Norbert Wiener · 1947
A Scientist Rebels
- Language
- English
- Form
- Letter
- Text
- In copyright
- English
- English original
- Selected
- Ben Breen, 2026-09-29; suggested by Claude research agents, 29 Sep 2026
- Status
- Arguments unverified; quotations chosen by machine, unchecked
Q26CONTROL
Can inventors remain responsible for harmful uses of their inventions that they did not intend?Yes. scientists are responsible for foreseeable misuse. Wiener responds to a request for wartime research on controlled missiles. He treats disclosure as a moral choice because of foreseeable civilian harm. This supports responsibility for dissemination, not unlimited liability for every unforeseeable use. Brief extract; review the full paragraph before preparing a sorting pool.
Summary disputed by reviewer: Brief quotation checked against the original scan; full passage and inherited draft category need review.
[…] I must take a serious responsibility as to those to whom I disclose my scientific ideas.
The Atlantic Monthly 179, no.1 (January 1947), p.46, right column, penultimate paragraph · Compared with printed page image by Codex, 28 Oct 2026; historian review pending. Line breaks and spacing normalized.