The Independent-News, Volume 93, Number 15, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 7 September 1967 — Page 9

lan Os Science: Dr. Harold C. Urey

- “Harold Urey drx'sn't deal with z tall problems,” said Dr. Gerald. Asserburg, a former stud* nt W on the Caltech faculty. f Vhen he tackles a subject, you low he has carefully examined ri taken into account at least ne tenths of all the available W idence, and it is typical of his I. .tire career that he has always R tuitively selected the most dif- * lult and the most significant Ejects.” Jt was in 1952 that he pubh ^ied the b<xik: The Planets: leir Origin and Development, i> s typical of his cautious ' J |?roach to scientific truth that in | concluded his book with these Ids: “This treatise as well as others is surely incomplete, , at most, only partly true.” , many scientists feel his icipal arguments on the fin of our solar system may er be invalidated when Russia ited Sputniki, the first earth illite, it was apparent to Urey t two results had been ited: (lia new age of exploration was dawning that would place great demands on engineering and science, and (2) the United States was so suddenly ahd dramatically overtaken that many of its educators, scientists, and militarists were reacting in a manner bordering on panic. Urey could do little about the first result except await the development of the new techniques for astronomers and other scientists, but he took a forceful position on the second issue. His statement still stands as a remarkable reasoned reaction to the first penetration of space. “Recent events,” he said at the time, “have emphasized to the people of this country, whose political system x* do not like and whose aggressive world policies cause fear among the Western democratic countries, can and has produced scientific and engineering feats of a m< st remarkable kind. After some resistance on the part of the witchhunting faction of the population we will settle down to understand our faults and shortcomings and do what needs to bo done to correct the situation. But what needs to be correced ? Our security system'’ Nonsense! Our support for science? I believe not in any immediate way. The real problem that faces this country is a long term one. It gi imiHMiHiii miunnfii if ninffinunj*; E Specializing in Permanent 3 Waving Dede’s f Beauty Salon E Hair Shaping. Coloring A S Styling = Phone 586-3644 Operators: DEDE FEJES JANET BIGLER VIRGINA GILMER WW Roosevelt Road Walkerton, Indiana ~iimiitiiiHiiiinimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimir

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is the problem of the education and proper inspiration of our youth.” The dawning Space Age in America Quickly centered in three places: Cape Canaveral in Florida, where the engineers and the hardware ass^fribled: the industrial and intellectual community surrounding Massachusetts Institute of' Technology in the northeast; ahd the fast growing scientific communities' in California which were nourished by alert universities and the burgeoning aerospace industry. T!~ Urey, reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65 at Chicago, joined the general academic exodus to California and moved his wife, son, and three daughters to LaJolla in 1958. He was given the unusual title of professor of chemistry-at-large at the San Diego campus of the University of California, plus a laboratory bulging with apparatus and students eager to share in the excitement of his unending search. It was in 1952 that he published He bought a Jaguar which friends say “he liked because it enable I him to get to work faster.” He was often seen roaring down the' LaJolla highway on his way to work from his comfortable, nxiwiKxi cottage in a canyon running down to the sea. The only hobby he now has time for is caring for his canyon garden of roses, irises, oleanders, geraniums, and fragrant eucalyptus trees. the book: The Planets: Their Origin and Development. It is typical of his cautious approach to scientific truth that he concluded his book with these words: "This treatise as well as all others is surely incomplete, and, at most, only partly true.” Yet. many scientists feel his principal arg 144*4^5 on the origin of our solar system may never be invalidated. Only time will tell. and time in the space age is running apace. In 1957 when Russia orbited Sputniki. the first earth satellite, it whS apparent to Urey that two results had been created: <ll a new age of exploration wan dawning that would place great demands-on eneinrrrtng and science, and (2) the United States wa« so suddenly and dramatically overtaken that many of—4U educators, scientists, and militarist* ware reacting In a manner bordering on panic. Urey could do little about the first result except await the development of the new techniques for astronomers and other scientists, but be took a forceful portion on the second issue. His statement still stands as a remarkable reasoned reaction to the first penetration of space. “Recent events,” he said at the time, “have emphasized to the people of this country in a most dramatic way that another country. Whoso political system we d« > not like and whose aggressive world policies cause

