Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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EMMMlEEMMEEUdEME4EMIEM lHHElEMEMEMEMEBlMHMMMMMMML8I bert Ab1'aha1n Michelson, was to have the distinction of being the first Ameri- can to receive a Nobel Prize. He came to America as an infant, and even in his early school years he showed un- usually keen scientific ability. In 1869 he so impressed President Grant that he was awarded a special appointment to the United States Naval Academy. He soon decided that science and not war- fare was his preference of profession. Before the age of thirty years he achieved wide recognition because of the accuracy of his measurement of the velocity of light. Even though his find- ings were more precise than those of any of the learned men in history, Michelson was not satisfied. He set out to build himself a mile-long vacuum tube so that he would be unhampered by atmospheric conditions. In 1907 he received the Nobel Prize, the first American to do so. Although he died before he could finish his great work, he prepared the groundwork for many other scientists. If, in the future, a permanent cure is found for poliomyelitis, much of the credit will go to Dr. Simon Flexner. Dr. Flexner, born in Louisville, Ken- tucky, of jewish parents, received many degrees and honors from great institu- tions in many countries. He studied the causes and treatment of a number of diseases and made valuable contribu- tions to the science of medicines. For many years he sought the cause of in- fantile paralysis and finally succeeded in isolating the microbc which wrought havoc in the nerve tissues of children. Dr. Flexner was appointed director of the Rockefeller Institute, Where he re- mained many years. His name has al- ways ranked with the foremost disease conquerors of the world. At one time diphtheria was one of the most dreaded of human ills. A suit- able method for determining suscepti- bility to the disease was sought. In 1913, a Hungarian jew, Dr. Bela Schick dis- covered a suitable test which still bears his name. This discovery saved not only countless lives but thousands of dollars worth of diphtheria anti-toxin also. For this work he received the gold medal award for services to humanity from the New York Academy of Medicine. To understand the fame of another famous jewish American doctor, we must know the health conditions in the deep South. The poorer white people of this region were affected by a fear- some disease called pellagra. No one was able to determine the cause, no microbe, no bacteria, no virus - noth- ing. In 1913, Dr. joseph Coldberger, a servant of the U. S. Public Health Serv- ice, was sent to Georgia to study this strange disease. He found that it was a vitamin-deficiency disease and recom- mended a treatment. His knowledge also contributed much to the study of other vitamin-deficiency diseases, saving many lives and untold suffering. No list of jewish American scientists is complete without the mention of Charles Steinmetz, electrical wizard. Handicapped by physical deformities, 13

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'I' bfi EF El K? El El Hi El El -4 FF lil 5145231531514 1 EEE- El FF FEE! El ffl Ki E454 iii iflliilli PICNE4 H4 HK! ill EilZtFIiPZ1PBvIl WP? ' P: bomb and the end of the War, when the world sought re-assurance against the apprehensions they held for the bomb, that another jewish-American, Bernard Baruch, was appointed to the committee to decide disposal of the dreaded wea- pon. However, it has been not only the past few years that have produced lew- ish scientists of great repute. In 1845 Elie Metchnikoff was born of jewish parents in southern Russia. Before the age of twenty he declared, I am na- turally talented - I am ambitious to be- come a distinguished investigatorf and these words were almost prophetic. True to his own work, he was talented and ambitious, but his ambition pro- gressed to impetuosity, and his talent was that of a thinker and not of an ex- perimenter. Clumsy and crude, as if his hands refused to obey his brain, Metchnikoff was forced to leave the practical work,'i as he called it to younger and better skilled assistants. Metchnikoff was always trying to get ahead of himself. He sent papers to scientific journals without sufficient proof of his statements. Oftimes he discovered his own mistakes and hastily wrote to the editors to prevent publication of his treatises. If, on the other hand, his enthusiastic theses were rejected, he be- came indignant, threatening and often attempting falthough always unsuccess- fully, to take his life. He became in- volved in scientific feuds with his su- periors and teachers. While in school he repeatedly skipped classes, not for 12 fun or pleasure, but rather to wallow through innumerable learned tomes. In spite of his contemplated suicides, his rash outbursts of arguments, his in- satiable curiosity, and his impetuousity, Metchnikoff was a great thinker. It was he who formulated the theories con- cerning the scavengers and protectors of the human body - the white blood corpnscles. It is he to whom we are indebted for great advances in the pre- vention of disease. He received many honors for his work. It was Metchnikoff who succeeded Louis Pasteur as direc- tor of the Pasteur Institute, the greatest scientific research laboratory of the time. Contemporary and co-receiver of the Nobel Prize with Metchnikoff was Paul Ehrlich, born in Silesia, Germany. He, contrary to Metchnikolf, was a gay and optimistic man: but, like Metchnikoff, 'he was ambitious and impetuous. He, too, involved himself in arguments with teachers. Educated at several German universities, Ehrlich devoted his life to medicinal chemistry. His method of testing and measuring diphtheria anti- toxin brought him early fame. His great- est invention was an arsenic compound called saliarsan which combats one of the most loathsome and terrible de- stroyers of life and health. This German- jew learned to employ the favorite poison of murders to save life In an obscure German town, about one century ago, was born a child of German-jewish parents. This child, Al-

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ldEf8llZllElZlEfllillWEillillEl?UlElQrAIi9EQlml8lBlSllE'1XMZlR lSllEli!L8ILfQl!l8lli!lilMElQl!l3lBllZllZLZllEBlE1!lBllElZl5Ml8' Steinmetz possesses a brilliant mind and has gained wide acclaim as a teacher and experimenter. He pioneered in the field of electronics and paved the way for many of todayis remarkable inven- tions. Science is widespread and universal. In its catholicity, it recognizes no par- ticular race. Rather it has need of all nations and all creeds. The Axis 11a- tions, by failing to appreciate this fact, lost several valuable scientists through their purges and persecutions. Their loss, however, in many cases proved to be the gain of more enlightened na- ftious. Therefore, in remembering the notable savants of the age, let us pay tribute to those of an orphan race, who have contributed so notably to the cause of science in the world. V Class Day Parts CLASS HISTORY By Priscilla Waranowski T last We are experiencing in reality the days that we have looked for- ward to ever since we first learned that there was such an institution as Ips- wich High School. Many of us will be leaving our pampered, sheltered, and supervised lives with regrets, others, with pleasure, but all of us will leave with at least some happy memories. Weill remember when we first entered this building, which to us as freshmen in September, 1943, appeared of incredi- I4 ble size with its maze of corridors and classrooms. Like all those who came before .us and those who will follow afterpus, we were nervous and very green. That first day in chapel was, to many of us, a bad dream as we be- trayed our inexperience by sitting when we should have been standing and standing when we should have been sitting. We knew the salute to the flag, but nobody would have guessed it from our feeble response that morning. We were spared to an extent the traditional initiations from the mighty upper-classmen. At our second class meeting the elec- tion of Gary Somers, Presidentg Tom Randolph, Vice-Presidentg Alfreda Cuik, Secretary, and Tom Moynahan, Treas- urer, introduced us early to the intrica- cies of parliamentary law. With these leaders we settled down to learning the traffic rules in the corridors and stair- ways, the right side from which to ap- proach the seats in Study Hall, and our respective rooms. In Latin classes we learned early that Mrs. Lord could easily be diverted from the ablative case in the dead languagev to the charac- teristic colors of the male and female oriole. It was during one of these classes that Benedix came out with a remark which introduced us to many similar ones that he was destined to make. Af- ter a rather difficult test he said, Low,', who was an upper-classman, and I got 100 between us. I got 10 and Low got U I