University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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Atop the West Engine building studies are being made on lighting. The development of a prismatic glass block for schoolrooms will give the greatest amount of day- light without glare throughout the room. II III ft m In a large departmental laboratory situated at U ' illou Run, naval science, construction, and engineering re- search students plot harbor and breakwater layouts to facilitate commerce and transportation. Besides the research which is directly con- nected with atomic science, the University carries a great load of industrial and nationally sponsored projects, as it, too, develops theo- retical data to be used in the advancement of these practical techniques. The synchro- ton and the cyclotron, for instance, serve not only in the field of research but in the field of practice; students in the University can use them as a training ground in studying super-complicated electrical equipment with experts like Professor Pidd at the syn- chroton ' s controls (below). In the fields of medical science, too, the University is one of the leaders; cancer, tuberculosis, polio and new weapons against blindness, deafness and other physical defects dynamic work in all these fields are bringing constant and lasting changes in the lives of all Americans and indeed, in the lives of all people. 16

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AN EMPIRE GROWS The research empire which is more and more becoming the focus of Michigan has spread its wings a good deal since its begin- ning in 1948. With the first idea of the Phoenix Project as a functional memorial to Michi- gan ' s war dead, study and practical applica- tion of atomically explained phenomena has become the guiding principle. Stemming from the frightening effects of the first atomic dis- coveries, man is becoming terribly aware of the need for more evidence that it can be a constructive as well as a destructive power. With consciousness abroad, students and pro- fessors alike are using Phoenix money to find out just what this atomic knowledge can teach us and how it will change our world. Unlike many fields of research, those in- volved in atomic studies are very conscious of their importance. They feel they are not, as so often happens, simply carrying on schol- arly study. Instead their work will supply the world with a whole new framework of living. This ideal, as so many others, will probably not come to full realization. Never- theless, investigation, particularly in the field of medicine, is showing useful progress. Dr. Fred J. Hodges and Dr Isadore Lampe of University Hospital are experimenting with radio-active iodine in curative treatments for cancerous thyroid. Perhaps not so apparently useful or important to ordinary life are the investigations being carried on in botany and archaeology. The age of ancient remains can be determined by a new Geiger counter de- signed by Professor H. R. Crane of the Physics department; Professor James B. Griffin of the anthropology department is using the amount of radioactivity in them to measure this. The expansion of the fields of research is continuing at an almost breathtaking speed. While perhaps at this point it is experiencing the pains of too rapid growth, it is intent on keeping up with the bigness and the assumed stature of projects at Michigan. It will, it hopes, enter every field of human activity. With an eye to the application of its study, it is attempting to define the legal and social implications of the atom. Laws, for instance, must be passed to interpret atomic regulations and to reconcile atomic research with peaceful living. Not content with a partial view of our atom age, Michigan ' s research empire is on its way to producing a whole new way of life. is

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The Department of Mineralogy finds it a cold proposition to determine the mechanics and crystallinity of natural and artificial ice as a basis for experiments for the U.S. Army. RESEARCH