On the coverÑa portrait of a sonic
boom. In this case a focusing sonic boom
has been simulated in the 17-inch shock tube in CaltechÕs Graduate Aeronautical
Laboratories. The shock wave has
come in from the right, and has been reflected back from a curved wood
surface. In this shadowgraph, the
wave is 0.11 milliseconds old, and is shown coming out of the focus, leaving
behind (at the left) a hot blob of gas that was heated at the focus. On page 14, more on this aeronautics
research project in ÒSonic Booms.Ó
Many scientists are concerned about
keeping the public informed of scientific findings that affect it. One way in which that concern has been
demonstrated at Caltech recently is with a series of open conferences on the
ethical questions of science.
These conferences have been jointly sponsored by the Caltech Y and the
Institute. The first, The Impact
of Genetic Engineering on Society,Ó was held in May 1972. A second was held a year later on ÒThe
Impact of Behavioral Engineering on Society.Ó
With partial funding by the Norton
Simon. Inc. Foundation for Education, the third of these conferences, ÒThe
Impact of Modern Biological Research on the Ethics of Society,Ó was held on the
campus on April 20. One of the principal
speakers was Leroy Hood, MD, associate professor of biology, and Caltech
alumnus (BS Ô60, PhD Ô68). ÒMedical Genetics and the Engineering of ManÓ (page
2), by Hood and Robert J. Mackin Jr., is in part adapted from HoodÕs talk on
that occasion and in part drawn from discussions held the following day to
consider how these issues might be communicated to the general public. This workshop, also sponsored by the
Simon Foundation, was attended by about a dozen scientists, physicians,
ethicists, and representatives from the television industry.
Caltech alumnus Mackin (MS Ô5 I, PhD
53), who collaborated with Hood on this article, is also concerned about the
publicÕs need to know what scientists are doing. He is manager
of Caltech‑JPL Medical Laboratory Planning and of the JPL Space Sciences
Division.
CaltechÕs Linus Pauling, professor
of chemistry emeritus, two‑time Nobel Prize winner, and perennial
generator and explorer of ideasÑfrom the nature of the chemical bond, through
outlawing war, to the value of vitamins, for exampleÑcame back to the campus
recently as a guest of the Caltech YÕs Leaders in America program. As always, he brought out standing‑room‑only
crowds. One of the largest groups
turned tip at Ramo Auditorium on April 4 for his talk on nutrition. ÒGood Nutrition for the Good LifeÓ
(page 6) is adapted from that speech.
Richard P. Feynman, who is Richard
Chace Tolman Professor of Theoretical Physics at Caltech, was CaltechÕs
commencement speaker this yearÑby popular demand.
The faculty convocations committee,
which arranges the InstituteÕs commencement ceremony every year, had just about
decided to do away with the custom of having a formal commencement speaker at
CaltechÕs 80th Annual Commencement on June 14, when the graduating senior class
not only begged them to change their minds, but presented them with a list of
speakers the seniors would like them to invite. And FeynmanÕs name led all the rest. (The rest, incidentally, included
Elliot Richardson, Isaac Asimov, Eric Sevareid, and Woody AllenÑa very catholic
selection.)
As Feynman began to cast about for a
subject for his talk, he decided that it would at least have something to do
with his recent investigations into such un‑scientific
matters as ESP, Esalen, astrology, and expanded consciousness. It was at this point, of course, that
he had to produce a title for the talk, because the commencement program was
going to press. He settled on
ÔUnscientific Evidence.Ó Not until
he began to put the actual talk together did he realize (Òlike the woman who
expects to have a red‑headed son and names him RufusÑthen has a black‑haired
daughterÓ) that his title no longer fit his talk.
So, on page 10, the transcript of
FeynmanÕs commencement speech, ÒUnscientific Evidence,Ó appears with a new
nameÑÒCargo Cult Science.Ó