Berkeley Lab

Ernest Lawrence’s Nobel Prize Speech

Berkeley Lab

Mr. President, Mr. Consul General, Mr. Spurs, ladies and gentlemen, words fail me in giving expression to my thoughts on this occasion. To convey to you, Mr. Consul General, and through you to the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, some gratitude for this great honor. Would be giving expression to only a part of what is in my mind. For I am mindful that scientific achievement is rooted in the past, is cultivated to full stature by many contemporaries, and flourishes only in a favorable environment. No individual is alone responsible for a single stepping stone along the path of progress. And where the path is smooth, progress is most rapid. In my own case, this has been particularly true. From the beginning of the radiation laboratory, I have had the rare good fortune of being in the center Of a group of men of high ability, enthusiastic and completely devoted to scientific pursuit. I wish it were possible this evening for me to pay tribute to them all individually. For it was our joint effort that made possible the work which has been so magnificently recognized by the Nobel Award. But I must content myself with accepting this great honor with the happy thought that I am the representative of these valued associates in France. I know also that I speak for my colleagues in the laboratory, as well as for myself, when I take this felicitous opportunity. to acknowledge with sincere gratitude the generous help we have received from many sources. The day when the scientist, no matter how devoted, may make significant progress alone and without material help is past. This fact is most self evident in our work. Instead of an attic with a few test tubes bits of wire, and odds and ends, the attack on the atomic nucleus has required the development and construction of great instruments on an engineering scale. This has been possible only through generous assistance from several quarters, notably the Research Corporation, the Chemical Foundation. The Rockefeller Foundation, and from the late William H. Crocker, a regent of the university. These benefactors share the honor of this occasion because without their help, the work of our laboratory could not have been brought to its present fruition. I have suggested that that scientific progress requires a favorable environment. The University of California rightfully takes pride in the Nobel Award because the university as a whole has contributed immeasurably in diverse ways to the work of the Radiation Laboratory. I shall always be grateful. for the wise and generous guidance and help that our work has received from the University Board of Research, and especially from Professor Leutner, chairman of the Research Board in the early years of the organization of the laboratory. And above all, may I acknowledge my deep appreciation of the support of the faculty. of the president of the university, applause who wholeheartedly has been all along such a stimulus to our activities. It may truly be said that this Nobel Award is yet another tribute to his great academic leadership. Applause It is a source of gratification to us all that we have been able to contribute a little to our understanding of the nucleus of the atom. We are glad And already in the early beginning, discoveries have emerged of immediate practical significance. For as Professor Birch has so graciously said this evening, the new radiation and radioactive substances have opened vistas for all sciences, especially in medicine. And in the, and in the radiation laboratory, we counted a privilege to do everything we can to assist our medical colleagues in the application of these new tools to the problems of human suffering. At the same time, we have been looking towards the future. The new frontier in the atom, the domain of energies above a hundred million volts, for we have every reason to believe that there lies ahead for exploration, a territory with treasures transcending anything thus far on earth. To penetrate this new frontier will require the building of a giant cyclotron, perhaps weighing more than 4, 000 tons, 20 times larger than the new medical cyclotron of the Crocker Laboratory. We have been working on the designs of such a great cyclotron. instruments and are convinced of insurmountable technical difficulties in the way of producing atomic projectiles of energies well above 100 million volts. But of course, such a great instrument would involve a large expenditure. And they're a very considerable financial problem. Perhaps I might say that the difficulties in the way of crossing the nectar in the atom are no longer in our laboratory. Uh, we've had We've handed the problem over to the president. Professor Bird has alluded to the very great importance of this project. As she has indicated, there are substantial prospects that it will be the instrumentality for finding the key to the almost limitless reservoir of energy in the heart of the atom. Certainly, it may bring to life such a deeper knowledge of the structure of matter as to constitute a veritable discontinuity in the progress of science. Therefore, Mr. Consul General, I believe that in this instance, the award of the Nobel Prize is accomplishing to an unusual degree the purpose intended by Alfred Nobel, the intelligence of fundamental scientific research. For it goes without saying that such a great recognition at this time will aid tremendously our efforts to found the necessarily large sun. For the next World to Adventure. In closing, may I again give expression to a profound feeling of gratitude and appreciation for this great honor, which I share with the university and with all those outside who have contributed to make our work possible, and above all, with my valued colleagues and co workers, both past and present. Ladies and gentlemen, we are adjourned.