Men Of Science Research Articles

American Scientific Mission for London

A scientific mission is to be established in the U.S. Embassy in London to direct the exchange of scientific information and personnel between the United States and Great Britain. It will consist of a small group of scientific men and engineers, headed by Prof. Earl A. Evans, jun. Its activities will cover fields of organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, biology and agronomy. Mr. John R. Steelman, assistant to Mr. Truman, in a letter to Mr. Herbert Morrison, Lord President of the Council, expressed the hope that the United States would set up scientific missions in other countries in the future. Mr. Steelman explained that the establishment of scientific missions was one of the recommendations included in a series of five reports on science and public policy which he had prepared. The principal objects of the U.S. scientific mission in London will be to facilitate the exchange of scientific personnel and information between the United States and Great Britain; to develop and maintain close personal contact with British Government agencies and other research institutions in the United Kingdom; to answer inquiries originating with the United States Government Departments and scientific agencies in the United States with respect to particular developments in Great Britain; and to stimulate exchange of scientific and technical reports.

American Awards to British Men of Science

IN Nature of May 17, p. 684, a list was given of awards of the Medal of Merit, the highest award made by the Government of the United States to a civilian, to eight leading men of science in Britain, for services during the War. Recently thirty-two other British subjects received decorations for their work; the list includes the following names of scientific men, with a brief statement indicating the grounds of the award:

King's Birthday Honours List

THE following names of scientific men and others associated with scientific work appear in the King's Birthday Honours List :

Scientific Man vs. Power Politics.

Scientific Man vs. Power Politics.

Book Review: Scientific Man vs. Power Politics.

Book Review: Scientific Man vs. Power Politics.

Ethical Aspects of the Development of Atomic Energy

WHEN I read the editorial article in Nature of December 21 on “Ethical Aspects of the Development of Atomic Energy” I had not seen “Programme for Survival” by Prof. Lewis Mumford, reviewed in that Article. I have now obtained and read it-with surprise ; for you say “Unconditional co-operation, Prof. Mumford holds, is the price of mankind's survival ; and he sets that as the objective, urgent and imperative, but not to be attained unilaterally or forthwith as Mr. Lionel Curtis is inclined to suggest”. Yet on p. 4, Prof. Mumford writes, “We must think swiftly, plan swiftly, act swiftly”. I am all the more puzzled because the article in Nature had noted that “Prof. Mumford is as insistent as scientific men themselves that we have only a limited time in which to learn the art of control and to prevent the suicidal misuse of scientific knowledge”.

Royal Society

Annual Meeting THE anniversary meeting of the Royal Society was held, as customary, on November 30, and the president, Sir Robert Robinson, delivered his presidential address, a main part of which is printed on p. 815 of this issue, and also presented the medals for 1946 (see p. 841). In addition, he made some brief comments on the relationship of scientific men to world affairs. He welcomed Sir Henry Dale's plea last year for the general release of scientific knowledge. Speaking of the danger to scientific ideals and integrity in the conception of total war, he pointed out that men of science are faced with a dilemma a conflict between their ideals of service to humanity and their duty as citizens of a democratic community which can only be resolved by the establishment of real friendship and concord among the nations of the world. Speaking for himself, he said that all men of science should strive for the promotion of international peace and the outlawry of all methods of warfare which by their nature involve total war. The existence of the universal brotherhood of scientific workers shows that this hope is not impractical idealism. Nevertheless, in this connexion there can be no clear-cut distinction between peace and war, and a nation's defences must be prepared at all times against attack. Sir Robert continued, “it is inconsistent to praise our scientists for their outstanding contributions to the war effort and at the same time to suggest that they offend against our ethical code if they serve the country in a similar fashion during an uneasy peace. It is useless to attempt to disguise the fact that such service implies some sacrifice of freedom. During the War the scientific effort was nation-wide and control extended to many university departments. Nevertheless, the universities have preserved intact their precious liberty of action, and I see no signs of any attempt to curtail it. Surely this suggests a feasible line of demarcation in that extra-mural contracts, placed by Service departments with the universities, need not, and should not, contain any clauses restricting free publication of the results. Although it has sometimes been irksome, the refusal of many universities to accept theses that cannot be published is a step in the right direction.”

