Victor Frederick Weisskopf, 1908-2002 - Theoretical Physics at LBNL

20 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRSsought to inform the public about the bomb. In the 1950sViki participated in the first Pugwash meetings betweenWestern and Soviet nuclear scientists, and continued thereafterto reach out to influential Soviet scientists in pursuitof nuclear arms control. His friendships from the 1930swere of great advantage. Viki joined the Union of ConcernedScientists when it was founded in the MIT physicsdepartment, which he then chaired, and he later became amember of its Board of Directors. After his election in 1975to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Viki played a centralrole in convincing Pope John Paul II to speak out repeatedlyagainst the nuclear arms race.Viki worked incessantly for control and reduction ofnuclear weapons and for international cooperation in science.At CERN he encouraged the reciprocal participationof CERN and Soviet-block physicists in each other’s highenergyphysics programs. He believed deeply in the role ofscience and scientists in making the world a more peacefuland safer place.Science is a truly human concern; its concepts and language are the samefor all human beings. It transcends any cultural and political boundaries.Scientists understand each other immediately when they talk about theirscientific problems; it is therefore easier for them to speak to each otheron political or cultural questions and problems about which they may havedivergent opinions. The scientific community serves as a bridge across boundaries,as a spearhead of international understanding (1989, pp. 7-8).TEACHING AND STUDENTSNot only was Viki a research scientist, administrator,humanist and internationalist, he was also a wonderful teacherand mentor to aspiring physicists. His deep understandingof fundamental principles and his intuition as to what wasessential made his formal lecture courses inspirational, de-