it is my pleasure to introduce the president of the john simon guggenheim foundation, edward hirsch. we call him eddie. [laughter] stand here while i give her -- give history, ok? a little history about the president of the john simon guggenheim foundation. he has been our president since 2003. he is a great advocate for learning and for literature. eddie graduated from grinnell college, where he earned honors in both academic and athletic pursuits. and athletic pursuits. already a poet and his college years, he went on ton to earn a phd in folklore at the university of philadelphia. , here joining guggenheim taught for 17 years at the university of houston. he is the author of nine books on poetry and is a prolific commentator on poetry. he has written columns for "the washington post." one of his books, which is entitled "how to read a problem and fall in love with poetry," was a surprise best seller. eddie has received many honors over the years for his work, a guggenheim fellowship, a macarthur fellowship, national book critics award, a presidential medal of honor from the governm

the john simon guggenheim memorial foundation was founded simon5 by senator guggenheim and his wife, olga, in memory of their son who died young, who they said had a life of eager aspiration. the foundation has had a singular mission, to identify and give fellowships to the best artists, scholars, scientists, to free people to do the work they were meant to do. emersoniant is an commitment to american ideal. self-reliance, emerson says, do your work and i shall know you, do your work and you shall reinforce yourself. or as william james once put it, the practical consequences of such a philosophy is the well-known democratic respect for the sacredness of individuality. since 1925 there have been 18,000 fellows in all scholarly includingthe arts, 125 or so future nobel prize winners. we have been appointing fellows in lawson's 1936 and these fellows have included many including tuars, mark tushna. the fellowship is focused on the study of constitutions, ours and others, and the process of constitution making, rather than more broadly on law. in constitutional studies is more important

in the supreme court chamber, was cohosted by the supreme court historical society and the john simon guggenheim memorial foundation. it is about an hour and 15 minutes. jus. ginsberg: let me begin by expressing the society's gratitude to justice ginsburg. you have always been a generous -- very generous in giving of your time in your efforts to the society, when we have called upon you. and thank you for taking time from your really enormous schedule at this particular time of year. this evening comes about because of my deep and abiding connection to our two hosting organizations, the supreme court historical society and the john simon guggenheim foundation.

in the supreme court chamber was cohosted by the supreme court historical society and the john simon guggenheim memorial foundation. it is about one hour and 15 minutes. >> let me begin by expressing the society's gratitude to justice ginsburg. you have always been a very generous in giving of your time to the efforts of the society, when we have called upon you. thank you for taking time from your enormous schedule at this particular time of year. this evening comes about because of my deep and abiding connection to our two hosting

in the supreme court chamber was cohosted by the supreme court historical society and the john simon guggenheim memorial foundation. it is about one hour and 15 minutes. let me begin by expressing the society's gratitude to justice ginsburg. you have always been a very generous -- been very generous in giving of your time to the efforts of the society, when we have called upon you.

has received fellowships from the ford foundation, the national endowment for the arts, the john simon guggenheim memorial foundation and the alfred p sloan foundation. he tested a nuclear energy in front of the unit senate and appeared as a host and correspondent for document was on public televisions frontline and american experience series. i am honored to welcome such prodigious scholars richard rhodes to book passage. [applause] >> thank you for coming out on this gorgeous day. it's a little cooler down where we live. which means that summer has or will he started have our cold, foggy days yet. i got interested in this particular book as a kind of spinoff from all the years that a written about nuclear weapons. i've done totally four launch a nuclear history over the years, and the truth is i ran out of nuclear history, at least where bombs are concerned some friends as well as going to the next volume and i said i have to wait ten years until there's more history, which looks as if we are getting it with president trump and north korea. but i was interested in the whole problem that we are