History is on Our Side

UNDER title “History is on Our Side”, Dr. Joshep Needham has brought together twelve essas addresses written or delivered between 1931 and 1942, some of which were revised during his stay in China. Most of them display the omnivorous character of Dr. Needham's reading, and some of them have the charm and persuasiveness that marked his earlier book, “Time: the Refreshing River”. But in spite of a certain spiritual quality, they are rarely so convincing as his earlier book. They lack unity, and the book as a whole is a rather confused mixture of science, politics, religion and philosophy in which the enthusiasm of a convert has warped the judgment and critical faculty that one would expect of a scientific man of Dr. Needham's standing. Dogmatism and a tendency to ex cathedra judgments rob the book of any pretensions to form a serious contribution to either political or religious thought: one is left no wiser at the end as to what ‘political religion’ may be, or ‘scientific faith’. History is on Our Side A Contribution to Political Religion and Scientific Faith. By Joseph Needham. Pp. 226. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1946.) 8s. 6d. net.

Atomic Scientists' Association: International Contacts

THE desirability of setting up an international federation of atomic scientists was discussed at the conference held by the Atomic Scientists Association at Oxford during July, at which foreign men of science were present. Because of the diverse forms in which atomic scientists were or might be organised in different countries, and of the difficulties of getting one central body to speak on behalf of scientific men scattered over the world, it was decided that it was not warranted at present. The need for international contacts, however, was stressed, and one man of science from each of the foreign countries represented (France, Holland, India, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States) volunteered in a personal capacity to be responsible for liaison and for the exchange of published literature between the Atomic Scientists' Association and any bodies already existing or which might be set up with similar aims in their own countries. To extend this, a letter setting out the aims of the Association—“To maintain in Great Britain an informed public opinion about atomic energy, in order that all possible-steps shall be taken to secure, in the words of the Washington Declaration of November 1945, international control to the extent necessary to insure its use only for peaceful purposes”—was afterwards sent to the academies of science and various scientific men in countries not represented at the conference, with a request that it might be brought to the notice of the scientific workers of their country and, if possible, a correspondent be appointed with whom the Atomic Scientists' Association can keep touch. The countries circularized were the Argentine, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Jugoslavia, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa and the U.S.S.R.

Introduzione alla Rachotelemetria (Radar)

IN view of the outstanding achievements of Britain and the United States in radar development, it is at first sight somewhat surprising that the first serious text-book on radar to be published should come from Italy. When we consider, however, that for Italy the War finished a good eighteen months before it ended for us, it is not difficult to see that scientific men in that country have had more time to write of their work than British men of science, and have been less concerned with difficulties of security. Indeed, there are several British and American books on radar technique under way which take the development of the subject far beyond the scope of the present book, and these will be looked for with interest by a wide variety of readers. For the radio engineer, of course, British developments have been made available in the excellent series of papers submitted to the recent Radiolocation Convention held by the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Introduzione alla Rachotelemetria (Radar) Apparecchi e nozioni entrati nell'uso corrente. Per Prof. Ugo Tiberio. Pp. 277. (Roma: Editore Rivista Marittima, 1946.) 300 lire.

