this power, the construction of "extremely powerful bombs" was conceivable. He also suggested that Germany may already be working to develop such a weapon. The letter resulted in the establishment of the Manhattan Project in 1942 under the leadership of Oppenheimer and to the development of the weapons that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. These events were followed by the development of the first Soviet atomic bomb in 1949 and the first Hydrogen bombs by the USA in 1952 — a step soon followed by the USSR. Concern grew as the Cold War turned into a nuclear arms race. In 1955 Einstein and Bertrand Russell joined with nine other scientists — four of whom later went on to found The World Academy of Art and Science — to issue the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, warning of the dire threat of global nuclear destruction. The informal discussions taking place between these distinguished scientists and intellectuals evolved into a more serious commitment — toward the responsible and ethical advances of science. The First International Conference on Science and Human Welfare was held in Washington DC., and organized by two American scientists with experience in this field: Richard Montgomery Field of Princeton University, former chairman of an international committee that focused on the social values of science, and John A. Fleming, former President of the International Council of Scientific Unions, today known as the International Council for Science, founded in 1931. At the conclusion of the conference, it was agreed that a World Academy would be formed, and a committee was elected to begin the first steps towards its formation. The International Preparatory Committee consisted of (from France) Pierre Chouard, George Laclavére and G. Le Lionnaise; (from the United Kingdom) Ritchie Calder, H. Munro Fox and Joseph Needham; and (from the United States) Robert Oppenheimer. The Academy was officially founded on December 24, 1960. Among the 42 charter members of WAAS were several individuals who had played significant roles in creating other major global organizations: Joseph Needham, a cofounder of UNESCO, Lord Boyd Orr, first Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and G. Brock Chisholm, first Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). Past fellows Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey Sir John C. Eccles, Nobel laureate in medicine Buckminster Fuller, architect and systems theorist Hazel Henderson, environmental activist and futurist André Michel Lwoff, Nobel laureate in