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Biographical Memoirs: Volume 57 (1987)

Chapter: Warren Weaver

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Suggested Citation:"Warren Weaver." National Academy of Sciences. 1987. Biographical Memoirs: Volume 57. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1000.
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WARREN WEAVER July 17, 1894-November24, 1978 BY MINA REES INTRODUCTION WARREN WEAVER ctied on November 24, INS, at his home in New Milforct, Connecticut. The New MilforcI house in the Connecticut countryside was a haven of beauty and peace. It hac! been conceived and plannect and built with full concern for all the little details that were important to him and to Mary, his wife of many years, as they lookocl for- warc! to the happy years together after Warren's retirement. They tract been fellow students at the University of Wiscon- sin she was Mary Hemenway then and their marriage a few years after their graduation brought them an affectionate family life, shared by their son, Warren Jr. (ancl his family), and their daughter, Helen. Warren Weaver started his career as a teacher of mathe- matics. But before his thirty-eighth birthday he became a foundation executive when he accepted the post of director of the Division of Natural Sciences of the Rockefeller Foun- clation. In that role he exercised a profound influence on the clevelopment of biology worIdwicle, anct it was probably for this that he was best known during his lifetime. During his years as an officer of the Rockefeller Foundation, however, and during his service as an officer of the Sloan Foundation 493

494 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS after his retirement from the Rockefeller post, his influence on many other aspects of science expanded and its impact was broadly felt. Weaver assumed the vice-presidency of the Sloan Foun- dation immediately after his statutory retirement from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1959. But he reduced the amount of time he spent at his office so that he would have more time for his family and the extensive property at his New Milford home. He liked intellectual work, but he also loved to do physical work chopping wood, moving rocks, gardening, puttering in his shop. He worked all the time: in a doctor's office (whether the wait was five minutes or half an hour) or on a commuter train and he commuted regularly. He found these bits of time important. And he found the work that he was able to do in these moments very rewarding. These personal qualities, combined with his great plea- sure in working with and absorbing new ideas in physics and new results across a broad spectrum of scientific research, made possible his extraordinarily productive life. His per- formance as a philanthropoid (his term) was exemplary; in addition to the Rockefeller and Sloan Foundation positions, he also held responsible posts in the civilian scientific effort that supported the military services during World War Il. After the war his achievements as an expositor of science gave him a distinctive role in the growing movement to promote the understanding of science on the part of the nonscientific public. These are the main themes to which T shall devote this memoir. CAREER CHOICE, ARMY SERVICE, AND MARRIAGE Weaver was born on July 17, 1894, in the little town of Reedsburg, Wisconsin (population circa 2,000). As a child he was shy, introspective, unskilled in sports, and often lone-

WARREN WEAVER 495 some. His fondness for his elder brother Paul, which became a warm ancT important part of both their lives, developed only after their graduation from college. Paul took a job in bank- ing—as a result of parental pressure but soon rebelled and pursued his own vocation, becoming an accomplished pian- ist-organist anct encling his career as head of the School of Music at Cornell. Warren's career tract a more intriguing gen- esis. When Warren was a youngster, his father, who was a phar- macist, made an annual buying trip to purchase the drug- store's supply of Christmas toys for the coming holiday sea- son. It was tractitional for him to return with a gift for each of the boys. After one of these trips, Warren received a small electric motor that was powered by a dry cell. It was labeler! "Ajax" ant! cost a clolIar. As Warren wrote some sixty years . . . ater in a paper on careers in science: . Within a few weeks I had built, with spools and similar household objects, all the little devices that could be run with the tiny torque of this motor. I took off the field winding, re-wound it and it would still run! Getting more adventuresome, I took off the armature winding and dis- covered how it had to be put back on so as to recapture the miracle of movement. I promptly decided that this was for me. I didn't know any name to apply to this sort of activity—I didn't know (or care, I suspect) whether anyone could earn his living doing this kind of thing. But it was perfectly clear to me that taking things apart and finding out how they are con- structed and how they work was exciting, stimulating, and tremendous fun. It may well be the case that in the small rural village where I lived . . . there was not a single person who had any real concept of what the word "science" meant. I was accordingly told that this was "engineering"; and from that time until I was a junior in college, I assumed without question that I wanted to be an engineer. ' Warren Weaver, "Careers in Science," in Listen to Leaders in Science, ed. Albert Love and lames Saxon Childers (Atlanta: Tupper & Love/David McKay, 1965), p. 276.

496 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS It was at the University of Wisconsin that Warren—study- ing"Acivancecl Mathematics for Engineers" realized that his enthusiasm was for science rather than for engineering. He clecicled to pursue a graduate clegree in mathematics and theoretical physics as soon as this proved feasible. Immecli- ately after receiving a degree in civil engineering in ~ 9 ~ 7 (he had earner! a B.S. in mathematics in 1916), he accepted an invitation from Robert A. Millikan to become an assistant professor of mathematics at Throop College (soon to be re- namect the California Institute of Technology). Millikan was just shifting his interests from Chicago to Pasadena and was planning to spend one academic quarter there each year. Max Mason, a brilliant mathematical physicist who hacT been Weaver's teacher and close friend at Wisconsin, suggested Weaver to Millikan. Mason and Charles Sumner Slichter, pro- fessor of applied mathematics at Wisconsin, were the two professors who most influenced Weaver's choice of a career. Mason would continue to be an important influence in his life in the years immediately aheacT. Weaver tract been at Throop for less than a year when he was drafted into the Army at the request of Charles E. Men- denhall, chairman of the Physics Department at Wisconsin. Mendenhall was then serving as a major in the Army's unit associated with the newly formed National Research Council. Weaver was assigned to participate in one of the technical efforts, carried on chiefly at the National Bureau of Stan- clarcis, to clevelop effective equipment to assist U.S. aviators in the air battles of World War I. He was dischargect as a second lieutenant in about a year. After a brief interIucle teaching at Wisconsin, he returned to Pasadena—but not be- fore marrying Mary Hemenway anc! taking her back with him.

WARREN WEAVER THE LIFE OF A PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS 497 The next year at Pasadena was delightful and stimulating. But in the spring of 1920, as the enct of the academic year approached, a letter from Madison invited Weaver to join the faculty at Wisconsin. There was also a most important letter from Max Mason, who urged Warren to accept Wisconsin's offer and suggested that they work together on a book on electromagnetic fielct theory. For Warren this was irresist- ible the opportunity to collaborate with Mason, whose in- sights, brilliance, and imagination he so greatly admirecl. And his own power as an expositor wouIcl be given full rein because Mason hacl no fondness for committing ideas to pa- per. By the fall of 1920, the newlyweds were establishect in Mactison, where they were to remain for the next twelve years. In 1921 Warren earnest his Ph.D. His collaboration with Mason began promptly and was vigorously pursued. In 1925, however, Mason left to become president of the Uni- versity of Chicago, while Weaver carried on alone in Madison, sending ctrafts to Mason in Chicago. In 1928 Weaver suc- ceeded Ec~warc! Burr Van VIeck as chairman of the Depart- ment of Mathematics. The Mason—Weaver book, The Electromagnetic Field, was publishec! in 1929. For some years thereafter, it was the book from which many graduate students in physics Earned Max- well's field equations anc! the associated theory. For occasional physicists whom he met in later years, Warren Weaver be- came "Weaver, of Mason and Weaver." Although his most important writing in the years at Mad- ison was the collaboration with Mason, Weaver also published occasional papers in mathematics, chiefly in probability theory ant! statistics, subjects for which he continued to have great enthusiasm throughout his life. Anct in 1924 he pub-

