On the cover—a portrait of a sonic
boom. In this case a focusing sonic boom
has been simulated in the 17-inch shock tube in Caltech’s 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 “Sonic Booms.”
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,” was held in May 1972. A second was held a year later on “The
Impact of Behavioral Engineering on Society.”
With partial funding by the Norton
Simon. Inc. Foundation for Education, the third of these conferences, “The
Impact of Modern Biological Research on the Ethics of Society,” 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 ‘60, PhD ‘68). “Medical Genetics and the Engineering of Man” (page
2), by Hood and Robert J. Mackin Jr., is in part adapted from Hood’s 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 ‘5 I, PhD
53), who collaborated with Hood on this article, is also concerned about the
public’s need to know what scientists are doing. He is manager
of Caltech‑JPL Medical Laboratory Planning and of the JPL Space Sciences
Division.
Caltech’s Linus Pauling, professor
of chemistry emeritus, two‑time Nobel Prize winner, and perennial
generator and explorer of ideas—from the nature of the chemical bond, through
outlawing war, to the value of vitamins, for example—came back to the campus
recently as a guest of the Caltech Y’s 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. “Good Nutrition for the Good Life”
(page 6) is adapted from that speech.
Richard P. Feynman, who is Richard
Chace Tolman Professor of Theoretical Physics at Caltech, was Caltech’s
commencement speaker this year—by popular demand.
The faculty convocations committee,
which arranges the Institute’s commencement ceremony every year, had just about
decided to do away with the custom of having a formal commencement speaker at
Caltech’s 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 Feynman’s name led all the rest. (The rest, incidentally, included
Elliot Richardson, Isaac Asimov, Eric Sevareid, and Woody Allen—a 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
‘Unscientific Evidence.” Not until
he began to put the actual talk together did he realize (“like the woman who
expects to have a red‑headed son and names him Rufus—then has a black‑haired
daughter”) that his title no longer fit his talk.
So, on page 10, the transcript of
Feynman’s commencement speech, “Unscientific Evidence,” appears with a new
name—“Cargo Cult Science.”