21st CENTURY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY' Vol. 14, NO.3 Fall 2001

Features News

16 The Scientific Renaissance of the Medieval Cathedrals IN MEMORIAM 12 An Appreciation of the Work of Philippe Messer Fusion Scientist Daniel Wells Far from being an uninterrupted Dark Age, the Middle Ages was Charles B. Stevens the period when science was reborn in the West, its flower being the cathedral movement. The cathedrals were schools, and their 14 Remembering Bob Stevenson, building sites laboratories of invention. The cathedral movement Oceanographer and Friend was the prelude to the Renaissance of the 15th and 16th Centuries. Marjorie Mazel Hecht

ANTI-GRAVITY: MYTH OR REALITY/PART 2 32 NUCLEAR REPORT The Paradoxes of Moving Electricity 48 The Signficant Health Benefits Remi Saumont Of Nuclear Radiation Quantum theory can still not explain some elementary facts about Jerry M. Cuttler, D.Se. the behavior of electrons in a wire or a condenser. The author, a retired senior researcher and expert in electronics, poses a few of ANCIENT DISCOVERY the paradoxes involved. 58 Ancient Navigators Could Have Measured Longitude! Rick Sanders 40 NASA'S HYPER-X Hypersonic Flight Ready for Takeoff 61 Building and Using Maui's Tanawa Marsha Freeman Bertram Cooper NASA's new Hyper-X program combines aircraft and rocket

technology to develop a system that will carry more weight, at ENVIRONMENT less cost, into space. 66 Hot Air Over Wind Energy Greg Murphy

Departments

EDITORIALS 2 Why You Don't Believe Many of today's negative Fermat's Principle images of ra diation are related Laurence Hecht to fe ar of adverse health effects. Yet, we are surrounded by 4 The Political Issue natural ra diation, and, as Of 'Human Cloning' nuclear engineer jerry Cuttler Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. explains, in the Nuclear Report, the evidence shows that low­ LETTERS 3 dose ra diation is beneficial to 6 NEWS BRIEFS human health. Here, one of the first ra dio­ 68 BOOKS graphs (a hand) by Wilhelm 72 BOOKS RECEIVED Roentgen, the discoverer of X-rays. On the cover: Illustration of the Hyper-X taking off, courtesy of NASA. Cover design by Alan Vue. EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL STAFF

Editor-in-Chief­ Laurence Hecht Why You Don't Believe Managing Editor Ma�orie Mazel Hecht Associate Editors Fermat's Principle Elijah C. Boyd David Cherry Marsha Freeman onfusion over the meaning of the has produced scientific discovery. (We Colin M. Lowry Cterm universal physical principle can show that it has never led to scien­ Gregory B. Murphy may be more prevalent in science tific discovery, but only to its suppres­ Elisabeth Pascali today than at time in history. In sion.) We take the case of Fermat's Charles B. Stevens an)' former times, although great differ­ Principle of Least Time to help the mod­ Books ences existed on th is matter, they were ern reader to understand that a true uni­ David Cherry usually discussed. Today, we don't versal physical principle will be an Art Director even bother. Hence, the most con­ expression of intention in the universe. Alan Vue tradictory views coexist within the A close examination of the criticism to Advertising Manager body of knowledge mis-termed modern which Fermat's Principle was subjected Marsha Freeman science. by the Cartesians, will help the reader to

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD One of the clearest dividing lines is see the prejudices he likely brings to the Francesco Celani, Ph.D. over the matter of intention in nature. subject. Hugh W. Elisaesser, Ph.D. Despite the overwhelming evidence of a Snell's Discovery Bertha Farfan, M.D. purposefulness in natural development, The law of reflection of I ight, that the James Frazer, Ph.D. the modern view has replaced the idea angle of i[lcidence equals the angle of John Grauerholz, M.D. Emmanuel Grenier of intention with that of mechanism. A reflection, was known in classical

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. theory is called scientific if it provides a times. Heron of Alexandria recognized Wolfgang Llllge, M.D. cred ible mechanism, or model, to that this law obeyed a minimal princi­ Ramtanu Maitra describe an observable natural phenom­ ple; that is, that were the angles to differ Thomas. E. Phipps, Jr., Ph.D. B.A. Soldano, Ph.D. ena. from each other, the time and distance Jonathan Tennenbaum, Ph.D. In one such model, dead objects of travel of the light would not be the