American Philosophical Society

THE Year Book, 1944, of the American Philo sophical SocieM overs the year January 1, 1944–December 1944. During the year a radical change was made in the policy of the Society's library to exchange and distribution of the Society's puacptions, based on the conviction that acquisitions for the library and the distribution of the Society's publications can be more effectively promoted through subscriptions than by the system of exchange. Under the new policy, the library receives in exchange for the Society's publications relatively little, depending rather on subscription or direct purchase of materials vital to the development of its holdings. The Library Committee is also mindful of the possibilities of current trends in library and research disciplines like those started by Binkley and recently developed by Fremont Rider in his volume “The Scholar and the Future of the Research Library”. The problem of bringing the rich resources of the library to the attention of scholars and making them available for study and research has been a major concern of the librarian. Two special committees were set up during the year to assist in this way, in the special fields of American linguistics and archaeology and of Americana. Of exceptional in terest in this Committee's report are the notes by C. Dan Doren on the Franklin-Mecon correspondence, by G. Chinard on the strange fortune of two volumes of the Transactions associated with Franklin, and on the Elihu Thomson collection. The report of the Committee on Research includes a list of grants made from the income of the Penrose Fund and a summary of the grants made during the period July 31, 1933–December 31, 1944, together with reports from recipients of grants, arranged alphabetically under the classification of subjects represented in the membership of the Society. Because of the partici pation of many scientific men in research connected with the war effort, particularly in certain fields, the request for grants dui ing the past two years was not as large as previously, but the Committee has not lowered the standard set for making grants.

Mathematical Physics at Cambridge: Prof. D. R. Hartree, F.R.S

PROF. D. R. HARTREE, who has been appointed Plummer professor of mathematical physics in the University of Cambridge, in succession to the late Sir Ralph Fowler was born in 1897 and educated at Bedales. During the First World War he was a lieutenant in the R.N.V.R., and worked at the Anti Aircraft Experimental Section at Whale Island as a member of a famous team of scientific men under the direction of Prof. A. V. Hill. Going to Cambridge, he took the Natural Sciences Tripos in 1922 and was elected a fellow of St. John's College in 1924. After one year (1928–29) as University demonstrator in physics, Hartree was elected Beyer professor of applied mathematics in the University of Manchester, which post he held until 1937, when he became professor of theoretical physics in the Physical Laboratory at Manchester.

Cooperation of Japanese oceanogeaphers with Army and Navy During the Pacific War

The cooperation of Japanese oceanographers with the Army and Navy was not really active before 1944. This was because both Army and Navy had their own scientific staffs and institutions whose equipment, facilities, and money by far exceeded those of universities and civil institutions. These military institutions exercised almost a monopoly on facilities before and during the War. If scientists other than those belonging to the Navy and Army wished to make researches, they encountered difficulty in finding apparatus, materials, and assistants. New graduates from the universities all entered the Army and Navy in recent years. They were indeed made to work in these institutions where there were, for the most part, no able scientific staffs and the efficiency of the researches was poor. Most professors in the universities were thus left without assistants and materials. For this reason, it was almost impossible for them to continue their research without having some association with military and naval institutions. The staffs of the latter, however, were not necessarily investigators of the first rank and had a tendency to prevent experienced scientific men from entering their institutions. Most had entered the Army and Navy from ten to twenty years ago, when few capable university graduates cared to join voluntarily. Some of the young scientific officers (graduates of recent years) had, of course, good qualifications because almost all were graduates of universities and colleges but the lack of capable senior staff members prevented them from utilizing their abilities freely.

The March of Medicine

THIS volume contains six lectures, and represents the ninth series of “Lectures to the Laity” which have been given under the auspices of the New York Acaemy of Medicine. These lectures are well known, and a number of small volumes have already been produced which are of great interest to professional men and laymen alike. The general title of the present series is “War and the Expanding Frontiers of Medicine”. While the lectures are all good, some will be of greater interest than others to medical men and scientific men generally. The lecture by Dr. Strecker was evidently delivered with the purpose of boosting national morale, but the need did not necessarily disappear with the cessation of hostilities. Dr. King's lecture on food and civilization is thoughtful, and also practical in that he recommends action, not only against contaminated food but also against food of poor quality. He quotes illuminating figures which emphasize the great extent of malnutrition in the United States. Dr. MacLeod gives a straightforward and admirable account of the development of chemotherapy. Sir Gerald Campbell lets his humour play impishly around the alleged benefits of science to mankind. While he does not doubt that these have actually been benefits, he is sceptical regarding the ability of the human race to use them properly. The final lecture is by Lieut.-Colonel Thomas T. Mackie, who presents a really excellent review of the interrelation between wars and epidemics. The volume is up to the high standard set by its predecessors.

