Yep. To the State Department (and ultimately to the guys spying on him, the FBI), Feynman wrote: "I would be very grateful to you if you could give me any advise. I should like to cooperate with your desires in this matter. [...] I am willing to proceed in any way that seems to you to be in the best interest of the country, even if it should mean some personal danger."
Speaking of famous scientists, Chomsky mentioned: "Compare Russell and Einstein, two leading figures, roughly the same generation. They agreed on the grave dangers facing humanity, but chose different ways to respond. Einstein responded by living a very comfortable life in Princeton and dedicating himself to research that he loved, taking a few moments for an occasional oracular statement. Russell responded by leading demonstrations and getting himself dragged off by the cops, writing extensively on the problems of the day, organizing war crimes trials, etc. The result? Russell was and is reviled and condemned, Einstein is admired as a saint. Should that surprise us? Not at all."
Is this true? I was under the impression that Bertrand Russell was widely lauded as a man of integrity and clear thinking right across the whole political spectrum.
Perhaps this is a USA/UK split, or perhaps just some oddity of my particular friendship group.
It'd be surprising if that's true about the Bertrand Russell who existed after 1950, who did things like organize a tribunal which found the US government guilty of war crimes.
Personally, even though I have more books by Russell than by anyone else, I hear almost nothing about his later political views. (Maybe there's something in Logicomix about them, but the only one I know who brings these views up consistently is his fan Chomsky. Who wrote, "From the 1950s, particularly in the United States, he was bitterly denounced and attacked as a crazy old man who was anti-American. [...] That's pretty common. Russell was viciously attacked in the New York Times and by Secretary of State Dean Rusk and others in the 1960s. He wasn't counted as a public intellectual, just a crazy old man.")
