Cern and the Second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceeul Uses of Atomic Energy
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CERN/285 25 September, 1958 ORGANISATION EUROPEENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLEAIRE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH ELEVENTH SESSION OF COUNCIL Geneve. - 9 October, 1958 C E R N AND THE SECOND UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE PEACEFUL USES OF ATOMIC ENERGY September 1-15, 1958 OCR Output 5592/G CERN/285 CERN AND THE SECOND UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE PEACEEUL USES OF ATOMIC ENERGY September 1-15, 1958 CERN at the Scientific Exhibition During the two weeks of activities of the Second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, CERN was able greatly to benefit by the Conference, especially by showing the CERN laborato ries to a great number of scientists and other people and giving information on the international character of CERN. This was brought about originally by a suggestion put forward by Professor C.J. Bakker, Director-General, to the Conference Secretary-General, Dr. Sigvard Eklund; Professor Bakker namely proposed that regular visits to CERN by the official delegates to the Conference be organized. Dr. Eklund in turn then invited CERN to participate in the Scientific Exhibition at the Palais des Nations, though this would have to be limited to a static, i.e. non-functional exhibit under the exhibition regulations, since CERN was not officially participating in the Conference. Accordingly space was granted and a modest stand representing the activities of CERN was set up under the direction of the Public Information Office in the pavillon erected for the Scientific Exhibition. This included a 1:5OO scale model of the CERN research centre as it will appear under the present programme when comple ted in 1960. Several photographs showing the manifold construc tion and research activities now going on in CERN were also dis played. The biggest of these was an aerial view, placed so that it could be compared directly with the model, thereby setting off the "present" against the "future". On the walls were the bilingual masthead of the Organization and a multicoloured nuclear representation of the flags of the l2 Member States showing the 5592/ .../... OCR Output CERN/285 Page 2 names of these States. Illustrated folders describing CERN, its aims and programme, were laid out daily. A small expla natory sign was also provided, telling exhibition visitors the procedure of application for the twice-daily visits to the site itself. CERN was officially represented at the formal opening of the Scientific Exhibition on Sunday, August 5lst by the Director-General and the Public Information Office. During the protocol visit of the leading United Nations and other personalities, the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Dag Hammarskjold, the Under-Secretary Dr. Ralph G. Bunche and the President of the Conference Professor F. Perrin were for mally welcomed at the CERN stand. This ceremony was cinema tographically recorded and show on the television networks. Finally it should be mentioned that, at the request Of the Director—General, the Secretary of the Conference, Dr. Eklund, made observer cards available to CERN so that the scientific staff of CERN had the opportunity to attend many sessions. Conference visits to the Site In accordance with the previously cited suggestion of Professor Bakker, arrangements were made by the Public Information Office for Conference participants to visit CERN. Twice—daily group visits were organized for every day from Monday, September lst to Saturday, September l5th. Bus transportation for these groups of 50 at a time was laid on by the United Nations Conference Secretariat, so that the visitors were able easily·to travel back and forth between the Palais des Nations and CERN. The 50 participants per group were in all cases exceeded, many arriving as additional visitors. Each visit lasted between two and three hours and was in all cases preceded by a complete briefing, historical, tech nical and administrative, on the Organization. Altogether there were 22 visits in the officially scheduled series, of which 14 were conducted in English, 4 in French, 2 in Russian and 2 in Spanish. In addition, a large number of unscheduled visits, organized through the personnel of other Services in CERN, were conducted in English, French, Italian, German, Russian, Portuguese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Serbo—Croati&n and Hebrew. CERN Annual Reports for 1957 were handed out to all visitors as a scientific and sentimental souvenir of their visits. Altogether more than l 2OO participants in the Conference were thoroughly briefed on CERN and were shown its facilities. OCR Output 5592/E cERN/285 Page 5 The CERN;];:meson decay experiment - a Conference Highlight A major highlight of the Second United Nations Inter national Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy was provided by CERN at a midday press conference on Thursday, September 4th 