498 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS fished jointly with Max Mason what he callect "a really good mathematical paper" that turned out to contain the funciamental analytical theory of the supercentrifuge. The publication in 1963 of Lady Luck, his little book on probability, is an indication of his continuing interest in the subject and of his conviction that it should be accessible to laymen, particularly young students. Lady Luck is an instance of Weaver's rare gift of exposition. But his own estimate of most of the mathematical papers he publishect cluring his stay at Wisconsin was that they were routine solutions of specific problems, not real aciclitions to mathematical knowledge. He complained that he never seemed to get a first-liass original idea for advancing mathematics itself. THE LURE OF THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION In 1931 a disturbing and unexpected invitation arrived from Max Mason, an invitation that raised the possibility of Weaver's leaving what he and his wife consiclerec! a nearly iclyIlic life in Madison. Mason had left the presidency of the University of Chicago in 1928 to take on responsibility for the work in the natural sciences that was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation; in 1930, he assumed the presidency of the foundation. In the fall of 193 I, Mason invited Weaver to come to New York to (liscuss the possibility of his joining the staff of the Rockefeller Foundation as head of its pro- gram in the natural sciences. Weaver was reluctant to accept the invitation for many reasons. But the fact that it came from Mason and includect a free trip to New York (which he had never seen) settled the matter. Weaver was oh to New York. The city itself provect at least as alluring as he had imag- ine(1 anc! the visit to the Rockefeller Founclation as tempt- ing. Here we must stop to consider, on the one hand, the organizational situation in the Rockefeller Foundation at that

WARREN WEAVER 499 time and, on the other hanct, the ideas about the state of science that had been brewing on many of the country's cam- puses in the late 1920s and early 1930s. On the campuses there was talk that the century of biol- ogy was upon us. At Wisconsin, for example, there was a lively program in biology at the School of Agriculture as well as in the College of Arts and Sciences. Mason and Weaver tract often discussed a new thrust in biology anct the oppor- tunities that wouIc! open up if some of the most imaginative physical scientists turned their attention and some of the sophisticated instruments they had developed to the ex- amination of biological problems. Weaver complained about the lack of really gooct ideas in the biological literature and its failure to produce the intellectual ferment characteristic of much of the work in the physical sciences. At the time of his first visit to New York, he hoped to interest the trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation in a substantial shift in clirec- tion: he wanted to bring to reality a change in the major thrust of biological research worIdwicle no mean ambition. Happily, his timing was fortuitous. The Rockefeller Foundation hac! recently been reorga- nizecI, absorbing several other Rockefeller agencies that tract been founclect for special purposes that no longer required separate settings. The founciation's aim, "to promote the well-being of mankind throughout the worIct," was inter- preted by the trustees as being best servecI, in the immediate future, by the support of the scientific research of incliviclu- als. (This contrasted with their practice in the immediate past, when large sums were spent on plant and endowment, chiefly at a few major institutions, or on the funding of new research establishments such as the Woods Hole Oceano- graphic Institution.) The newly created Division of Natural Sciences thus would be faced with cleciding how "the well-being of man-

500 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS kind throughout the worIcI" could best be served through the support of science. The amount then available roughly $2 million a year was substantial; in 1932, it constituted a large percentage of the funcis available for the support of research in the United States. But although the funds available were substantial, they were nonetheless limitect, particularly since the foundation defined its program in the natural sciences as concerned broadly with anything that was science but not medicine. Some principles of selection would need to be es- tablishect. In the discussions with the trustees on his visit to New York, Weaver was asked for his ideas on the Rockefeller pro- gram for the support of scientific research. He expressed his satisfaction with his own experience in the physical sciences, a field that had been a principal beneficiary of Rockefeller support. But he also statec! his conviction that the most strik- ing progress in science would soon occur in the biological field. There, he thought, the Rockefeller Foundation would have a great opportunity. He urged that it undertake a long- range program of support of quantitative biology a pro- gram that wouIct seek to apply to outstanding problems of biology some of the methods and machines that had been so successful in the physical sciences. Although he urged his point of view with his customary persuasiveness, Weaver also insistec! that he was not the man to preside over the proposed program; he was, after all, not trained as a biologist. He dicT, however, have the background in the physical sciences that he himself had argued shouict be brought into the picture; anct he returned to Madison with an invitation to become the director of a newly definer] Di- vision of Natural Sciences of the Rockefeller Foundation. Thus he anct his wife were faced with the difficult decision that made so complete a change in their lives. In his autobi- ography, Weaver says of one of the elements in their decision:

WARREN WEAVER 501 I think . . . that I was both realistic and accurate about my abilities and my limitations. I loved to teach, and knew that I had been successful at it. I had a good capacity for assimilating information, something of a knack for organizing, an ability to work with people, a zest for exposition, an enthusiasm that helped to advance my ideas. But I lacked that strange and wonderful creative spark that makes a good researcher. Thus I realized that there was a definite ceiling on my possibilities as a mathematics professor. Indeed, I think I realized that I was already about as far up in that profession as I was likely to go.2 THE PROGRAM IN EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY After much soul-searching, the Weavers decicled that the opportunities opening up in New York could not be refused. In January 1932, Weaver was elected director for the natural sciences of the Rockefeller Foundation. Shortly thereafter, Weaver translates] the discussions that had lee] to his appointment into a formal proposal to the trustees. In it he suggested that the foundation's science pro- gram be shifted from its previous preoccupation with the physical sciences to an "interest in stimulating anct aicTing the application, to basic biological problems, of the techniques, experimental procedures, anct methods of analysis so ef- fectively clevelope(1 in the physical sciences." The trustees acloptecl this recommendation. Commenting on this action, Dean Rusk president of the foundation from 1952 to 1960 wrote in his introduction to the 1958 president's report (the last before Weaver's retire- ment): In 1932 - 33 The Rockefeller Foundation elected to center its major scientific effort in the sciences concerned with living things.... EThis] ma- jor emphasis . . . which continues to characterize the Foundation's science program, rested upon four considerations. First, The life sciences] could 2 Warren Weaver, Scene of Change, a Lifetime in American Science (New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, Inc.), p. 62.

502 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS be expected to add significantly to a better understanding of man himself, whose well-being is a basic charter concern of the Foundation. Second, the life sciences were intimately linked with medicine and public health, the central interests of the Foundation in its opening decades. Third, in the early 1930's the several sciences concerned with living things seemed to be poised for a historical surge forward, with exciting possibilities opening up in all directions. Finally, it seemed at the time that the life sciences were not receiving the public interest and financial support which were war- ranted by their intellectual promise and by their potential capacity to con- tribute brilliantly to man's practical needs. The decisions gave The Rocke- feller Foundation a morle.st share in ~ erect ~rlventllre which is conrinllin~ to unfold.3 _ ~ in, The trustees' clecision involved a major change in the mo- clus operancti of the foundation. In 1933 the program state- ment formulatec} for the Natural Sciences Division articu- latec} this change and set forth these general principles to provide the desirect direction as well as the necessary flexi- bility to the program of the clivision: A highly selective procedure is necessary if the available funds are not to lose significance through scattering. In the past, this selection has con- sisted chiefly of a choice of scientific leaders, among both men and insti- tutions, although there has always been some selection on the basis of fields of interest. It is proposed, for the future program, that interest in the fields play the dominant role in the selection process. Within the fields of inter- est, selection will continue to be made of leading men and institutions. In general, this narrowing of purpose in the specialized program should result in greater emphasis on the biological and related fields, and especially in greater emphasis on the study of man himself. A small provision should be made in the budget of the program to care for unpredictable but unquestionable opportunities. The program should always be kept flexible. The immediate and underlying values in science justify a continuation of general support to the development of science.4 3 The Rockefeller Foundation, President's Review and Annual Report, 1958 (New York: The Foundation), p. 5. 4 The Rockefeller Foundation, President's Review and Annual Report, 1958, p. 26.

