Editing Martin Ryle (section)

=== War, peace and energy ===
Ryle was a new physics graduate and an experienced amateur radio in 1939, when the Second World War started. He played an important part in the Allied war effort,<ref name="frs"/> working mainly in radar countermeasures. After the war, "He returned to Cambridge with a determination to devote himself to pure science, unalloyed by the taint of war."<ref name="frs"/>

In the 1970s, Ryle turned the greater part of his attention from astronomy to social and political issues which he considered to be more urgent. With publications from 1976 and continuing, despite illness<ref name ="frs"/> until he died in 1984, he pursued a passionate and intensive program on the socially responsible use of science and technology.<ref name="Rowan-Robinson and Rudolf 1985">[[Michael Rowan-Robinson|Rowan-Robinson, M.]] and Rudolf, A. (1985) ''Martin Ryle's Letter''. Menard Press.</ref> His main themes were:
* Warning the world of the horrific dangers of nuclear armaments, notably in his pamphlet ''Towards the [[Nuclear Holocaust]]''.<ref>Ryle, M. ''Towards the Nuclear Holocaust''. Menard Press, 1981.</ref>
* Criticism of nuclear power, as in ''Is there a case for nuclear power?''<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Ryle | first1 = M | year = 1981 | title = Is there a case for nuclear power? | journal = Electronics and Power | volume = 28 | issue = 7/8| pages = 496–500 | doi=10.1049/ep.1982.0267}}</ref>
* Research and promotion of alternative energy and energy efficiency, as in ''Short-term Storage and Wind Power Availability''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Anderson | first1 = M. B. | last2 = Newton | first2 = K. | last3 = Ryle | first3 = M. | last4 = Scott | first4 = P. F. | year = 1978 | title = Short-term Storage and Wind Power Availability | journal = Nature | volume = 275 | issue = 5679| pages = 432–434 | doi = 10.1038/275432a0 |bibcode = 1978Natur.275..432A | s2cid = 4266229 }}</ref>
* Calling for the responsible use of science and technology. "...we should strive to see how the vast resources now diverted towards the destruction of life are turned instead to the solution of the problems which both rich - but especially the poor - countries of the world now face."<ref name="Rowan-Robinson and Rudolf 1985"/>

In 1983 Ryle responded to a request from the President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences for suggestions of topics to be discussed at a meeting on ''Science and Peace''. Ryle's reply was published posthumously in ''Martin Ryle's Letter''.<ref name="Rowan-Robinson and Rudolf 1985"/> An abridged version appears in ''New Scientist'' with the title ''Martin Ryle's Last Testament''.<ref>Ryle M. (1985) "Martin Ryle's Last Testament". ''New Scientist'' '''105''' (14 February): 36-37.</ref> The letter ends with "Our cleverness has grown prodigiously – but not our wisdom."