Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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Harold Kemp taught a popular course in human geography until his retirement in 1947. by one or two years of specialized work in ESAP and then go directly, and very profitably, into industrial positions after receiving the master's degree. 750 Tons of Iron Forgings The problem of adequate housing for the physical sciences has obviously been complicated by the new develop- ments in applied mathematics, atomic nuclei, communications GEORGE WALD JOSEPH L. WALSH l'rofesHor of Biology Professor of lxlll.l.ll0lllll,ill'H HASSLER WHITNEY DAVID V. WIDDER Profeessor of Mathematics Professor of Mnthemnties JOHN H. WELSH Associate Professor of Zoology C. M. WILLIAMS Associiite Professor of Zoology J. Bernard Cohen is Instructor in the History of Science and teaches the General Education science course. engineering, and so on. Not until the plans now being made for the new Science Center on Oxford Street are materialized, will the many potentialities for improvement in the natural sciences at Harvard be realized. In the meantime, something should be said about the new Computation Laboratory, com- pleted in 1946, and the well-nigh completed Nuclear Labora- tory. The former is in use 20 hours per day and now contains RALPH H. WETMORE F. L. WI-IIPPLE Professor of llotxuly Assomzinle Professor of Astronomy EDGAR B. WILSON, JR. JEFFRIES WYMAN, JR. Professor of Chemistry Associate Professor of Zoology U61

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attention is being paid by the physicists to the new develop- ments in nuclear physics, and the participation of the Universi- ty in the administration and program ofthe Brookhaven Na- tional Laboratory gives them excellent opportunities for out- standing instruction and research in that extraordinarily important field. A New Department: ESAP From many points of view, the most notable develop- ment in recent years in the Harvard program of instruction was the inauguration in 1946 of the new Department ofEngineering EDWARD M. PURCELL ROBERT F. REGAN ,'hNNlll'lll.fl! PFOIUSHIJI' of l'hysii's Aust. Professor nf Niwnl Scimlcn Dr-Liu-Iiml Sr-ptiemhor, HMS Sciences and Applied Physics. That Department is now well established, with its new field of undergraduate concentration in full operation and with research activity proceeding on a bustling postwar basis, under the chairmanship of Professor F. V. Hunt. Nearly four per cent of all Harvard concentrators are now enrolled in ESAP, and less than half of the applicants for admission to graduate study could be accommodated. Graduate work in applied science differs from that in many other departments of the University in the importance and value of graduate studies terminating at the level of the master's degree. Many first class men supplement their basic Science training as undergraduates in physics or engineering Astronomer Harlow Shapley is well-known for his vigorous espousal of liberal and left-wing causes. 'FM 'UN.v Tf kv , Russian-born George Kistiakowsky, Chairman of the Chemistry Department, is an expert on explosives, worked on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. ERWIN RAISZ KARL TERZAGHI lil'I'lilH'l'l' on l.4'ogl'xl.pl11i'ul l'lXlll4lI'Il.liiUIl l'rufr-ssirr ul' Civil l'lIlLIlll0A'1'illLZ Curator uf Allllifi I , l P iALFRlrTD M. TOZZER' JOHN H. VAN VLECK F0 - vf -'Vl'l'llf'+'l4lLZ3'. li1llll'l'li.llS I'rolt-ssor ol' Martin-ixmtii-nl Physivs

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Professor Aik g ac ine, capable of operating at speeds several times faster than the pioneer IBM machine. The latter consists of two buildings joined by a corridor. One houses the huge frequency-modulated cyclo- tron with its massive magnet, the extensive shielding and the auxiliary equipment. The other is a two-story research and control building. The machining of the 750 tons of iron forgings for the cyclotron magnet frame was done at the Watertown Arsenal, and the transportation from the Arsenal to the new building, north of the Univers'ty Museum, was fortunately completed just prior to the heavy snowfalls of late December, 1947. en's new digital calculatin m h' Both of these projects were made possible in large degree by funds supplied by the Office of Naval Research. The cost of the cyclotron installation, exclusive of building costs, is for example of the order of 35750,000. The research carried on in the two laboratories is, however, ofa fundamental nature. Most of it is unclassified -in the parlance of ONR -and the results are therefore available for publication. Professor Bainbridge, in charge of the cyclotron, is assisted by several graduate students and thus the Navy is realizing One of its aims in supporting University research, namely the ffil . t the moment, Professor Bainbridge and his associates a re concerned primarily with positron studies, the thermal-diffusion separation of isotopes, mass spectrometer and spectrograph studies, and the investi gation of fission products and radioactive ' ining of younger scientists A ISOIOPCS . The Scientists are Honored As one might expect, even from this very sketchy report on the natural sciences at Harvard, numerous honors have come in these years to many of the outstanding members of the staff. Professor Bridgman received the Nobel Prize in 1946 for his work on the physics of high pressures. Professor Kistiakowsky was awarded the Nichols Medal of the American Chemical Society. Professor Hunt received the Presidential Medal for Merit in recognition of the research contributions of the Harvard Underwater Sound Laboratory. Professor Francis Birch was awarded the Legion of Merit for services in connec- tion with development of the atomic bomb. Many others were recognized beyond the Harvard community by the conferring of honorary degrees and election to honorary positions in scientific bodies in foreign countries as well as in the United States. Nobel Prize winnin h ' ' g p ys1c1st Percy Bridgman is th autho ' ' e world's rity on the effect of high pressures upon atomic and mole- cular structures.