WARREN WEAVER 503 Progress with the program was so prompt and promising that the foundation's 1938 annual report began its natural science section with a sixteen-page discussion headed "Mo- lecular Biology." It began: "Among the studies to which the Foundation is giving support is a series in a relatively new fielcI, which may be callect molecular biology, in which clelicate modern techniques are being used to investigate ever more minute details of certain life processes." This was probably the first use of the term molecular biology. Some years later (1949), Weaver expressed his confidence in the importance of the research going on in molecular biol- ogy: The century of biology upon which we are now well embarked is no matter of trivialities. It is a movement of really heroic dimensions, one of the great episodes in man's intellectual history. The scientists who are car- rying the movement forward talk in terms of nucleoproteins, of ultracen- trifuges, of biochemical genetics, of electrophoresis, of the electron micro- scope, of molecular morphology, of radioactive isotopes. But do not be misled by these horrendous terms, and above all do not be fooled into thinking this is mere gadgetry. This is the dependable way to seek a solu- tion of the cancer and polio problems, the problems of rheumatism and of the heart. This is the knowledge on which we must base our solution of the population and food problems. This is the ~,nclerst~n~lin~ of life.5 With the passage of time, Warren Weaver's career involved him in major responsibilities far from molecular biology, both cluring World War II and afterward, but he continued his enthusiasm for research in this field. In 1970 he wrote in his autobiography: I believe that the support which the Rockefeller Foundation poured into experimental biology over the quarter century after 1932 was vital in encouraging and accelerating and even in initiating the development of 5 Letter from Warren Weaver to Mrs. J. M. H. Carson, June 7, 1949. Published in Raymond B. Fosdick, The Story of the Rockefeller Foundation (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1952), p. 166.

504 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS molecular biology. Indeed, I think that the most important thing I have ever been able to do was to reorient the Rockefeller Foundation science program in 1932 and direct the strategy of deployment of the large sums which that courageous and imaginative institution made available. It was indeed a large sum, for between 1932 and my retirement from the Rocke- feller Foundation in 1959 the total of the grants made in the experimental biology program which I directed was roughly ninety million dollars.6 Weaver, however, also sought some objective basis to sup- port his view that the Rockefeller Foundation program for the support of molecular biology played an important role in the emergence of this fielc! as one of the most exciting in present-day science. He reported that George Beadle, in the late 1960s, iclentifiect eighteen Nobel laureates between 1954 ant! 1965 who tract been involved in one or another aspect of molecular biology; fifteen had receiver! assistance from the Rockefeller Foundation. Weaver remarks, sagely, that what was significant was not that they received this assistance, but that they received it, on the average, more than nineteen years before the Nobel prize was awarded. Weaver's assessment of the excellence anti importance of the Rockefeller Foundation program was shared by the trust- ees and by the scientists whose work gave the program its shape and significance. These scientists have commented on the importance of the support they received and on the skill and understanding with which it was given. Such comments are, of course, hard to assess. One of the most persuasive was made by Max Delbruck, a physicist turned biologist, in a let- ter to Weaver in 1967: "I can only testify as far as ~ am con- cerned, and here very strongly and unambiguously: without the encouragement of the Rockefeller Foundation received in ~ 937 anct their continuing support through the micl- forties ~ believe ~ would hardly have been able to make my contributions to biology."7 6 Weaver, Scene of Change, p. 72. 7 Weaver, Scene of Change, p. 74.

WARREN WEAVER 505 It seems clear that the procedures Weaver developed for identifying the most promising young men in Europe and America and providing them with support before their qual- ity was generally recognized were strikingly elective. Weav- er's establishment and management of the Rockefeller Foun- ciation's program in molecular biology acceleratecl the move- ment of physicists ant! chemists into biology and was of major significance for the development of biology. Robert E. KohIer, a historian of contemporary science, hac! this to say in an article in Minerva about the decision that was reached by the trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation in the early 1930s concerning their program in the natural sci- ences: In the United States the large private foundations, most notably the Rockefeller Foundation, pioneered in establishing the general institutional traditions and the specific administrative techniques for the patronage of individual research on a large scale. Warren Weaver's programme in the natural sciences division of the Rockefeller Foundation in the 1930s is an exemplary case of this new relationship between a promoter of science and academic scientists. Weaver played an active role in selecting areas of re- search to be developed, yet he did not intrude on the actual process of research. He developed research grants for individuals and projects and mastered the art of conducting a large programme of relatively modest grants—skills which Foundation leaders doubted could be perfected. The organization and style of the programmes of the Rockefeller Foundation played a significant role in forming the mode of operation of federal sci- ence agencies after the Second World War.8 THE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE While he was still at Wisconsin, Weaver had begun a pro- gram of self-education in biology because he was convinced that the most exciting developments in science in the years ~ Robert E. KohIer, "A Policy for the Advancement of Science," Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning, and Policy, vol. 16, no. 4(Winter 1978):480 - 81.

506 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS aheact wouIc! lie in that field. The limitations imposed by his inability to conduct the experimental program that was so essential to an adequate education in biology were somewhat mediatect by his transfer to the Rockefeller Foundation. There his close identification with the often inspired exper- imental work of his many associates in Rockefeller-supported research in molecular biology provided him with a rare eclu- cation in the character and status of work in that fielcI. This background and his experience in administering the Rocke- feller Foundation program were caller} upon by the National Academy of Sciences in ~ 955. The country's newspapers cluring that time hac! been per- sistently asking, "What effects will the atomic age have on the human race?" The public was hopelessly confused by the conflicts of opinion being expressed by people it viewed as qualifiecI specialists. At a meeting of the Boarct of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1954, several members askocT whether there was any way in which the foundation conic! help to clear up the confusion. Consequently, the Boarct aspect one of its members, Detlev W. Bronk, who was at that time president of the National Academy of Sciences, whether the Academy wouIct be willing to a(lclress itself to some of the scientific aspects of this question. Wouic! the Academy be willing to carry out a survey of the biological effects of atomic radiation and prepare a report that would set forth the best information then available in a form acces- sible to seriously concerned citizens? After consulting his colleagues at the Academy, Bronk agreed to undertake the study. He appointed six committees: genetics, pathology, meteorology, oceanography and fisher- ies, agriculture and foocT supplies, ancT disposal and dispersal of radioactive wastes. The first committee was chaired by Weaver, who successfully mecliated the opposing positions of the two groups of geneticists who were members of the com-

