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At an informal meeting of fellow scientists, given the successes in molecular
biology and genetics, one scientist was heard to say that he might get out of
the field since everything was now known. Esther replied, "There is a white
flower with a single central purple petal. Can you explain how that purple
petal got there?" The moral is, scientists are more successful when they
couple observation with thought.
Click for additional information
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Esther traveled across the U.S. by train, arriving in Palo Alto with a plan: She
would stay at the local YWCA. This was a good plan, but after Esther's luggage was
reported lost, Esther also found out that there was no local YWCA in Palo Alto.
Instead, Esther arranged to stay at the Barker Hotel (a single residency
hotel for those down on their luck). The next day, Esther arranged to see Dr. E.
Tatum. Dr. Tatum asked her what she was interested in studying. Esther replied:
"Genetics!" Dr. Tatum replied that "Genetics isn't offered until the Winter Quarter,
what would she like to study?" Esther replied, "Genetics!" Dr. Tatum asked "...where
Esther was staying?" Esther replied, "At the Barkeley Hotel." Dr. Tatum, recovering
from shock, immediately arranged for Esther to stay at an available place in a
dormitory (Manzanita Hall) at Stanford (currently vacant, as the Stanford quarter started later than
Esther expected), and told Esther to see him the next day. Esther arrived the next
day, only to find a milk-bottle with Drosophila, all with eyes the same color,
except for one fly. Esther concluded that she was to determine why the one
Drosophila had different coloured eyes. Esther worked out all the material
typically taught in a genetics course by herself. Esther was so successful, that Dr.
Tatum asked her to be the Teaching Assistant or TA for the genetics course the
next quarter.
Esther said that she was so poor, that as TA in another course, she and another TA ate
the frog's legs after student disections were over. When the quarter started, Esther
arranged to live in a private home at 634 Alvarado Row, in exchange for washing the
woman's clothes who owned the home. Esther was not a student with wealthy parents to
provide financial support.
Post Card Home: Arrived Safely ( Click Post card to View )
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At a young age (19 or 20), Esther was interested in working in genetics. Esther spoke with B. O. Dodge (working at the New York Botanical Garden). Dr. Dodge asked Esther about her knowledge of Neurospora crassa, posing a few questions to her. In each case, Esther responded that she "...didn't know the 'answer'", but explained how she would go about "seeking a solution to these problems". B. O. Dodge immediately asked Esther to engage in research with him. Esther worked under three scholarships with Dr. Dodge between 1941 and 1942, the area of research being heterokaryosis in Neurospora tetrasperma. Esther explained how Dr. Dodge accidently discovered how heat shock was required to induce germination of the spores. Nurospora crassa was of industrial importance in that it created problems in bakeries.
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I asked Esther about her views concerning the morality of working in
biological warfare. Knowing that Esther, being ethical, would oppose this,
I wanted to hear how she would explain her opposition to biological warfare.
Esther stated that one could not automatically reject funding from biological
warfare organizations because so much useful research could thereby be
accomplished. Esther added that she and Josh had accepted funding from Fort
Dietrich although in itself the work she was doing was not directly related
to biological warfare. Fort Dietrich (which was in Maryland) had stipulated
that the only requirement was that the participating scientist visit Fort
Dietrich once every year. When Esther's time came to visit Fort Dietrich,
the people at Fort Dietrich graciously showed her and other scientists the
different facilities and much of the scientific work that was being done.
At one point, Esther and the other scientists were asked to get on a bus to
be driven to the restricted area of Fort Dietrich, where the development of
biological weapons took place. When Esther realized what was happening she
immediately requested to be let off the bus, as the Fort Dietrich stipulation
only required her to visit Fort Dietrich, and not specified that they visit
the areas where weapons of biological warfare were developed. The other
scientists on the bus overheard, and all got off the bus, following Esther's
lead.
On another occasion, Esther mentioned her work in the Plasmid Reference Center, distributing "kits" of plasmids to interested researchers. Esther pointed out that a researcher from a Middle Eastern country requested a plasmid kit and it was clear from the request that the intended area of research was in Biological Warfare. Esther declined to provide the desired plasmids. In any case, Esther was precluded from providing assistance as the explicitly stated policy of this Middle Eastern country was to refuse assistance from any research or related materials in which Jewish researchers participated.
