6 SEPTEMBER 1969, Page 27

Political science

Sir: Professor P. T. Bauer's letter (30 August) is hardly fair to my review of N. P. Davis's book Lawrence and Oppenheimer. I stated plainly that I thought the book was unashamedly partial to Oppenheimer. I per- son*Ily think he was wrong in his opposi- tion of the hydrogen bomb. But being wrong should not in itself carry an infer- ence of treachery.

Surely Mr Bauer must admit that to be officially labelled as a security risk is damaging to a man? The fact that Oppen- heimer still retained his job at Princeton is irrelevant to this. And I think most people would agree that if the same situation occurred today in the United States it would have led to no such drastic consequences for the person concerned.