WARREN WEAVER 507 mittee and prepares! a report that hacl their unanimous sup- port. After the first summary report was published in 1956, there was virtual ectitorial unanimity in the nation's news- papers that "the report should be read in its entirety to be appreciated" and that it cleserved the close attention of all . . concernec ~ citizens. In 1957, the National Academy of Sciences announced the award of its Public Welfare Medal to Warren Weaver "for eminence in the application of science to the public welfare." The statement that was issued said, in part: Dr. Weaver . . . has recently performed . . . a task of immense signifi- cance to the general public. Making use of his unusually broad scientific experience in mathematics and biology, Dr. Weaver served as chairman of a committee of distinguished geneticists asked by the Academy to appraise the genetic effects of atomic radiation. That the committee's report, published in 1956, was able to fashion the various points of view expressed by geneticists into agreement on most of the fundamental issues has been attributed, in large measure, to the leadership, breadth of vision, and insight contributed by Dr. Weaver. The summary report of the Academy committee has been generally accepted in the United States as an authoritative assessment of the genetic hazards Involved In atomic radiation. Weaver's leaclership in preparing this report was one of his most widely acclaimed contributions to the public uncler- stancling of science, but he macle other such contributions with possibly more far-reaching results. One of his major efforts in his continuing commitment to the promotion of the public understancting of science was undertaken toward the end of WorIcI War IT. At that time the U.S. Rubber Com- pany was sponsoring the Sunday afternoon radio broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. They asked Weaver to serve as chairman of a committee of scien- tists who would undertake to provicle an intermission pro- gram. U.S. Rubber was committed to the idea that these dis-

508 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS cussions should treat material of substantial concern to a public whose anticipation of the enc! of the war was ciarkenecI by anxiety about the future. As Weaver saicI: "What the fu- ture wouIct be, no one couicT forecast. But one thing was sure: science would be a mighty and pervasive force in helping to shape that future.... The time hac! clearly come when every- one ought to have a broacler and a more authentic under- stancting of what science is and how it operates." The committee assembled by Weaver proviclecI seventy- nine intermission talks, each given by a research scientist who cited his own work. These talks treated a wide range of sci- ences as well as the relations of science to such things as health, war, and the values of our society. In 1947 these talks were assemblect in a book, The Scientists Speak, which was ed- ite(1 by Weaver. Nearly a decade later, Weaver arranged a comparable se- ries for television for the Bell Telephone Science Series. Once again he recruited a committee of scientists who planned a series of eight television programs. Each program dealt with a single field such as genetics or astronomy. The committee's work continued from the fall of 1954 until the fall of 1963. Each program was broadcast twice on a national network, and copies of the filmed programs were distributecI free of charge to schools, colleges, clubs, churches, and other groups. The total viewing audience for each program was estimates! at more than 60 million people. These are but two instances of the variety of ways in which Weaver participated in formulating public statements about science the kind of statements that have appeared with in- creasing frequency in recent years. In fact, Weaver himself playoc! an important role in bringing about this increased public attention to clevelopments in science. During his mem- bership on the Executive Committee (now called the BoarcI of Directors) of the American Association for the Advance-

WARREN WEAVER 509 ment of Science, the decision was macle to reexamine the association's policy and program of activities. The object of this reexamination was to attempt to achieve a better fit be- tween these activities anct the changing situation of science in the United States. it was Weaver who formulated a statement for the AAAS membership that expressed the Executive Committee's hopes for a conference on this subject to be held at Arclen House in September 1951; it was Weaver who draftee! the "Arclen House Statement of Policy for the AAAS"; anct, after he was elected president of AAAS, it was Weaver who implemented the Arden House recommencia- tions. Although the Arden House conference in no sense changed the objectives of AAAS—objectives that had long been a part of its constitution it dicl change the emphasis that was placed on some of these goals. One of the changes was the role assignee! to programs to increase public under- standing anct appreciation of the importance and promise of the methods of science in human progress. In his retiring presiclential aciciress at a AAAS meeting on December 2S, 955, Weaver said: It is hardly necessary to argue, these days, that science is essential to the public. It is becoming equally true, as the support of science moves more and more to state sources, that the public is essential to science. The lack of general comprehension of science is thus dangerous both to science and to the public, these being interlocked aspects of the common danger that scientists will not be given the freedom, the understanding, and the support that are necessary for vigorous and imaginative development. The variety of ways in which AAAS has succeeded in im- plementing this new emphasis in its purposes would not be appropriately summarized here. But it is appropriate to men- tion that Warren Weaver became the first chairman of the AAAS Committee on the Public Understanding of Science

510 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS anct was influential in organizing the Council for the Ad- vancement of Science Writing. Moreover, the AAAS maga- zine Science has provided a training ground for a group of gifted science writers. In many ways the Weaver influence has been felt in the excellent science reporting now seen in U.S. newspapers, journals, and broadcasts. In particular, in the late 1940s, he was an enthusiastic supporter of Gerard Pie! ancT Dennis Flanagan who undertook to convert the long- establishec! Scientific American into a vehicle for reporting on recent important scientific results using the scientists them- seIves as the prime reporters. Pie} and Flanagan hac! been science editors on the staff of the magazine Life anct viewed the intermission talks on sci- ence that Weaver hacl arranged for the New York Philhar- monic Symphony performances as a mode] worth emulating. They plannecT to use his methocI: to get the scientist to tell the story anct then to help him retell it, using their skills in communicating with a nonscientific public to "pool two rel- evant competences," a Weaver description. Financially, the magazine barely survived the period after they had gotten it "off the pact," but before long it was safely in the black. With Weaver's continuing help, the venture cap- italists who had originally backed the enterprise were in- cluced to continue their support until the magazine had es- tablished itself. It is now, arguably, the source of firsthand information about new scientific work that is most respecter] . . by nonsc~ent~sts. Weaver was widely recognized for his activities "at the in- terface of science and society" (as he clescribed it). In a single year 1965 he received the two most prestigious prizes awardecI for contributions to the public understancting of science. The first, the Kalinga Prize, was awarder! for literary excellence in scientific writing by an international committee set up by UNESCO. It was establishecl through the generosity

WARREN WEAVER 511 of one of India's inclustrial leachers, B. Patnaik, to honor par- ticularly meritorious contributions to the popularization of science. Weaver was the last winner of that prize ant! the first winner of the Arches of Science AwarcI, which was intended to stimulate "the interpretation of what science as a high form of intellectual activity means to man anct to the society and the worIc3 in which he lives and works ant! dreams anct thinks." The citation that accompanied the Arches of Science Awarct concluded with a quotation from Weaver's own writ- ings: As a natural social activity science belongs to all men. It is well for us that this is true. For it tells us that science need not be regarded as the possession of some select inner priesthood, but that its essential nature can be understood by all literate persons. This is the proposition which assures that the citizens of a free democracy, understanding and prizing the work of science, will provide the support and terms of support that will cause science to prosper and bring its benefits, power and beauty to the service of the people. THE SLOAN FOUNDATION Weaver's great facility in making scientific issues accessible to nonscientists was relatecl to his enjoyment of words, his skill in using them, and his consistent willingness to be the member of a committee or board who wrote the summarizing statement or the final report. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Re- search ant! chairman of its Committee on Scientific Policy; as such, he regularly presided over the committee's detailecl study of recommendations submitted for board action and presented the committee's findings on relevant scientific is- sues to the boarcl. The majority of board members, including Alfrect P. Sloan, Jr., were nonscientists. The effectiveness of Weaver's presentations and his success in coupling the insti-