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Esther grew up during the "Great Depression", her parents being quite poor
financially. Esther's parents did the best they could. Esther told me that her
lunch often was a piece of bread, upon which her mother squeezed juice from a
tomato. Once, Esther's parents told Esther that they would have steak for
dinner (a very rare treat). Esther didn't quite know what "steak" was, as she
happily announced to all her childhood friends that "...they would be eating
snake for dinner that night."
In spite of the entrenched gender discrimination found in the 1940s, Esther
succeeded in accomplishing so much. How did Esther do this? A clue is provided
by what Esther told me. Esther told me that her female friends took jobs once
reserved for men, but newly opened up to women due to the shortages of
"manpower" during World War II. Esther told me that women friends took
jobs in the Defense Department such as in the Signal Corp. These jobs paid well,
but Esther thought that the jobs would have no future: as soon as the war was
over, Esther expected that these women would lose their new jobs (which indeed
happened). Instead of opting for a "highly paid" job that would go nowhere,
Esther chose to take research oriented work open to women (no matter
how limited), such as in Public Health. During the Depression, this was the
financial difficulty her friends tried to avoid.
Esther's choice to pursue knowledge over financial security led her to take
courses and to work with such people as Hollaender, Demerec, Beadle, Tatum,
and van Neil. It was not an accident that Esther was influenced by such
researchers, Esther deliberately sought this path.
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Esther and I were enjoying the natural beauty at Asilomar, in Pacific
Grove CA: an area that Esther said she hoped she would be able to enjoy in
her old age. We were seated at a table for breakfast, and a couple joined us.
I had been discussing with Esther the dangers and gnawing doubts that I had
concerning the development of artificially-created new forms of life, forms
developed in the molecular biologist's laboratory. While I had these fears, I
also recognized the promise that such new engineered forms of life might also
hold for the future. The other couple started to ask questions. They clearly
did not understand very much of the issues involved. Esther explained in detail
some of the methodologies used to prevent the escape of such engineered life
forms; methods including negative pressure gradients. I noted that still the
equipment used to create such negative pressure environments could fail and
wondered if the engineered forms of life then escape? What backup systems
existed? Would there not always be the possibility of failures? Esther's
viewpoint was that of course failures could always occur, but that great
efforts had been made to find ways to prevent such failures. For example:
engineering a new life form that would require a unique amino acid to
exist1 –
a unique amino acid not normally found in nature. Should the engineered life
form escape, not being able to find this amino acid, the life form would die.
The other couple at the table were impressed by Esther's knowledge and asked
how she knew about these things. Esther explained that she had served as a
committee member dealing with precisely these issues2, 3, 4.
Along these lines: Esther mentioned that at one time she was doing scientific
work in the South of the United States, and one of the scientists who headed
up the laboratory made a remark that betrayed his prejudice that Black people
were not capable of scientific work. Esther explicitly pointed out that this
was simply not true.
1 An example would be single amino acid auxotrophs,
or mutants affected by vitamins, a nucleic acid precursor, single or multiple
drug-resistant or virus-resistant, temperature-sensitive, etc.
2 1975: Molecular biologists from around the world
meet at Asilomar, Ca., to write an historic set of rules to guide research
in recombinant DNA experiments. The NIH Recombinant DNA Committee issues
guidelines aimed at eliminating or minimizing the potential risks if
recombinant DNA research.
3 "Recombinant Molecules: Impact on Science and
Society: Tenth Miles International Symposium", Beers, Roland F. Jr.; Bassett, Edward, G., Raven Press,
New York, N.Y., 1977, p. 90 [discussion of the 1973 Asilomar Meeting on the Potential Hazards of
Recombinant DNA Molecules].
4 "Recombinant DNA: The Untold Story", Lear, John; Crown
Publishers, Inc., New York, 1978
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I read an article in the newspaper dealing with the inheritance of
behavior. I told Esther I had a lot of questions about claims concerning
the scientific basis for such genetic foundations of behavior. My concern
was that genetics could then be used as a form of scientific racism, turned
against races, "mental defectives", various religions, feminism, or other
sociopolitical biases. I was curious to know her opinion, given my fears.
