Prescription for Survival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness

In 1985 I had the privilege of watching a downlink of the live ceremony in which Dr. Bernard Lown of the U.S. and Dr. Evgeny Chazov of the Soviet Union received the Beyond War Award given to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Large auditoriums in Moscow and San Francisco were each filled to capacity. The San Francisco Boys' Choir and the Moscow Boys' Choir sang together across the airwaves. As television cameras focused on the two participating audiences, separated not only by geographical distance but by all the alienation engendered by fifty years of Cold War, people in Moscow and San Francisco began to wave to one another. Many in both locations were moved to joyful tears at this deeply human moment that bridged the gulf of ideological difference. I never forgot that remarkable hour of music and connection. Now Dr. Lown has taken us behind the scenes to demonstrate what incredible determination, cautious savvy, courageous honesty, grit, and plain dumb luck it took for these two doctors not to be sucked into the maw of cold-war adversary politics, as they tenaciously stuck to their simple agenda of reporting truthfully, as physicians, on the medical consequences of nuclear war--thus helping the politicians on the two sides find common ground in wanting their grandchildren to survive. One tragic reason this book reads like a suspense thriller is not only Lown's gift for putting a human spin on a complex tale of political manoeuvering, but also the reality that the challenge it addresses is still very much with us. The weapons may have diminished in numbers as a result of important arms-limitation treaties, but they are still there, by the thousands. One of Lown's chapters begins with an all too relevant quotation from General Omar Bradley that speaks to our contemporary condition as a planet of adversarial nations, religions,and ethnic groupings, a number of whom are still convinced that the possession of nuclear weapons would help their cause: "If I am sometimes discouraged, it is not by the magnitude of the problem, but by our colossal indifference to it."

First a disclaimer. More than thirty years ago, Dr. Lown was one of my teachers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital where I was a young, inexperienced fellow in cardiology. And what a privilege it was to watch this master clinician, consummate healer and deeply moral mentor at work. A few years later, with Russian cardiologist Eugene Chazov, Dr. Lown founded the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which, within a few short years was awarded the Nobel Peace prize. "Prescription for Survival" is Dr. Lown's gripping memoir of that time, an amazing chronicle of how a few committed doctors set out to confront the specter of nuclear holocaust, organized tens of thousands of supporters and helped save civilization from annihilation. This is a "must read" book. It's message of hope, of the centrality of mass action, of the necessity to speak truth to power, of persistence in the face of daunting challenges, is particularly pertinent at this juncture in the history of our planet. At a time when once again events seem to be spinning out of control, when not only rampant wars, but catastrophic climate change, ecologic degradation and unbridled militarism all menace our survival as a species, the lessons of this book need to be promulgated, adopted and utilized if we are to leave a habitable planet to our children and grandchildren. Buy "Prescription for Survival," tell your friends to buy it, and take its lessons to heart. As Dr. Lown writes at the close of this absorbing, hard-to-put-down book: "This memoir is ultimately a call to action. Only those who see the invisible can do the impossible. This book makes visible a wide terrain wherein action for another world fit for human beings becomes both challenging and possible."

On the eve of this historic presidential election, Dr. Bernard Lown has given us a momentous, lucid, and gripping book. By all counts, Lown is an extraordinary man: one of the great physicians of the 20th century, a Nobel Laureate, an inventor whose work has saved thousands and thousands of lives. All that is true. What's less well known is that he is a STORYTELLER; a master of narrative. He's a writer in the tradition of Chekhov and the other great physician-writers of the last century. The dude can spin a yarn. It's rare for so keen and incisive an intellect to convey itself this warmly and skillfully, and with this much humanity. (You don't see Noam Chomsky writing books like this). Lown is keenly aware that one of the first tasks of both a good doctor and a good writer is to compel his subject's attention. And the book is so timely, so important. As the planet approaches a tipping point the likes of which it hasn't seen, we are facing into the realities of climate change, oil shocks, daunting economic and political instability, resource shortages, a soaring global population, an increase in militarism and state-sponsored violence, and on and on. It's difficult to hold in our minds the magnitude of what we're facing, and its even more difficult to imagine that we can actually do anything about it. That's why Lown's book is so important. It shows that we--any of us, all of us--can dare to take action, can dare to make a difference. The book tells the story of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nucelar War, from its origin as an idea in 1980, to its recognition by the Nobel committee in 1985, at the height of nuclear tensions between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. Within that striking story, Lown makes larger points about the ways in which hope can emerge in the darkest hours, and how much is possible when citizens take action within and across national borders. This is a powerful book. It radiates a kind of moral gravitas that's palpable. Lown writes out of a deep sense of urgency, but he does so beautifully, with a feel for language and image and rhythm, and a sense of the importance of these things. After a lifetime of clinical practice as a cardiologist, attending to the rhythms of the human heart, Lown has learned his way around it. He writes from that heart and to it--about matters of great consequence, with great wisdom.

One doesn't expect an eminent cardiologist to speak out on nuclear war, to organize a global network of physicians to confront the issue, and to make its enormous risks clear to the world; and ultimately to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. This wonderful book by that very cardiologist, Dr. Bernard Lown, recounts this compelling saga. It is a powerful book by any standard, made even more so by the grace, fluidity, and richness of his prose, surely the equal of our nation's finest writers (further enriched by apt quotations from the great poets and playwrights of the ages). Every caring, concerned citizen of the globe will want this book at the top of his or her reading list. (Full disclosure: I was a patient of Dr. Lown's for some 20 years; I give him credit for the fact that I'm here today to praise not only his idealism but his skill as a physician.)

I'm someone who often purchases important books, skims them quickly and then shelves them, with every intention of getting back to the task of educating myself about the subject. Somehow, I never manage to open the book again, so it sits there among other such volumes, while I turn to literary efforts that may be more trivial, but promise to be more fun. So I was surprised when I started flipping pages to find that the author had turned this critical issue into a detective story. Instead of being bored by didactic lessons that I agreed with, I found myself reading until 2AM to follow the story of these brave doctors who wouldn't take no for an answer. I thought I knew a lot about the subject, but this story surprised and fascinated me, made me laugh and made me angry too.