Cincinnati Country Day School - Archive Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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20M EXPLORATION AND lQXDLORINGr WILL BE TO . i ll; QTEDr AND KNOW THE T. S. Eliot: IT IS WlTl-l A GREAT SENSE OE RESPECT THAT WE DEDlCATE THE ARCHIVE: IQ7I TO DAVlD LAll-QD. There are two extraordinary qualities which all great teachers possess. One is an unending drive to explore for knowledge and the second-even more ,importanteis the ability to endow others with the same drive. Without a doubt the most dedicated explorer now at Country Day is David Ernest Laird. A brief glimpse at his life serves as the most convincing evidence of these qualities. Mr. Laird, a German major in college, found his interest in science sparked after two years in the military. He proceeded, with little formal training, to learn physics, chemistry and astronomy. As any of his students can attest, he now commands an intimate knowledge of these subjects, not only of their technical aspects but of their histories, philosophies, and interrelationships with man and the universe. Mr. Laird once remarked after having given a slide show lecture on Johannes Kepler, the early seventeenth century astronomer, that he felt an irresistible urge to get out his oil lamp, eye shade, and quill pen to hand calculate a planetary orbit. Perhaps unfortunately he was forced to yield his time to several other pressing projects. Taking a look around Country Day, one notices two conspicuous physical results of Mr. Lairdis desire to explore. First is Dickinson Observatory,built in 1967, which houses a twelve-inch reflecting telescope donated to the school by the father of one of Mr. Lairdis students to observe grazing occultations. The results of these observations are reported to the Government, and students are able to feel, maybe for the first time, that they have made a valid contribution to scientific exploration. Mr. Laird can often be seen on a bitterly cold winter night twith one or two hardy studentst, stopwatch in hand and eye glued to his telescope, observing an occultation. Once asked how he could stand the cold, he replied that at least there were no mosquitos. Mr. Laird's other significant contribution has been Country Dayis computer facility. in 1967, after Mr. Laird had taught himself computer programming, he

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LUE SHALL NOT CEASE E THE END OI: ALL OUR! ARRIVE WHERE WE ST; DLACE POR THE PIRST TH

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was responsible for bringing a time-sharing computer terminal to the schoot. He proceeded to teach programming to his students, and two years later in- creased computer use brought another terminal to Country Day. Since the spring of this year, the school has had its own small computer which has allowed even greater throughput of student programs. Sometimes, passing the computer room after hours, one can hear the teletype clacking away and then hear Mr. Laird clap his hands, jump up and down and then exclaim, It runslii He says he has always derived great pleasure from crunching numbers several miliion times faster than possible by hand. However, most of Mr. Lairdis time is spent in less spectacular but equally important ways. One never notices the long hours he spends researching and solving problems, preparing complex class demonstrations, and helping students on a person-to-person basis. It is this ability to communicate so well personally, over and above his great expertise and enthusiasm, which makes him an outstanding teacher.