512 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS tute's research with its clinical work were impressive and Sloan was one of those who was most impressed. It was through increasingly frequent contacts of this kind that Weaver became one of SIoan's most trusted advisers. In 1959, at the time of Weaver's retirement from the Rockefeller Foundation after nearly thirty years of service, he began a much shorter career as vice-president of the Sloan Foundation. Although Alfred P. SIoan's icleas ant! energy continued to clominate the foundation's program, Weaver was able to set up an internal structure uncler which the work of the foundation proceedecT smoothly after SIoan's death in 1966. Weaver tract retired as vice-presiclent and a member of the foundation's boars] in 1964. At that time the board ac- knowledgecl its goof] fortune in having been able to call on his extraordinary experience and judgment in the practice of the arts of philanthropy and on his uncommon imagina- tion and integrity. Board members also expressed their grat- itude for his role in giving them a keener sense of the mean- ing and responsibilities of truly professional philanthropy. And they emphasized the enduring value of his broad view of the importance of science to our national life and his con- viction that the beauty ant! power of science are meant to elevate the human condition in both an aesthetic and a prac- tical sense. One of Weaver's most gratifying activities during his Sloan years resulted in the construction (with partial support from the Sloan Founclation) of a building at New York University that was christened Warren Weaver Hall. This building houses the now-famous Courant Institute of the Mathemat- ical Sciences, the second such institute created through the imagination and ctrive of Richard Courant. His energetic leaclership at Gottingen, Germany, before WorIcl War II, was supporter! by the Rockefeller Founclation: it resulted in the

WARREN WEAVER 513 establishment of the worId-renowned Gottingen Mathemat- ics Institute, which suffered severely during the Hitler re- gime. The Courant Institute at New York University is a wor- thy companion to the Institute at Gottingen. TWO PAPERS OF SPECIAL INTEREST Weaver combined his enjoyment of words with his enthu- siasm for statistics and probability theory in two efforts that were of particular interest to him: an article entitiecI "Recent Contributions to the Mathematical Theory of Communica- tion" and a memorandum on machine translation, both pub- lishecl in 1949. The first made Claude E. Shannon's work in communication theory available to a larger audience than couict be reached by Shannon's more technical presentation. The memorandum, "Translation," is crectitect by William N. Locke ant} A. Donald Booth (in their books on the subject, which was published in 1955) with providing the original stimulus to the fielc} of machine translation. Weaver himself believed that this second paper embodiect one of the two or three ideas he ever tract that were both original and impor- tant. There was a good clear of work in the fielct worIdwicle in the early 1950s. In the United States, part of this work had Rockefeller Foundation support, and much of it had govern- ment support until the mid-1960s. At that time the so-called Pierce Reports suggester! that the fielct of machine transla- 9 William N. Locke and A. Donald Booth, eds., Machine Translation of Languages (New York: Wiley Technical Press, 1955), p. 15. 'I Division of Behavioral Sciences, National Academy of Sciences-National Re- search Council, Language and Machines: Computers in Translation and Linguistics. A Report by the Automatic Language Processing Advisory Committee, NA~NRC Publication no. 1416 (Washington, D.C.: NA~NRC, 1966). The Recommendations of the NAT NRC Automatic Language Processing Advisory Committee are given on p. 34. The main thrust of the Advisory Committee's position on fully automatic translation is suggested on p. 24 of the report, where significant invited comments by Victor H.

514 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS ton wouIcl be unproductive in the foreseeable future and that government support shouIcl be redirected to the support of linguistics as a science. As a result, the use of computers for natural-language processing became and continues to be a lively subfield of linguistics. Lately, however, research in machine translation has been attracting renewed attention. Current interest at the universities is in the use of artificial intelligence techniques applied to machine translation prob- lems, ancT there is also work going on in industry. THE WAR YEARS From the beginning, Warren Weaver's duties at the Rocke- feller Foundation required fairly regular travel to Europe- and later to other parts of the world. During his trips in the early 1930s, he became acquainted with many of Europe's leading scientists whose work lay in the areas of the founda- tion's interest. His conversations with German scholars in those years convinced him of the imminence of worldwide conflict. In 1940, at the invitation of President Roosevelt, Vanne- var Bush set up an organization, the National Defense Re- search Committee (NDRC), to sect the military services with their scientific problems. Weaver wrote to Bush, offering his services on a full-time basis. He also took a step motivated by his memory of WorIcT War ~ ant! the destruction of European libraries that ensued. With the support of the Rockefeller Foundation trustees, he arranged for the American Library Association to administer a grant "for the purchase or repro- cluction of American scholarly journals for institutions in areas of war damage, chiefly in Europe anct Asia." A first- rate librarian was employed, and a large empty loft was Yngve, then of the MIT Research Laboratory of Electronics, are also quoted. Ap- pendix 19 on pp. 121-123 deals with machine translation and linguistics.

WARREN WEAVER 515 rented in Washington. The librarian made a list of university libraries in Europe and the developing countries, including those with Socialist governments the total was around 5,000 and enterect subscriptions to all the professional journals in the United States. As the journals were published, copies were cleposited in bins marked "Library of the Sor- bonne," "Library of the University of Heidelberg," "Library of the University of Louvain," and so on. At the end of the war, the complete series of journals was boxed ant! ready for shipment to these libraries as the rubble was being cleared. In July 1940, Bush invited Weaver to set up the fire- contro] section of NDRC. Weaver accepted and planned to resign from the Rockefeller Foundation. But he was per- suacled to retain his appointment there, carrying on some of his usual duties while giving first priority to NDRC functions. In fact, Weaver had few opportunities to perform Rocke- feller functions, but those that occurred were important. One such opportunity during a wartime mission to England in the spring of ~ 94 ~ provect of exceptional importance. Weaver received a note from Howard Florey of Oxforcl, saying that he wouIc! like to call on Weaver in London. Florey had begun experiments with maids experiments that ultimately led to the production ant! widespread use of penicillin. At that time Florey and his colleagues coup only produce very small amounts of a moist from which they were obtaining an im- portant active ingredient. Florey was convinced that this in- greclient had antibiotic properties so effective that it might play a major role not only in general medicine after the war but also, perhaps, in the immediate medical emergencies of the war. But it was impossible to produce larger amounts of the mold in England because resources were so completely taken up with pressing war neecis. Florey hoped to get to the United States and persuade one or more of the American companies with large resources for hancIling fermentation

516 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS problems to cultivate enough of the organism to permit the necessary human tests ant! eventually the practical applica- tion of the cirug. Weaver undertook to arrange to finance the trip, Florey got permission from the British authorities to leave, anct the rest is history. The Rockefeller Foundation continued its association with Florey after the war. Meanwhile the NDRC fire-contrl! section heacled by Weaver was working on sighting systems to be used for cli- recting the guns of an airplane against enemy aircraft anct on bombsights for such uses as low-level attacks on subma- rines. But the largest and most useful of the projects spon- sored by the section was the design anct development of a successful electrical antiaircraft director. For Army Orcinance, the most pressing problem when the war began was to furnish goof] fire control for a weapon that was capable of shooting clown high-altitude planes. The me- chanical methods based on gears ant! cams that had been used previously were neither rapid enough nor accurate enough to cope with the fast, high-flying targets of WorI(1 War Il. It was evident that a new approach was neecled. Bell Telephone laboratories came forward with a novel concept: they would develop an electrical gun director whose computation process wouIc! rely on several electrical crevices, none of whose designs had been proven. A compensating feature, however, was the expectation that the electrical in- strument conic! be proclucect in large numbers by compara- tively unskilled labor. This was in contrast to the existing re- quirements for precision machine tools anc! machine-too} skills in the manufacture of precision equipment using gears and cams. After a conference between the fire-contrl! section's ex- ecutive committee and personnel at Bell Laboratories, Weaver made his recommendation: he advised the technical staff of Army Orclnance, traditionally skeptical about the use