Esther responded with crystal clarity, "Let the scientists say what they
will. They must then provide experimental evidence. To my knowledge, such
experimental evidence has not yet been provided. These are simply claims."
In an October 15, 1985 interview with T. D. Singh and Pahwan Saharan, Esther
was asked her opinion on Francis Cricks' view that it would soon be a very
simple matter to create life artificially, now that they had an understanding
of DNA structure. Esther's interviewers asked her if she thought such views
should be censored. Esther's response was effectively the same as that above:
"Let Crick or others say what they wish; as scientists they must then be able to
provide experimental evidence for what they say. Censorship is not necessary, and even
counter-productive"; the reason being that censorship prevents thoughts from being
expressed. One should bear in mind that while Esther disagreed with Crick's
overconfident views (she pointed out that they couldn't even create a living virus),
she always viewed Crick with respect, as a close colleague and friend. Disagreements
in principles need not imply a loss in respect or friendship.
Click to see the Russian version of this interview.
Click to see the English version of this interview.
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Esther had told me that in her opinion the Nobel Prize can often be
destructive. For example, in Esther's opinion she felt that the Nobel Prize
had been very destructive to her ex-husband's character. She added, "How silly
Josh was (to view himself in such inflated self importance and grandeur).
Soon both of us will be forgotten."
Click here to see how quickly scientific researchers are forgotten
Click here to get another idea of what Esther had in mind
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Esther and I went on a trip to Yosemite. It was not so late in the year,
so we could travel Route 120 to Dana Meadows, an area we both thought very
beautiful. When we got to Dana Meadows, we got out of the car and were walking
in the meadows. Esther got down on the ground and pointed out a small flower,
smaller than the nail on your pinky. We both looked at it with great
absorption. Esther said "So many of nature's most beautiful creations are
very small, and often overlooked."
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Esther told me that many of the scientific conferences took place at
sites favored because they also afforded attendees the opportunity to ski.
Esther explained that she could not ski, so instead she did the unusual
thing of hiking with snowshoes.
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Esther and I were discussing the film "Andromeda Strain," by Michael
Crichton. Esther had told me that a number of people felt she had been the
model for the female scientist in this film. When the issue came up of
trying to determine how to find factors to control the 'alien life form',
Esther commented that "Crichton never got it right." I asked her what she
meant , and she replied that if an extraterrestrial life form were caught
in an outer space probe and brought back to Earth, whatever would
counteract it would with high probability be caught along with it in the
same probe, because living things are always surrounded in their
environment by those things that counteract it. "They should simply have
looked in the same net," she said. "They would have found what they
needed to control the alien life form." I asked her if the types of
laboratories depicted in the film actually existed, or if they were
science fiction. Esther replied that there were five such P4 facilities
in the United States.
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Esther told me of a famous geneticist (Élie Leo Wollman). His parents
(Elizabeth Wollman and Eugène Wollman) were researchers at the Institut
Pasteur. It was during World War II. The Gestapo arrested these Jewish
scientists (they were sent to Auschwitz and never seen again). Their son
(Élie Leo Wollman) was walking towards the Institut Pasteur to meet his
father. Friends of the parents quickly grabbed the young boy, and hid him
from the Gestapo that were waiting for him, with the father. Later, these
friends hid the young boy in the catacombs of the Institut Pasteur, and took
care of him until the end of the war. He survived the Holocaust
1.
1 "Lwoff had known Eugène
Wollman in the thirties as a scrupulous and dogged experimentalist. Eugène
and Elizabeth Wollman, Jews, had been seized by the Gestapo at the end of 1943 -
he late in the afternoon of December 10 in the hospital of the Institut Pasteur;
she a week earlier. They were sent to Auschwitz and never again heard from. Their
son, Élie Leo Wollman, had fought with the maquis in the south of France,
and had joined Lwoff's unit at the Pasteur in 1945 a few weeks before Monod."