MATHEMATICS IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE AND INDUSTRY: Some Deductions from the War-Time Experience of the Admiralty Computing Service*

IN 1942, Prof. J. A. Carroll, shortly after joining the headquarters staff of the Director of Scientific Research in the Admiralty as assistant director, saw that scientific effort in the Admiralty establishments could not be fully employed in its proper field because scientific men were having to undertake their own computational work. Often, for lack of training in computational mathematics, they spent even more time on this than it needed intrinsically and, more serious still, for lack of internal or external facilities, some investigations requiring extensive computations were foregone. An investigation of the computational needs of establishments by Mr. D. H. Sadler, superintendent of H.M. Nautical Almanac Office, was accordingly arranged. Earlier, the Nautical Almanac Office had been doing large-scale computational work for other Government departments, notably the Ministries of Aircraft Production and Supply, in addition to its navigational work for the Air Ministry; proposals for an inter-departmental computing organisation which had been made earlier by the Office were overtaken by the joint proposals, referred to later. Following Mr. Sadler's report that a considerable amount of computational work could with advantage be centralized, a mathematical section was set up in the Department of Scientific Research and Experiment to deal with this work and with the more difficult mathematical problems which were known to arise in naval establishments and which were being either set aside or tackled by totally inadequate methods. This section became known as the Admiralty Computing Service. Mr. John Todd was responsible for organisation and supervision of this Service. Staff were attached to the Nautical Almanac Office to carry out the actual computations under the direction of Mr. Sadler, and arrangements were made whereby scientific workers in the universities and elsewhere could be employed as consultants.

Science and the Social Order

THE object of the pamphlets in the Series “Looking Forward”, issued by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is to present problems rather than to solve them; and Dr. C. H. Desch has carried out this purpose in his “Science and the Social Order” (pp. 49. Is. net). For the man of science, the pamphlet is indeed too elementary to be of much interest: its value lies rather as a means of educating the general public on the importance of the scientific habit of mind, as distinct from the knowledge acquired by scientific methods, and the dependence of government and administration on information supplied by scientific experts. Dr. Desch presents lucidly but persuasively the case for the use of scientific methods in planning- for substituting factual knowledge for guess-work- and emphasizes that only planned direction on an international scale making use of all the resources of science, physical, chemical, biological and sociological, is capable of undertaking the immense task of reconstruction that confronts us. He steers clear of political issues while stressing the need for further development of the social sciences, and he does not fail to challenge scientific men themselves to recognize their exceptional position and to determine that, so far as in them lies, their work will be directed to social uses. Dr. Desch suggests that as sociology becomes more generally accepted as one of the sciences, and as the history of scientific discovery is more and more studied in relation to political and economic history, appreciation will grow of the fundamental importance of science in the modern community. Within limits the physicist, chemist or biologist will become something of a sociologist, and the linking of his efforts in his special science with the service of society may resolve the ethical dilemma. Dr. Desch insists further on the need for clear exposition and the avoidance of jargon, and also on the impossibility of limiting scientific research and particularly fundamental research.

EVOLUTION IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY: A REPLY TO LESLIE WHITE

