Legions of scholars yesterday paid tribute to the late George B. Kistinkowsky, the renowned Harvard scientist who helped design the first atomic bomb and then spent much of his career opposing nuclear proliferation.

More than 300 people attended the afternoon service at Memorial Church in honor of the Lawrence Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, who died on December 8 at age 82 after a lengthy bout with cancer.

In brief emotional tributes and at a such sequent 17 Quincy St gathering colleagues and friends remembered Kistiakowsky as a brilliant scientist with deep concern over the dangers of nuclear weapons.

"We cared for him because he cared so deeply for all of us" Jon Kenneth Galbraith, Warburg professor of Economics Emeritus, said in his memorial remarks. "As a community, we will never quite repair or replace our loss."

Galbraith and others who paid tribute to the scholar--who retired from Harvard in 1971 but remained an active supporter of nuclear disarmament--said Kisnakowsky convictions for peace were vigorous and inspirational.

Galbraith recalled him "as a friend, as a faculty member and especially as the keeper of one's conscience.

Richards professor of Chemistry Emeritus E. Bright Wilson described the man who spent nearly 50 years at Harvard as animated and mischievous, in contrast to his deep serious involvement in science and politics.

"He was a marvelous experimentalist-- including even practical jokes at the expense of his colleagues," Wilson said at the service.

Although the day was chiefly the celebration of a brilliant career, there were highly emotional moments. Herbert Schville, a long-time friend who delivered the final remarks, choked back tears as he concluded, "May this inspiration leader now rest in peace."