21st Century Science Technology (often called particles) are assumed to least possible. (ISSN 0895-6820) is published& 4 times a exist and are assigned certain proper­ The law governing the refraction of year in 2000, every third month, by 21 st Cen­ ties, such as attraction, repulsion, or light proved more difficult to discover. tury Science Associates, 60 Sycolin Road, Suite 203, Leesburg, Va. 20175. Te l. (703) inertia, which must be assumed as When a ray of light passes from one 777-7473. axiomatic. These objects exist in an medium to another, it is bent (refracted). Address all cor respondence to 21 st Cen­ tur.y, P.O. Box 16285, Washlngton, D.C. empty, triply-extended container, If the passage is from a less dense to a 20041 . called space, to which certain self­ more dense medium, the light bends Second-class postage is paid at lees­ burg, Va. and additional mailing offices. evident properties are attributed, while toward the normal to the surface form­ 21 st Century is dedicated to the promo­ a fo urth dimension, called time, ing the boundary between the two tion of unending scientific progress, all extends linearly into the before and media. However, the angle of refraction directed to servethe proper common aims of mankind. after. In another version, the space is varies, in some non-linear way, with the Opinions expressed in articles are not nec­ not empty, but filled with a substance angle of incidence. The problem of law­ essarily those of 21 st Century Science Asso­ ciates or th e scientific advisory board. capable of transmitting waves, which fu lly determining this angle had been We are not responsible for unsolicited replace the particles as the self-evident under investigation since Classical manuscripts. elementarity. times. Neither the great optical theorists Subscriptions by mail ar e $25 for 6 issues or $48 for 12 issues in the USA and Canada. In modern times, we have added var­ of the Arab renaissance, nor those of Airmail subscriptions to other countries are ious complex variations to these mecha­ Europe could solve it. $50 for 6 issues. Back issues are $5 each ($6 foreign). Payments must be in U.S. cur­ nistic systems. In one, the ether disap­ Finally, in 1621, Wi llebrord Snell, a rency. pears, but the waves, and particles, still leading mathematical physicist of the POSTMASTER: Send address changes exist. And there are others, but none that Dutch republican tradition, found to 21st Century, P.O. Box 16285, Washing­ the ton, D.C. 20041-0285. has challenged the essential premises of solution. The light ray is refracted in Copyright 2001 © mechanism. such a way that the sines of the angles of 21st Century Science Associates Wide acceptance of a fraudulent ver­ incidence and refraction remain in the Printed in the USA ISSN 0895-682 sion of the history of science has same proportion for any given pair of www.21stcenturysciencetech.com allowed the flourishing of the modern media (see Figure 1). prejudice that the method of mechanism Snell's discovery was welcomed by

2 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY EDITORIAL Rene Descartes (1 596-1 650), the leader Armand Fizeau designed an experi­ a given effect by this principle, but of a philosophical school which pro­ mental apparatus which proved rather by the fo rce which results from all posed that all natural phenomena Descartes wrong. the causes that come together into a could be explained by mechanical Fermat's Principle given action, and by the present disposi­ causes. In fact, Descartes so welcomed Pierre de Fermat (1 601 -1 665) was tion of all the bodies on which this fo rce the discovery that he claimed it for his one of those classically educated acts. " own, and his writings being more wide­ geniuses, who, like Ampere, never I argue that there is still nothing for the ly read than Snell's, Descartes was went to college. Having received an modern physicist to disagree with. If the thought to be the discoverer of the law, early education in Greek and Latin, phrase "hidden force and power which until the matter was cleared up after his Fermat read the mathematical classics reside in each th ing" sounds a bit death. of antiquity in the originals, and so strange, then what do you mean by a Descartes was not content, however, developed his mind. (Ampere never fo rce of attraction, or by inertia? to express the law as Snell discovered even went to elementary school, but Clerselier, again: it. It was necessary to fit it into his learned by reading in his father's "A nd [Fermat's} principle can not be mechanistic philosophy of nature, in library; he taught himself Latin at the the cause, fo r otherwise we would be which he represented light as con­ age of 11, in order to be able to read attributing knowledge to nature: and sisting of ballistic particles. In order to Bernoull i's calculus.) here, by nature, we understand only that thus account for the law of refraction, Fermat did not believe Descartes's order and lawfulness in the world, such Descartes had to make the unusual assertion about the velocity of light. as it is, which acts without fo reknowl­ assumption that the particles speed up After a long and fruitless correspon­ edge, without choice, but by a necessary when they pass from a less dense to a dence with the fo llowers of Descartes, determination. " more dense medium. This seemed he came upon a new flank of attack. In Don't we agree? Nature cannot act absurd to many. However, as no one 1657, in a letter to Cureau de la was able to accurately measure the Chambre, Fermat stated for the first time velocity of light in its passage from one his idea that the law of refraction might medium to another, this assumption be deduced from a minimum principle, A was not finally disproven experimen­ like that which Heron had noted for tally until the middle of the 19th reflection .1 Century, when Leon Foucault and In a letter of Jan. 1, 1662, to Cureau de la Chambre, Fermat announced that he had accomplished his proof.2 Fermat showed that the path of a refracted ray of light was that which takes the least time! (See Figure 2.) The discovery, now known as Fermat's Principle of Least Time, was more than the Cartesians could stand. In fact, it is probably more than most readers can stand-they just don't know it. To understand why you probably can't stand it, consider the following objections to Fermat's Principle made in May 1662 by Clerselier, an expert in optics and leading spokesman for the Cartesians on this matter3: Figure 2 Figure 1 "1. The principle you take as a basis FERMAT'S PRINCIPLE OF SNELL'S LAW OF SINES for your proof, to wit, that nature always LEAST TIME When a light ray passes from a acts by the shortest and simplest path, is In 1662, Pierre de Fermat proved rarer to a denser medium, it is only a moral principle, not a physical that a ray of light passing from a bent toward the normal (dotted one-it is not and can not be the cause rarer to a denser medium, fo llows line). The relationship between of any effect in nature. " the path which takes the least

the angles (Y and J3 was not Does anyone disagree? