions to the winning effort. These physicists came away from the War convinced that they now had a critical role to play in defence policies. Needless to say, the U.S. government agreed with this conclusion. Dr. Aaserud has been studying the role of these physicists, concentrating on a specific historical investigation of the first 15 years of the "JASON" group of scientists. JASON was established around the start of 1960 as a means to involve a new generation of eminent scientists in national security advice for the U. S. government. Since the initiative came from a group of older physicists who had been advisers during the Second World War, the large majority of JASON would consist of physicists. As such, the group provides an eminent example of the close relationship between the physics and defense communities after the Second World War. However, the JASON members, or "JASONs," were not just physicists turned government advisers. Doing their advising, mostly during summers, they remained in their scientific positions and continued to make important contributions to physics. Indeed, since most JASONs had academic positions and worked in the prestigious field of theoretical high-energy physics, JASON membership was one of the highest signs of honor within the physics community itself. A historical study of JASON thus promises to shed light not only on the influence of physicists in government advising, but also on how such activities feed back on the theory and practice of physics.