"The Eighth Day of Creation: The Makers of the Revolution in Biology",
by
Judson, H. F., Simon and Schuster, New York, 1979, p. 373
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Esther tried to explain to me the importance of attending the Gordon
Conferences. Esther pointed out that at such conferences she had been
invited along with the other women to go shopping, as it was not expected
that a woman attending the conference could actually be a scientist, and
not a wife or a significant other of a MALE scientist. (Or perhaps the
anti-feminist viewpoint that all women were interested in shopping.) She
added that it was important to attend the evening socials after the
formal talks had taken place; as an example, she noted that during the
socials the scientists would point out errors not mentioned during the
technical sessions, such as a molecule referred to in fact being a dimer.
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Esther once told me of a meeting that took place where Esther was
the only female scientist. All the men at this meeting were smoking cigars.
The chairperson looked up and asked if Esther minded if they smoked cigars.
Esther responded that she did, whereupon all the men put out their cigars.
After the meeting was over, a female secretary expressed outrage that
Esther had dared object to the men smoking cigars! Thus, it was not only
men who enforced gender discrimination; female scientists ranked lower
than male scientists in this secretary's view.
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Esther had told me that at the end of World War II many physicists
who had been working to develop the atomic bomb were disgusted and
completely disillusioned with the way science had been and was being
used by the Government to pursue cynical ends. For this reason, some
decided to change fields to molecular biology; for example, Leo Szilard and Aaron Novick.
Given this context, at one of the conferences that took place at Cold
Spring Harbor, an attendee had pointedly verbalized "The problem we
have in molecular biology is that we are not sufficiently trained in
mathematics." Esther remarked that the nuclear physicists in the
audience smiled to themselves.
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At another Cold Spring Harbor conference, as Esther was walking to
her dormitory room she noted a number of signs off the sidewalks stating
that the plants were of an endangered species; please do not walk on them.
She later met James Watson, who she had been told was responsible for
these signs. Esther had studied botany, thus she asked Watson why the
signs had been put up, since the plants looked like ordinary plants to
her. Watson explained that he knew about as much about botany as he did
about astronomy. Esther asked him what he knew about astronomy. He said
"Absolutely nothing." He just didn't want people walking off the sidewalks
and destroying the landscaping.
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In addition to greatly enjoying and being proficient in languages, literature
and music, Esther loved Botany, not only microbiology and genetics. For example,
Esther felt that Stanford University would do well to have indigenous plants
such as poppies, lupins, etc. grow around the Stanford campus: such plants would
not have to be watered, an important consideration, as the Bay Area is a natural
desert with frequent droughts.
Wildflowers on the Stanford campus: Click to Enlarge
One day, Esther and I were discussing Botany. Esther felt that children in the
public schools should be taught a little Botany. As an example, Esther pointed out
that the stem of plants in the pea family have a square (angular) shape that is
easily recognized. Esther said that rather than having students memorize taxonomic
categories, it would be more useful if these students were taught that plants in
the pea family grow in nitrogen-deficient soil.
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Esther told me two interesting stories about her childhood. Her zayde (grandfather,
derived from "tata" or "father"), lived in upstate New York. Esther had
several male cousins. Esther's grandfather attempted to teach Hebrew to these
young boys, but they would have nothing to do with it! Instead, Esther learned
to read Hebrew, and although her grandfather was disappointed that the young
boys couldn't read Hebrew during Passover, Esther made her grandfather happy
by doing all the reading.
Another story Esther told me was that she always wondered how her zayde knew
what mischief she and her cousins got into? One day, she visited her zayde in
his room (he lived in room in the attic of a farm house), she saw that her
grandfather had a grandstand view from his window!
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As a young child, Esther had been warned about "vicious" dogs, so initially Esther
feared dogs. Later, while living in upstate New York, Esther came to appreciate a
local dog, "Skip". Thus Esther loved animals.
Esther told me an anecdote about a cat that she loved and that lived in her Stanford
house, the cat was named "Maxi".
While sitting down on a couch in the living room one morning, there was a sudden jolt.
This jolt was a small earthquake, but was perceptible enough. Maxi the cat was also
sitting on the couch, next to Esther. Maxi gently patted Esther with its paw, as if to
say "Don't jolt the couch!". Maxi thought that Esther (not the earthquake) was responsible.
