When the START 2 treaty has been implemented - and remember it has not yet been ratified - we will be left with some 15,000 nuclear warheads, active and in reserve. Fifteen thousand weapons with an average yield of 20 Hiroshima bombs.

From my earliest days I had a passion for science.

The cold war is over, but cold war thinking survives.

At a time when science plays such a powerful role in the life of society, when the destiny of the whole of mankind may hinge on the results of scientific research, it is incumbent on all scientists to be fully conscious of that role, and conduct themselves accordingly.

My third appeal is to my fellow citizens in all countries: Help us to establish lasting peace in the world.

I did not imagine that the second half of my life would be spent on efforts to avert a mortal danger to humanity created by science.

I saw science as being in harmony with humanity.