1958, when Professor G. Bernardini, Director of Research of the CERN Synchro-cyclotron Division announced the crucial experiment on branching ratios cf’U'-meson - "JL—meson electron and direct'H —meson—electron decay performed by the CERN research team of T. Fazzini (Italy), G. Fidseare (Italy), A.W. Merrison (U.K.), H. Paul (Austria) and A.V. Tollestrup (U.S.A.), with the CERN 600 MeV synchro—cyclotron. This experiment, the first critical research of basic theoreticalsignificance to be performed at CERN, was presented later the same afternoon in an unscheduled paper read by G. Fidecaro as the first at an informal session on fundamental particle physics, presided ever by Professor V. weisskopf with Professor A. Salam as Scientific Secretary. The news was indeed sensational, as can be seen from the concluding remarks at the end of the Second International Conference by Professor E. Perrin, Conference President and by Professor I.I. Rabi of Columbia University, New York, as well as from the accompanying transcripts of press comments by the scientific correspondents of major world newspapers. Cgygegrgss Conference The 0rganization's hitherto biggest Press Conference was held in the afternoon of Thursday, ll September, an open afternoon as regards the United Nations Conference, and a public holiday in Geneva. Invitations were sent out to all correspondents accredited to the Second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. Over 140 scientific, technical and daily press journalists attended. Briefings on the Organization were held by the President of the Council, M. Erangois de Rose and by the Director—General, Professor C.J. Bakker. Dr. A. Merrison of the T?—meson decay experimental team also outlined the famous experiment and its theoretical significance. A press commu nique on the experiment was issued in French and English, and like wise sent to all journalists not attending. This was followed by group visits of the journalists and correspondents to the site, and by cocktails and refreshments served on the lawn adjacent to the CERN canteen. OCR Output 5592/E cnaw/2s5 Page 4 Responses in the press are indicated by the appendices to this report, which are transcripts of a small number of the many press clippings so far received. Newreels, television and radio During the Conference various television, newsreeland documentary film producers seized the opgortunity to make films of CERN activities. Similar activities were also carried out by photographers for the daily and specialized press, and by the Danish radio. One news fibnwas made of a scheduled visit by Conference delegates by the Ciné Journal Suisse. The UFA—wochenschau also made a more complete cinematogra phic reportage of the official visit by Dr. Siegfried Balke, Minister for Atomic Affairs of the Gorman Federal Republic and a number of his collaborators. This included his welcome to CERN by the Presi dent of the Council and Professor Bakker, a,d various sequences of his visit afterwards. It was distributed throughout the world as a,newsreelimmediately. In Germany alone nine million people see the UFA-Wochenschau regularly every week. Finally, a very detailed television and documentary film, with interviews in three languages, English, German and Italian, was made by the United Nations Visual Information Office; based around CERN and the ’H —meson decay branching ratio experiment. A radio interview on CERN and the W\ —meson experiment was made for Danish listeners. *¤ * * The Second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy has been highly advantageous from the point of view of making CERN widely known to the parti cipants in the Conference and the Press. The CERN laboratory, in effect, became a third major Conference exhibit, in every way as successful as the Scientific Exhibition at the Palais des Nations and the Industrial Exhibition at the Pavillon des Sports, throughout the two weeks of the Conference. •••/•••OCR Output CERN/285 Annex A In his statement at the termination of the Conference Professor l.l. Rabi, one of the original instigators of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, alluded to CERN in the following terms : ... An example of what can be accomplished in science by active collaboration of nations can be seen right here in Geneva. Under the stimulus of a resolution adopted by the General Assembly of Unesco in 1950 a European centre for nuclear research was set up in Geneva. This is the famous CERN laboratory. This great and expanding international institution is the result of the collaboration of twelve European nations banded together to provide research facilities in high energy physics. Owing to the great cost of some of these facilities they are beyond the capacity of any but the largest and wealthiest countries. When the burden is shared the problem is greatly reduced. Here in this laboratory, only a very short distance from the hall in which we are meeting, you will find scientists of many different nationalities, from many different regions of the world working happily together almost unconscious of differences of nationality.