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On a few occasions Esther told me how she and Josh were exasperated
by Max Delbrück (known as "The Pope"). Esther gave as an example, that
when Delbrück was informed of scientific experiments that did not confirm
to his prejudices, he wanted to simply ignore them or re-interpret the
results to make believe they didn't happen. I asked specifically "Didn't
he then find a problem trying to impose his prejudices in place of the
Scientific Method?" Esther responded, "That was the problem."
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Esther told me that at a very scientifically prolific time, she and
Josh and others would tell the French scientists of their latest (as yet
unpublished) experiments in genetics. Hoping to gain priority, the French
investigators quickly wrote up the experimental discoveries they had been
told of, in lesser journals that didn't have strict requirements. Esther
said that she and Josh soon learned to follow the French, and not to be
so generous in sharing their scientific discoveries (assuming scientists
would automatically also be principled). Esther pointed out that in one
case the French jumped to an incorrect conclusion and published results
that she and Josh had discovered; the error the French had made forced
them to repudiate and withdraw their paper.
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Esther explained that while it is an honour to be asked to be a reviewer
of technical papers, it also involved a great deal of work: a reviewer has
a lot of responsibility. Esther told me she would read a paper under review,
and imagine at every step, what had to be done. If Esther saw that
some step had been omitted, or that some conclusion was not justified, then
Esther would request additional information (thereby either delaying
publication, or even disqualifying the paper from publication). As a result
of her detailed and honest reviews, journals would sometimes prefer
not to use Esther in this peer review process. It was easier to get
less honest, less critical, less knowledgeable reviewers, even if papers
subsequently had to be withdrawn.
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In speaking of her years working in Josh's laboratory, Esther once
told me that she soon found that whenever she discovered something
important Josh would immediately take her off the project and assign
the work to someone else. She concluded that if she were to do
scientific work she would do better by quietly completing the work
herself without telling Josh.
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Esther told me that in many cases, simply washing your hands carefully
with soap and water was sufficient to preventing the spread of bacterial
illnesses. A simple solution, yet one rarely employed systematically.
Thus, at a party with Josh, Esther warned Josh not to eat the deviled
eggs, set upon a table in he sun. Pasteur would have most assuredly
advised the same (especially as children with their unwashed hands were
continually touching these eggs). However, as usual, Josh thought that he
knew better. He ate some of these eggs. He got over the illness in a short
while!
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I was discussing Barbara McClintock's work with corn with Esther.
Esther told me that at a Cold Spring Harbor conference Barbara
McClintock was reporting that corn seemed to violate Mendelian genetic
distributions. In this discussion, Sewall Wright took the view that
Barbara McClintock simply didn't understand the mathematics (a weakness
in mathematics he felt was common of most women). Barbara McClintock,
dismissive of Wright's prejudice, said "I have gone over the figures
again and again and again. They don't work. After this meeting I will
provide you with the experimental information. You can look at the
experimental evidence and correct me if I'm wrong." Of course,
McClintock was right, and Sewall Wright was wrong. I asked Esther if
Barbara McClintock had previously expressed doubts concerning Mendelian
genetic distributions. Esther responded, "Previous to her work with corn,
Barbara McClintock would have strongly agreed with Wright." (Barbara
McClintock had not been biased: she was influenced by the experimental
evidence alone.)
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It had just been announced that Jim Watson (and others) had won the Nobel
Prize. At precisely this time, Jim was at Cold Spring Harbor Labs. A number of
colleagues secretly decided to honour Jim. Esther, a close associate, was
taken into their confidence. Esther was assigned a specific task. It was
required that Esther be immediately behind Jim on the cafeteria
breakfast line. When the time came, Esther was assigned the task of ensuring
that a particular hardboiled egg found its way onto Jim's tray. Esther
took the special egg, placed it on Jim's tray, saying "It's good for you, Jim!"
Jim looked a bit puzzled, shrugged his shoulders, and went to sit down. Eyes
were fixed surreptitiously on Jim as he ate his breakfast. When Jim came to
the egg and opened it, a blue coloured helix fell out.