WARREN WEAVER 517 uncler battle conditions of anything electrical, to proceed with the proposed director. Finally, on November 4, 1940, Ordnance requester! NDRC to begin work anct to take all responsibility for technical supervision and direction. Work on the electrical antiaircraft director continued throughout 1941. In February 1942, the revolutionary instrument was accepted by the Army as the M-9 Director. It was ready in time to join radar and the proximity fuze, which was also clevelopecl by Bush's organization, in reversing the tide of the Battle of Britain saving London from the worst of the cle- struction threatened by the German "buzz-bombs" that be- gan to rain down on the city on tune 12, 1944. By late 1942, Bush tract identified the increasing need for sophisticated mathematical studies, and the greatly ex- pancled need for mathematical assistance in NDRC. He es- tablishecl the Appliecl Mathematics Pane! (AMP) with Weaver as its chief; Harold Hazen of MIT became chief of the fire- contro] ctivision. The Applied Mathematics Pane! was in need of a large group of mathematicians to provide assistance in military re- search. To meet this neect the pane} invites! the participation of a broact array of able mathematicians, without regard to their field of specialization. Several hundred! mathematicians, whose peacetime work was often in the purest of "pure" mathematics, worked in groups set up at ten universities across the country to help with AMP problems. In these efforts the groups demon- stratec] both versatility anc! effectiveness in meeting military requirements, qualities that were much admire by the mil- itary officers with whom they worked. This was true also of the economists and others skilled in statistical techniques who joined in the work of the panel. Many of those associated with the panel left their own universities to join in the effort. The problems ranged from those calling for mathematical

518 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS expertise even though they involved no new mathematical results (e.g., some problems dealing with optimum employ- ment of equipment) to those requiring the creation of a new theory (e.g., inspection sampling of materials that were de- stroye(1 during testing sequential analysis was born during World War Il). Later, a number of these wartime develop- ments in mathematics were enhanced by the postwar growth of federally financed research. Such research encouraged further exploration of some wartime beginnings, such as op- erations research and computer construction and use, and expanded the ongoing mathematization of a number of fields. Warren Weaver's skill in the administration of research and his effectiveness in dealing with military officers and with the Washington bureaucracy greatly facilitatecl the work of the Applied Mathematics Panel. During the war, the panel received many letters of appreciation from military com- mancis; at war's encT, several of the war-born research projects were continued with support from interested military agen- cies. Weaver continued to serve on boards and commissions in Washington, inclucling the Naval Research Aclvisory Com- mittee (he was its first chairman), the War Department Re- search Advisory Panel, and the Research and Development Board of the U.S. Department of Defense. For his war work, he received the British King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom and the Medal for Merit of the United States. In 1950 he was macle an Officer of the Legion of Honor of France. The citation that accompanied the award of the U.S. Mecial for Merit read, in part: "He revolutionized anti- aircraft fire control. He macle brilliant contributions to the effectiveness of bomber aircraft. The work of his Pane! showed the full possibilities of the application of mathematics to the problems of war." In 1952? in a reorganization of the Rockefeller Founcia-

WARREN WEAVER 519 tion, Weaver's responsibilities were enIargecl when he was ap- pointed vice-president for the natural and mectical sciences. It was at about this time that he became active on several committees clearing with medical research. In 1952 he was also chairman of the boarct anc! nonresident fellow of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies; ant! in 1954 he was president of AAAS. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society (elected in 1944), a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1958), ant! a member of the National Academy of Sciences (19691. From 1956 to 1960 he server} on the National Science Board. During the war years the Rockefeller Foundation em- barkect on its major program to address the problems of hun- ger around the world. This work was the beginning of the effort that expancled from Mexico to a broader base in Latin America, Asia, and Africa and has been referrer! to as the "Green Revolution." For several years the Rockefeller Foun- ciation called this program the "Conquest of Hunger," and it is still committed to a major undertaking to help improve agriculture-lee! development in Third World countries. The agriculture program was initiated in 1941 after Ray- monc! B. Fosdick, then president of the Rockefeller Foun- ciation, returned from a visit to Washington. During the visit he had lunched with Henry A. Wallace, vice-president of the Uniter! States and an agricultural expert. Wallace had been appalled by the inferior quality of the cornfields he hacl just seen in Mexico, particularly because corn holds so central a position in the Mexican ctiet. He remarked that if anyone could increase the yield per acre of corn and beans in Mexico, it would contribute more effectively to the welfare of the country and the happiness of its people than any other plan that couIct be devised. Fosdick consultec! Weaver about the possibility that the foundation couict clo something useful. An extensive preliminary study was carried out by a group

520 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS of three specialists E. C. Stakman (plant pathology), Rich- arc! Bractfielc! (soils), and Paul Mangelsclorf (corn genetics and plant breeding) who visited all the regions of Mexico at the request of the Rockefeller Foundation. They deter- mined that a great clear could be done anct outlined basic principles for the conduct of the work. After careful prepa- ration the project was set up in Mexico in 1942 with the par- ticipation of the Mexican government; it was headed by I. George Harrar. The work in Mexico prospered, and in 1950 a similar program was establishect in Colombia. Then Chile and other Central and South American countries entered the program. Improved varieties of wheat were Erect in Mexico anti suc- cessfully introclucec! into a number of African and Asian countries. With the cooperation of the Ford Foundation, an International Rice Research Institute was created in the Phil- ippines on lane] furnished by the Philippine government. Sturdy, high-yielding rice was successfully brect there anct cTis- tributed widely in Asia. Commenting on the dwarf wheat strain cleveloped in Mexico ant! the improved rice strain cleveloped in the Phil- ippines, an eclitorial in Nature (August ~ 0, ~ 968) sai(l, "They have provider! countries which were perennially faced with starvation with the means not only to become self-sufficient, but equally important, tional pricle." to regain their self-respect and na- Although Warren Weaver had continuing contact with this program during the war, his associates in the Rockefeller Foundation assumed the principal day-by-day responsibility. At the end of the war, after he had recovered from radical surgery necessitated by repeated and painful attacks of Men- iere's disease, he Elevated much of his time and energy to this expanding agricultural program. In 1970, looking back on his nearly thirty years of service to the Rockefeller Founda-

WARREN WEAVER 521 tion, he expressed satisfaction at having been associated with two programs, "in both of which ~ had the privilege of major administrative responsibility: the program in experimental biology which played a significant role in initiating and cle- veloping the present-clay field of molecular biology; and the agricultural program." OTHER ENTHUSIASMS This account has focused on Warren Weaver's profes- sional career over a period of nearly fifty years. Although his professional life was clemancling, he had many hobbies, one of which was collecting. For a time, his chief interest in col- lecting was in acquiring a library that would represent the historical landmarks in the development of the physical sci- ences. But when he realizect that his interest in Alice in Won- deriand anc! in her friend the Reverenct Charles Dodgson (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll)- was competing with his plans for this library, he faced the inevitable: he hac] to choose to which of these clelights he wouIc! cleclicate his limiter! resources. Alice won, with the result that at the ens! of his life, Warren Weav- er's Lewis Carroll collection, now at the University of Texas in Austin, was among the important private collections in the world. Weaver clerivect great pleasure and satisfaction from his Carroll collection, and some of his enthusiasm found its way into print. Probably the most interesting of these publications is a book called Alice in Many Tongues. The book in part re- ports on the problems and fun of acquiring so many different translations of Alice. But it also discusses the problems that must be faced in trying to come to grips in many different tongues with the clifficulties introduced by a text that relies on parocliect verse, puns, nonsense words, jokes involving ~ ~ Weaver, Scene of Change, p. ~ 03.

522 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS logic, and twists of meaning for much of its clelight. When Alice in Many Tongues was written, translations hac! been macle into forty-seven languages; there were over 300 translatecI editions. The total number of languages represented in the Weaver collection was forty-two (although he hacl 160 differ- ent translations). The pursuit of Alice in Woncieriand and other aspects of Dodgson's activities was what Weaver callecI one of his minor enthusiasms. Religion was a major enthusiasm after his fam- ily, which came first, and his work, which came second. From earliest childhood, church was a family ritual, and in aclult- hood, it tract become a cherished part of Sunday's special quality. For years there seemed to be no neect to question the interrelationship between science and religion; each played an important role in Weaver's life, but he felt no conflict be- tween them. When he clecided in the 1950s that he should examine the conflict many other people dicT feel, his conclu- sion was that he could find none between a properly humble science and a properly intelligent religion. He became the scientist par excellence who was often invited to speak at churches anct at religious gatherings. Whenever he published an article on this subject, it was widely reprinted. One article, "A Scientist Ponders Faith," was published in the Saturday Review of January 3, 1959, anct was reprinted by nine other publications cluring the next two years. Weaver was con- vincec] that there was a permanent core of truth in religion as there is in science anct that religious ideas, like scientific ones, evolve with the acquisition of new knowleclge. He was perfectly comfortable with his conclusions, realizing full well that they clid not conform with the bulk of religious opinion. CONCLUSION How to sum up the account of this extraordinary man? Witty, forthright, a superb raconteur, skillet! in the use of

WARREN WEAVER 523 words as few of us can hope to be, Warren Weaver was a man whose company was a constant source of stimulation to those who were closely associated with him. He was a prodigious worker and a man for whom the conquest of a new and dif- ficult idea, particularly in science, was an event of impor- tance. He viewed science as the most successful of man's in- tellectual adventures, anc! in some senses his whole life was devoted to science. He bore the discomforts of declining health with forti- tucle, ant! liver] the last of his years with a grace that made them as ad mirable as the many years before them years rich in enjoyment ant] achievement. IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS adequately my appreciation of the kindness and hospitality of Warren Weaver's immediate family in helping me to arrive at an adequate understanding of his multifa- ceted life, some parts of which were quite outside my personal ex- perience of him. Mrs. Weaver put at my disposal his personal re- cords filed at their Connecticut home, including a copy of the oral history interview recorded for the Columbia University Oral His- tory Project in the spring of 1961. In addition, she responded to my questions by calling upon her experience and her own recollec- t~ons. The Rockefeller Foundation has been generous with its help and has provided me with access to the Weaver files at the Rockefeller Archive Center at Pocantico Hills, New York. Assistance with this memoir also was generously given by a number of people asso- ciated with diverse phases of Warren Weaver's life. These include, in addition to the Weaver family, Dennis Flanagan, H. H. Gold- stine, Alexander Hollaender, Robert S. Morison, Gerard Piel, E. R. Piore, Nan S. Robinson, and Dael Wolfle. For all of this help, I express my great appreciation.

524 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS B IBLIOGRAPHY 1920 Forecast. Am. Math. Mon., 27(May):205-9. The average reading vocabulary; an application of Bayes's Theo- rem. Am. Math. Mon., 27~0ctober):347-54. The pressure of sound. Phys. Rev., 15~5~:399-404. The kinetic theory of magnetism. Phys. Rev., 16~5) :438-48. 1924 With Max Mason. The settling of small particles in a fluid. Phys. Rev., 23~3~:412-26. 1925 Elementary Mathematical Analysis, a Textbook for First-year College Students, by Charles S. Slichter,3d rev. ea., ed. Warren Weaver. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1926 The duration of the transient state in the settling of small particles. Phys. Rev., 27~4~:499 - 503. 1927 Die Diffusion kleiner Teilchen in einer Flussigkeit. Z. Phys., 43:296-98. 1928 Die Sedimentationszeit kleiner Teilchen in einer Flussigkeit. Z. Phys., 49:311-14. With H. W. March. Diffusion problem for a solid in contact with a stirred liquid. Phys. Rev., 3 1 (6~: 1 072-82. 1929 With Max Mason. The Electromagnetic Field. New York: Dover Pub- lications (University of Chicago Press). Review of A Debate on the Theory of Relativity by R. D. Carmichael et al. Am. Math. Mon., 27( January):38-42. Science and imagination. Sci. Mon., 29(November):425-34.

WARREN WEAVER 525 1930 Geophysical prospecting. Bull. Assoc. State Eng. Soc., 5(3):76-90 Mathematics and the problem of ore location. Am. Math. Mon. 27(April): 165-81. The reign of probability. Sci. Mon., 31(November):457-66. 1932 Conformal representation, with applications to problems of ap- plied mathematics. Am. Math. Mon., 39~0ctober):448-73. Uplift pressure on dams. J. Math. Phys. (MIT), 11~2~: 114-45. 1938 Lewis Carroll and a geometrical paradox. Am. Math. Mon., 45(April) :234-36. 1947 Chapter 1 and the introductions to all 15 chapters. In: The Scientists Speak. New York: Boni & Gaer. 1948 Probability, rarity, interest, and surprise. Sci. Mon., 67(De- cember):390-92. Science and complexity. Am. Sci., 36~4~:536-44. Statistical freedom of the will. Rev. Mod. Phys., 20~1~:31-34. 1949 The mathematics of communication. Sci. Am., 1 8 1 ~ July): 1 1-1 5. Recent contributions to the mathematical theory of communica- tion. In: The Mathematical Theory of Communication, by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, pp. 93-117. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 1950 Probability. Sci. Am., 183~0ctober):44-47. Reply to Professor McConnell's letter regarding extrasensory per- ception (correspondence on probabilities). Sci. Mon., 70(Feb- ruary): 1 38 - 40.

526 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 1951 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, its origin, its author. Princeton Univ. Libr. Chron., 1 3( 1 ): 1-1 7. Protein structure studies. Sci. Mon., 73(December):387-90. 1952 Statistics. Sci. Am., 186( [anuary):60-63. 1953 Fundamental questions in science. Sci. Am., 1 89(September):32, 47-51. Probability and statistics, the mathematical way of estimating risk. (Delivered at the 200th Anniversary of the Mutual Insurance Companies of America, New York, 1952.) In: Facing the Future's Risks, ed. Lyman Bryson, pp. 34-58. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1954 The mathematical manuscripts of Lewis Carroll. Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 98~51:377-81. People, energy, food. Sci. Mon., 78( {une):359-64. Who speaks for whom or for what? (Editorial.) Science, 119 (February 261: 3A. 1955 Can a scientist believe in God? In: A Guide to the Religions of America, ed. Leo Rosten, pp. 158-65. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. Foreword and chapter 1 (entitled "Translation" and based on a memorandum drawn up for the Rockefeller Foundation in July 1949~. In: Machine Translation of Languages, ed. William N. Locke and A. Donald Booth, pp. v-vii, 15-23. New York: Wiley Tech- nical Press. The Patent Once problem. (Delivered before a joint meeting of the American Patent Law Association and the New York Patent Law Association, New York, April.) Am. Doc., 6~31:129-33. Science and faith. (Delivered on Layman's Sunday in the Congre- gational Church of New Milford, Connecticut, May 1954.) Christian Century, 72 ( January 51: 10 -13. Science and people. Science, 122(December 30~:1255-59.

