Harold Lewis

Harold ("Hal") Warren Lewis (born October 1, 1923 – May 26, 2011 ) was an American Emeritus Professor of Physics and former department chairman at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He was chairman of the JASON Defense Advisory Group from 1966 to 1973, and was active in US government investigations into safety of nuclear reactors.

In his 1990 book Technological Risk he warned of the risks of global warming. In 2010, after 67 years of membership, he resigned from the American Physical Society, citing what he saw as "the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it”.

Career as a physicist Lewis entered New York University in 1940 and graduated in physics. He earned a master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, from 1943 to 1944 before joining the Navy, where he served in World War II as an electronics technician. and also authored a popular book on decision-making. In 1991, Harold Lewis won. the Science Writing Award for his book 'Technological Risk'.

Lewis was chairman of the JASON Defense Advisory Group from 1966 to 1973, when he worked on the issue of missile defense. Lewis was active in the field of safety of nuclear power plants. In 1975, he chaired a year-long study of light-water reactor safety for the American Physical Society (APS). Lewis chaired the 1977-1979 Risk Assessment Review for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Views on climate change In his 1990 book Technological Risk, Lewis wrote that "all models agree that the net effect" of increasing greenhouse gases "will be a general and global warming of the earth; they only disagree about how much. None suggest that it will be a minor effect, to be ignored while we go about our business." Reducing the effects, including significant sea level rise, would "require global cooperation and sacrifice now, to avert something far in the future, and a conjectural something at that. There is no evidence in human history that is in the cards, but one can always hope." On 12 October, the climate change denialist think-tank The Global Warming Policy Foundation announced that Lewis had agreed to join their "Academic Advisory Council".

On 12 October, 2010, the APS issued a statement that there was no truth in Lewis's accusations; it pointed out that the vast majority of its membership works in areas not dealing with climate change, and its policy statements were developed in accordance with strict ethical standards. The APS completely rejected Lewis's claims of "scam" and "fraud", stating that virtually all reputable scientists were agreed on observations of human caused global warming. In a personal reply, Callan criticized Lewis's disrespectful allegations about colleagues. Responding to complaints Lewis raised alleging rejection of a petition for a Topical Group on Climate Science, Callan said the proposal had been accepted and was being implemented, but unfortunately Lewis had decided to resign rather than participate.

Personal His father was a textile salesman who immigrated from Russia; his mother was born in the United States. He had two older brothers. He met his future wife Mary at UC Berkeley. They had two children, and later moved to Santa Barbara, California, in 1964.

Selected books