The "Sting of the Bee" in Saturation Parity

On May 19, 1964, Leo Szilard wrote in a letter to an English friend, "In October of last year I spent ten days in London, much of the time in the shadow of the shadow Labor cabinet... It looks to me that we are not going to make any significant progress toward any real arms control and I believe that in its absence proliferation of atomic bombs will not be avoidable in the long run. "The enclosed manuscript, 'The Sting of the Bee in Saturation Parity,' is based on this belief. I wrote it after my visit to London, primarily to stimulate discussion among those in the Labor Party who are supposed to make up their minds on the issue of the bomb. I was amused to find that I could not get this article printed in England-if I wanted to. Political thought appears to be at a low ebb at the present time in England. I wonder whether this is going to change after the elections." The manuscript that is described in this letter never did appear in print, and the Bulletin is pleased to have received permission from Gertrud Weiss Szilard to publish it now. Although written one and a half years ago, the article is as fresh, prophetic, and disturbing as its title.