WARREN WEAVER 1956 527 Lewis Carroll: Mathematician. Sci. Am., 194( ~une):36, 116-20. The Parrish collection of Carrolliana. Princeton Univ. Libr. Chron., 17~2) :85 -91. Report of the Committee on Genetic Effects of Atomic Radiation. In: The Biological Effects of Atomic Radiation—Summary Reports, pp. 3-31. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council. 1957 Radiations and the genetic threat. I. Franklin Inst., 263~4~:283-93. Science and the citizen. Science, 1 26(December 1 3~: 1 225-29. 1958 Communicative accuracy. (Editorial.) Science, 127(March 7~:499. The encouragement of science. Sci. Am., l99(September):50,170- 76. How big is too big? (Editorial.) Science, 128( July 181: 113. A quarter century in the natural sciences. In: The Rockefeller Foun- dation Annual Report, pp. 3-122. New York: The Rockefeller Foundation. 1959 Dither. (Editorial.) Science, 130(August 7) :301. Purposes and innovations in science teaching. Daedalus (Boston), 88~1~: 182-85. Report of the Special Committee. Science, 1 30(November 20~: 1390-91. A scientist ponders faith. Saturday Review, 42( January 3~:8-10. 1960 The attractiveness of dessert. (Editorial.) Science, 132(November 25~: 1521. The disparagement of statistical evidence. (Editorial.) Science, 132(December 23~: 1859. A great age for science. In: Goals for Americans (Report of the Pres- ident's Commission on National Goals, administered by the American Assembly, Columbia University), pp. 103-24. New York: Prentice-Hall.

528 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS The imperfections of science. Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 104~5) :419- 28. Issues of man and his environment. (Excerpts from remarks made at the Great Issues Convention, Dartmouth College, Septem- ber.) Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, 53~1~:22; 53~21:4, 22. Medicine: The new science and the old art. i. Med. Educ., 35~4~:313-18. Moment of truth. (Editorial.) Science, 131( January 29~:267. Science and the World of Scholarship. Welch Found. Res. Bull., no. 6 ~ January). 19 pp. Words. (Speech delivered at the midwinter dinner of the Citizens Advisory Committee of the New York Public Library, January 19.) New York: The New York Public Library. 11 pp. . _ 1961 Chester Irving Barnard. Biographical memoir. Yearb. Am. Philos. Soc.: 106-10. Facing up to the odds. Sci. Digest, 50( July): 18-24. Introductory remarks (to an address by Sir C. P. Snow on the moral unneutrality of science, given at AAAS annual meeting, 1960~. Science, 133( January 27~:255-56. Science for citizens. (Speech delivered at Conference on Commu- nication between Science and the General Public, Gainesville, Florida, February.) Pride (Am. Coll. Publ. Relat. Assoc.), 5~5~: 11-12. Why is science important? Chem. Eng. News, 39~7~: 144-48. 1962 Cancer research: Where are we? Fourfront (Memorial Hospital Newsletter), 5~6~:3 - 4. The emerging unity of science. Ann. Jpn. Assoc. Philos. Soc., 2~2~:98-113. New Institute for Biological Sciences at San Diego. (Editorial.) Sci- ence, 1 36( June 1 ): 747. Science for everybody. Saturday Review, 45( July 71:45-46. Stability and change. (Editorial.) Science, 1 37(September 28~: 1 025. Thoughts on philanthropy and philanthropoids. Foundation News (Bull. Found. Libr. Center), 3~3~: 1-6. What a layman needs to know about science. (Report and com-

WARREN WEAVER 529 mentary by John Lear of a speech given by Weaver at a sym- posium at Oakland State College, Michigan State University, May. ) New Sci., 14(29 1 ) :5 79. What a moon ticket will buy. Saturday Review, 45(August 4~:38- 39. 1963 Dreams and responsibilities. Bull. At. Sci., l9(May):10-11. Lady Luck: The Theory of Probability. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books. Max Mason. In: Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sci- ences, vol. 37, pp. 205 - 36. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences. The New Biology and health, sickness, aging. Think (IBM), 29 (21:2-5. Science for everybody. In: Science in the College Curriculum, pp. 11- 33. (Report of a conference sponsored by Oakland University with the support of the National Science Foundation.) Roches- ter, Mich.: Oakland University Press. 1964 Alice in Many Tongues. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Mathematics and Philanthropy. New York: Alfred P. Sloan Founda- tion. (n.d.~. 30 pp. Scientific explanation. Science, 143(March 201: 1297-300. 1965 Careers in science. In: Listen to Leaders in Science, ed. Albert Love and James Saxon Childers, pp. 267-78. Atlanta: Tupper & Love/David McKay. The "India" Alice. The Private Library, 6~11:1-7. 1966 Four pieces of advice to young people. Tennessee Teacher, 33~61:9. Good teaching. (Editorial.) Science, 151 (March 18~: 1335. The inner nature of science. (Excerpted from the Kalinga Prize Speech, October 1965.) UNESCO Cour., 19( January): 34. Some moral problems posed by modern science. Zygon, 1~31:286- 300.

530 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS Why is it so important that science be understood? (modified ver- sion of the Kalinga Prize Speech, October 1965~. Impact Sci. Soc. (UNESCO), 16(1 ~ :41 - 50. 1967 The art of giving money to science (appearing as an untitled article in the "Matter of Opinion" column). Sci. Res. (McGraw-Hill), 2~7~:32-36. Philanthropic foundations and grants to universities. (Letter.) Sci- ence, 158(December 1~: 133-34. Science and Imagination. New York: Basic Books, Inc. U.S. Philanthropic Foundations: Their History, Structure, Management, and Record. New York: Harper & Row. 1968 Confessions of a scientist-humanist. In: What I Have Learned; A Collection of Twenty Autobiographical Essays . . . from the "Saturday Review," pp. 298-309. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1970 Scene of Change: A Lifetime in American Science. New York: Charles Scribner's & Sons, Inc. 1971 The first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; a census. Pap. Bibliog. Soc. Am., 65~11:1-40. 1975 Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., Philanthropist. New York: Alfred P. Sloan Foun- dation.

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This distinguished series contains the biographies of deceased members of the National Academy of Sciences and bibliographies of their published works. Each biographical essay was written by a member of the Academy familiar with the professional career of the deceased. A cumulative index for all 57 volumes is now included. For historical and bibliographical purposes, these volumes are worth returning to time and again.

Volume 57 includes biographies of: Arthur Francis Buddington, J. George Harrar, Paul Herget, John Dove Isaacs III, Bessel Kok, Otto Krayer, Rebecca Craighill Lancefield, Harold Dwight Lasswell, Jay Laurence Lush, John Howard Mueller, Robert Franklin Pitts, John Robert Raper, Karl Sax, Gerhard Schmidt, Leslie Spier, Hans-Lukas Teuber, and Warren Weaver.

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