fear among the Western democratic countries, can and has pro duced scientific and engineering feats of a most of the population We will settle down to understand our faults and shortcomings and do what needs to be don*' to correct the situation. Rut what needs to be corrected? Our security system? Nonsense!. . . Our support for science? I believe not in any immediate way. The real problem that faces this country is a long term one. It is the problem of the education and proper inspiration of our youth.” The dawning Space Age in American Quickly centered in in three places: Cape Canaveral in Florida, where the engineers and the hardware assembled; industrial and intellectual community surrounding Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the northeast: and the fast growing scientific communities In California which were nourished by alert universities and the burgeoning aerospaca industry. Urey, reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65 at Chicago, joined the general academic exodus to California and moved his wife, son, and three daughters to LaJolla in 1958. He was given the unusual title of professor of chemistry-at-large at the San Diego campus of the University of California, plus a laboratory bulging with apparatus and students eager to share in the xcitemnt of his unending search. "Even now," says his wife, “after six year in California, he still is reluctant to change his conservative office for the causual costume of southerp California. On the surface, Harold is still an Indiana farm boy in many ways" His only son. John discovered this one day when he presented himself before his dist inguishe I father with a distinguished looking beard and met with obvious disapproval. Perhaps John's wife. Ann, who greatly admires Dr. Urey, has the right unconventional inside as long as you don’t advertise it on the outside.” Urey has sold his Jag. and his wife often drives him to his building at the university in a black-cherry Lincoln Continental. There, in his fuff-colored, fifths floor office containing a photographic “rogue’s gallery” of scientists and individuals he admires (including the late President John F. Kennedy), he energetically conducts his manifold responsibilities, including the preparation of lectures and research on the possibility of finding evidence of life in meteorites. One of his principal current Interest Is the nature of the moon’s surface. In 1963, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration placed him on its important Lunar and Planetary Committee. This means that when Ranger space probes photograph the moon or Discoverer probes landon it, Urey is one of the handful of outstan ling scientists who first sees and evaluates the evidence. It is characteristic of his fearless lndependence that he took exception to other members of the committee on their interpretation of the Ranger photographs. “I just don’t believe,” says 64 Years Os Sendee E«t. 1903 LEMONTRIB ■AMO 808 to Phone CE 4-7771 230 S Michigan St.

SEPT. 7, 19(57 - THE INDEPENDENT-NEWS

Urey, that an object as small as the moon should have an excessive volcanic histor. I simply don’t believe that all the maria (flat plains» on the moon are lava, as most of my colleagues do. I think the presence of water at one time on the moon accounts for the obvious venting holes we can see on the Ranger photographs, but we won’t know the composition for sure until we get actual surface samples. “I believe the moon was captured by the earth and was not originally a part of it. If our planned explorations show the surface to be similar to the material I have found in meteorites, I am right. But if it turns out that the maria are largely basaltic (lava flows), I am wrong. The entire scientific world is eagerly awaiting the positive evidence, for the m»on will very likely unlock the whole secret of the origin of our solar system.” This and other secrets continue to add zest to the life and work of a scientist such as Harold Urey. Unlike virtually all the other key members of the Manhattan Project, he as scorned administrative posts of power and prestige. He has steadfastly refused to become a "modern superspecialist.” He is a general practioner, or. as one professor put it. “quite probably the broadest productive

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scientist in the world today.” At an age when men are content to rest and reflect on the achievements of th- past, he continues to follow a scintillating and adventurous career that symbolizes the unending excitement in science. Further reacting: Borland. Theodore. The Scientific Life. Cowar-McCann, Inc., 1962; Bolton. Sarah K.. Famous Men of Science, Thomas Y. Crowcil Co. 1946: Ruark, Arthur E., and Harold C. Urey. Atoms, Molecules and Quanta, Dover Pub., Inc. 2 vols., 2nd. rev. ed.. 1964; Urey. Harold C., The Planets; Their Origin and Development, Yale University Press 1952, Common sense is a remedy for most trouble, but the demand is greater than the supply. I FARM BUREAU! INSURANCE | AUTO - LIFE - FIRE Fred Bullinger I Phone 586-3339 ■ •01 Monroe Walkertoni

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