EVOLUTION IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY: A REPLY TO LESLIE WHITE By ROBERT H. LOWIE LESLIE White's last three articles in the A merican A nthropologist 1 require a reply since in my opinion they obscure vital issues. Grave matters, he clamors, are at stake. Obscurantists are plotting to defame Lewis H. Morgan and to undermine the theory of evolution. Professor White should relax. There are no underground machinations. Evolution as a scientific doctrine-not as a farrago of immature metaphysical notions-is secure. Morgan's place in the history of anthropology will turn out to be what he deserves, for, as Dr. Johnson said, no man is ever written down except by himself. These articles by White raise important questions. As a victim of his polemical shafts I should like to clarify the issues involved. I premise that I am peculiarly fitted to enter sympathetically into my critic's frame of mind, for at one time I was as devoted to Ernst Haeckel as White is to Morgan. Haeckel had solved the riddles of the universe for me. ESTIMATES OF MORGAN Considering the fate of many scientific men at the hands of their critics, it does not appear that Morgan has fared so badly. Americans bestowed on him the highest honors during his lifetime, eminent European scholars held him in esteem. Subsequently, as happens with most celebrities-Aristotle, Darwin, George Eliot, for exa~ple-the pendulum swung in the opposite di­ rection. The reaction overshot its mark at times, as when Americanists doubted even Morgan's Crow findings. Nevertheless, appreciation has been frequent and ample even in later periods. Haddon calls Morgan the greatest sociologist of the past century ; Rivers hails him as the discoverer of the classificatory system; Radcliffe-Brown'rates Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity a monu­ ment of scholarly, patient research ; Mitra pictures Morgan as an anthro­ pological colossus, a greater Tylor; Marcel Mauss and Paul Radin are avowed admirers. 2 What, precisely, does White expect? An academic muezzin at every center of learning who shall lead anthropologists in daily Rochester-ward obei­ sances and genuflections? MORGAN AND BOASIANS The term Boasian is misleading. Of the great physiologist Johannes MUller a one-time disciple said: There is no school in the sense of common dogmas, for he taught none, only a common method. This holds for Boas. White, 1943, 1944, 1945. 'Haddon, 1934, p. 127. Rivers, 1914, p. 4 f. Radcliffe-Brown, 1941, p. 1. Mitra, pp. 109­

Development of Atomic Energy in Great Britain

SPEAKING in the House of Commons on March 28 on the motion for the adjournment, Mr. John Wilmot, Minister of Supply and Aircraft Production, emphasized a point which has repeatedly been made by scientific men, namely, that there is no justification for the suggestion that the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes will provide a quick solution of industrial problems. The most probable use will be for the production · of electrical power by big units employing steam or gas turbines. The possibilities of development, however, are immense, and Mr. Wilmot considers that the prospects for Great Britain in this connexion are bright. He admitted that the United States has valuable technical experience of which Britain is not fully informed ; but experience is being gained through development work now proceeding and mainly financed by the Canadian Government. So far as Great Britain is concerned, he said that the Government is determined to push on with research and development with the utmost vigour ; the central planning is in the hands of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, advised by the committee under the chairmanship of Sir John Anderson on atomic energy.

The Contribution of Kansas to "American Men of Science," 7th Edition

H. E. ZABEL Clay-Adams Company, New York City The 7th edition of American Men of Science, the standard directory of the scientific profession, appeared during the war, a period when the policy of interrupting the production of scientists was adopted, and it is thus of special importance. The 7th edition (dated 1944) lists 34,114 names, an increase of 6,423 names over the 1938 edition. This increase maintains approximately the earlier rate in spite of an increasing death loss of 1645 scientists during the interim.

The British Commonwealth Scientific Office and Non-Governmental Science

THE recent article by Dr. A. King1 on the British Commonwealth Scientific Office raises the question of the relations of governmental science and non-governmental men of science. As its executive officer between 1941 and 1944, I am well aware of the services which the Office rendered to the scientific departments of the Ministries, to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and to the Medical and Agricultural Research Councils, and I know also that it was always willing to stretch a point and give any assistance within its power to outside bodies and individuals. But its 'extra-curricular' activities were severely circumscribed by its inability to spend funds except on behalf of a Government department. Now that the majority of scientific men are, it is hoped, becoming free, should not this agency serve scientific men and institutions outside the official orbit? Indeed, one might ask if Britain can afford a scientific agency in the United States, at a cost to the Treasury probably equal to the running expenses of several of the major scientific societies together, if it is not to serve all the principal groups of scientific workers.