It is an interesting historic note that Cold Spring Harbor Labs was quite aware of Esther
Lederberg's death but never published an Esther Lederberg obituary! It is even more surprising
that Esther's ex-husband and long-time colleague is not known to have ever expressed any
condolences or anything at all to anyone about Esther, after Esther Lederberg's death - a fact
noted by a number of people.
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Shortly before Jonas Salk died, he gave a talk. Esther was a
long-time associate, and attended his talk. The main point that Jonas
Salk held was that the new and up-and-coming scientists needed to
emphasize that science was for the benefit of mankind. After the talk,
Jonas Salk saw Esther in the front row of the audience and came over to
talk with her. He asked Esther what she thought of his talk. Esther told
me that she told Jonas she disagreed with his stated view, because she
thought that these new scientists were already very strongly interested
in the good of mankind.
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At one point in Stanley Cohen's birthday celebration at the
Silverado, in Napa CA, one of the scientists said that he had no one
(no child) to whom he could pass important scientific information. Esther
immediately remarked "Your work and your students are your children."
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Esther and two other women at Stanford noted that there were no
women professors at Stanford. All three got together to request that a
woman be appointed as a professor. Esther researched the question, then
all three women presented their complaint to a dean. The dean responded
that none of the women were qualified as a professor must have published
enough papers and none of the women in question met this requirement.
Esther pointed out that most of the male professors didn't satisfy the
requirement either. The dean responded that there was not sufficient
funds to appoint a woman professor. Esther pointed out that funds had
been specifically allocated for that purpose. The dean countered that the
moneys in question had been allocated to promote minorities that at that
time were politically active and creating an embarrassment for Stanford
University. Esther pointed out that this was an unauthorized spending of
funds that were specifically designated for women: also a minority. The
dean relented, saying that only one, highly qualified woman would receive
an appointment as a professor. The three women were all highly qualified,
but only Esther requested to be appointed as a "Research Professor", an
untenured position (the other two women requested tenured positions). Only
Esther was appointed, in part, because the position requested was not
tenured.
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Esther told me of a Russian geneticist. The Russian
scientist (who suffered from Tuberculosis) was opposed by Lysenko. When
the scientist stated that Lysenko's opposition to genetics was unscientific,
that Lysenko was not qualified, Lysenko replied "Yes, but Stalin listens to
me!" This scientist was opposed by Stalin, who had a simple plan to dispose
of the scientist. The scientist was assigned to work in Vladivostok, a part
of the Siberian littoral located on the Pacific coast. Medical doctors had
assured Stalin that the scientist in question would not likely survive long
with tuberculosis at Vladivostok. The scientist's correspondence was
censored of course, but Esther received a postcard from this scientist
before he died. The postcard had nothing written on it but his name, but
it showed a monkey in a cage.
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Scientists are always ethical, aren't they? Esther told me that
experienced microbiologists doing original research often refused to return
mail. The reason was that competitors would attempt (sometimes successfully)
to obtain experimental microorganisms that contaminated the return mail
envelope.
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Esther feared that physicians were ignoring the advice of most geneticists and
microbiologists regarding bacterial resistance. When Esther contracted a
bladder infection, her physician prescribed an antibiotic. Esther questioned
her physician's prescription, asking if there was an alternative. Her physician
confirmed that there was an alternative to using antibiotics, but that very few
patients had the fortitude and persistence to follow the regime: drinking very
large amounts of water to literally flush out the infection.
Esther chose not to use antibiotics. Eventually she returned and asked the
physician when she should stop drinking water. The physican was amazed that
Esther had not filled the prescription, and had cured her own infection. "Are
you still drinking water?" he asked in shock.
So many physicians seem determined to subvert medical practice. Esther was
correct: the physicians will not follow the advice of researchers, and
bacterial resistance is becoming an ever-increasing problem.
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Esther told me that once, when at home playing the piano, she played a
piece by Hayden. Suddenly, Esther's father stood bolt upright, arms stifly
to his side in a salute! The Hayden piece had a number of modified versions,
one of which became the anthem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Esther's
father had been born in 1896 and attended school in Sereth, Bukowina, a
part of the 19th century Austro-Hungarian empire.
