Vandana Shiva Quotes

Leave the atom alone.

In 1947 I defended my thesis on nuclear physics, and in 1948 I was included in a group of research scientists whose task was to develop nuclear weapons.

Nuclear physics is interesting but it is unlikely to help society.

The genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima.

The Maria Mayer shell model suggestion in 1949 was a great triumph and fitted my belief that a nuclear shell model should represent a proper approach to understanding nuclear structure.

When I was 10 years old, that nuclear spark hit me. Whatever it may be, I really don't know what it was about nuclear science, but whatever it was that triggered that interest, it stuck. I went after that one with a passion.

I do not believe that nuclear power is worth it, if it creates radiation.

When fission was first discovered, within perhaps a week, there was on the blackboard of Robert Oppenheimer’s office a drawing—a very bad … drawing of a [atomic] bomb.

In the spring of 1948, I was able to join the newly created Brookhaven National Laboratory, which was dedicated to finding peaceful uses for atomic energy.

The discovery of nuclear reactions need not bring about the destruction of mankind any more than the discovery of matches.

No-one really thought of fission before its discovery.

Well I'm not convinced that expanding uranium mining is in the best interests of the country and the best interests of its environment.

There is no likelihood that man can ever tap the power of the atom

There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will.

The energy produced by the breaking down of the atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.

It took Britain half the resources of the planet to achieve its prosperity; how many planets will a country like India require?

The idea of atomic energy is illusionary but it has taken so powerful a hold on the minds, that although I have preached against it for twenty-five years, there are still some who believe it to be realizable.

Nuclear power will be the Vietnam issue of the 1980s.

If we have access to nuclear energy, that adds to our maneuverability in ensuring energy security as India marches on, on the path to accelerated development.

Physics and those parts of other fields that grow out of physics - chemistry, the structure of big molecules - in those domains, there is a lot of progress. In many other domains, there is very little progress in developing real scientific understanding.

The essential role of the environment is still marginal in discussions about poverty. While we continue to debate these initiatives, environmental degradation, including the loss of biodiversity and topsoil, accelerates, causing development efforts to falter.

Until now I believed that the nation that has done most to sabotage a new climate change agreement was the United States. I was wrong. The real villain is Canada. Unless we can stop it, the harm done by Canada in December 2009 will outweigh a century of good works.

When it comes to climate, we can all make a big difference. At the most basic level, don't let denial go unchallenged and win the conversation on climate.

Cars don't cause pollution, trees do.

We know it (meat eating) is indisputably the number one cause of global warming. So what does it mean exactly to be an environmentalist on a daily basis if you are not thinking about the number one cause of global warming or one of the top two or three causes of all other environmental problems? Does it mean you are necessarily someone who doesn't care about the environment? Obviously not, but it might mean you have a blind spot for something big.