David Hausrat (Esther's Father): Report Card From Boys
Public School, Sereth, Bukowina (Austro-Hungarian Empire)
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Esther and I shared an interest in the less-common plants. I noticed,
when I first met Esther, that she had two cycads in the garden. I remarked
on how I liked cycads. Esther was surprised by my interest in cycads. On
another occasion, Esther told me how she had been visiting some friends (Joel
and Anne Huberman) and
had pointed out that they had foxglove growing in their garden and that it
had dangerous alkaloids (digitalis). The Hubermans apparently were totally
unaware of this and became alarmed upon hearing this. Strawberry guava grew
in Esther's garden. I told Esther how much I liked guava. Esther told me that
when she told friends they could eat these guavas they didn't trust
Esther, fearing that they were poisonous, nevertheless. When we went to
Vancouver, we both were fascinated by the plants in the Botanical Garden.
On one of Esther's birthdays I took her to a restaurant that she liked,
Benihana, but we found the food less interesting than an incredibly beautiful
red-barked Japanese Maple and we bought one such plant for our garden. Esther
pointed out once that it is easy to recognize a plant in the pea family
because the stem tended to be square, or angular. Esther said that a basic
fact about Botany that they should teach children is that members of the pea
family grow in nitrogen-poor soil. This would be something important that
they could remember. Thus Esther and I shared botanical interests.
Cycads: Click to Enlarge
Esther and I had examined the Stanford Arboretum, lamenting how it had not been taken care of. Soon
Esther and I read in the "Stanford Report" that the Arboretum was now being take care of, and indeed,
a rare Boojum tree (Fuquieriaceae family) had been added to the Arboretum. The Boojum is typically
found in the Ocatillo desert of Baja California. The Boojum, like cacti, has a very small surface area
to volume ratio (to decrease water loss). In the case of the Boojum (which Esther and I quickly went
to view), the branches are diminutive, protruding at right angles from the trunk. Some might think this
plant isn't the most attractive, but the Boojum can exist where few plants can!
Click here if clicking on image fails
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Esther told me an interesting story about C. B. van Niel. Esther took a
course taught by C. B. van Niel at the Hopkins Marine Station in 1945. The
students were shown slides that were at great variance from the slides shown
in most books. The students remarked upon this. Dr. van Niel pointed out that
depending upon the environmental conditions and the specific point in the
life cycle of organisms, they might appear quite differently. The students
were assigned experimental work to do. The students immediately went to the
library to do preliminary research and found no papers about the organism
save a few written in Dutch. The students reported back to van Niel that the
only papers they could find were written in Dutch and that they could not
read Dutch. Dr. van Niel told his students that if they were interested in
becoming scientists, then if required, they had better be prepared to learn
to read whatever languages required to do their research. Dr. van Niel's
honesty was commendable!
Some Hopkins Marine Station friends
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Esther and Josh were continually beset by Dr. Shockley (of racist fame).
Dr. Shockley sought "genetic" evidence to support his racist views. Esther
told me of a time outside Tresidder when seated at a table, Dr. Shockley
intruded upon their privacy and once again attempted to cajole genetic
"evidence" to support his racist views from Esther and Josh. Esther told
me that during this conversation, at every opportunity, she broke into
Shockley's conversation in an attempt to divert the unpleasant discussions:
Esther was not a racist and opposed Shockley's racist views and thought
there was no scientific support for racism. Esther always opposed such racist
views.
Click here for an expanded discussion.
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Esther was a bit upset with her friend, Jonas Salk. Esther explained
that Polio appears in waves and that the drastically reduced incidence
could conceivably be explained as the tail end of an epidemic wave, rather
than due to the Polio vaccine. Keeping careful records could help elucidate
this, but Salk did not keep good records.
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Esther and Josh took note that a scientist they worked with had the
unpleasant habit of trying to plagiarize their work. Both Esther and Josh
viewed this as a joke, because this scientist was quite capable in laboratory
work, but less than distinguished in his theoretical capabilities. Esther and
Josh casually mentioned a "great discovery" they had made in the presence of
this scientist (in fact, this "discovery" was entirely without foundation).
The scientist immediately published the "great discovery", but was never able
to provide details that would allow this discovery to be repeated. Eventually,
the claims to this "great discovery" were quietly withdrawn in a relatively
unknown journal.
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Esther told me the story of a very small group of researchers that
gravitated towards each other as they were interested in the same research
problems. They did the work that most interested them as a sideline to the
research work that they did at the university. Every so often, another
researcher would join their group, bringing specialized knowledge and skills.
The collective knowledge and skills of this research group was unique, not to
be matched anywhere else. Eventually, this small group of researchers all
worked together in a pharmaceutical company. This small group were making
breathtaking progress. The pharmaceutical company was bought out. The new
owners were interested only in immediate profits, and did all they could to
prevent the group from working on the problems that most interested them.
Pressured to stop their research and instead, to work on mundane, money making
areas, one after another of the researchers left the pharmaceutical company:
the research group was finally dissolved. Suddenly, the new owners of the
pharmaceutical company realized that the research interests of this small
group was in a very profitable area. This realization came too late, as
these industrial leaders had worked very effectively to destroy the research,
and instead the pharmaceutical company went out of business.
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One of Esther's relatives had a very interesting job: he was the music critic
for one of New York City's newpapers. Esther knew that this relative was deaf,
so Esther was curious and asked him how he could perform as a music critic?
He responded "I read what the other (out of town) music critics
wrote and effectively wrote the same thing!"
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Esther and I traveled to Grass Valley, California where Esther would participate
in a concert with the Mid Peninsula Recorder Orchestra (MPRO). At dinner time we
ate at a nice local restaurant. When dinner was served, there was a vegetable
that neither of us had previously seen. Simultaneously, Esther and I were
instantly transported by curiousity by this new vegetable (brocolli flower). A
few days later (in Palo Alto) while shopping, I saw this vegetable on sale at
a local grocery store. I bought this vegetable to surprise Esther (another
pleasant reminder of our Grass Valley experience). I presented this surprise to
Esther, but Esther had also seen this vegetable and bought it to surprise me. We
simultaneously presented our gifts to each other. We were both happy in sharing
the same interests and in caring for each other.
Romanesque Broccoli
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Esther told me a sad story. A Stanford scientist did research in the
older, more traditional areas of biology, specifically, the area that
included lizards such as the "Tiger lizard". As molecular biology was
the favoured area of research, the scientist could not secure research
funds, was barely secure in teaching at Stanford. This scientist, having
other family problems as well, eventually committed suicide. Shortly
after, Stanford once again started to pay attention to the older, more
traditional areas of biology, but too late to help this scientist. As in
all fields of study, there are fads, new areas of research dominate, only
to eventually be replaced by yet another area of favoured research.
Esther's area started out in the more traditional areas of microbiology
and genetics, but also included molecular genetics. Soon, biology became
totally dominated by molecular genetics. When one considers epigenetics,
retroviruses, prions, the interplay of DNA and RNA with proteins, etc. it
may soon be found that molecular genetics does not tell the entire story.
Perhaps these older, more traditional areas of research that Esther worked
in such as microbiology, will be found to be an area of research that can
fill out missing scientific information? Esther would be pleased, I think,
to see traditional areas of biology once again being studied, not just the
biochemistry of DNA, RNA and proteins.
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Frank Lloyd Wright's daring and revolutionary architecture was well-known to be designed to fit in with its environment: a principle he often emphasized and took credit for. One might wonder, then, how the Arabian motifs of the Wright-designed Marin County (California) Civic Center arose from its setting near San Francisco Bay? Did Wright really think that California was attached to the Arabian Peninsula? When Esther visited Taleisin, due to her renown, she was given the rare opportunity of visiting Frank Lloyd Wright's workshop area. Esther was interested in a building that Wright had been commissioned to provide for a client in Saudi Arabia. Later, when Wright's contract with the Saudis was cancelled, this same design suddenly appeared in the California environment. Thus, while environment maintained a high priority for Wright, his love of his own designs was apparently of higher priority than environmental considerations. Esther's photo slides include multiple photos taken at Taleisin.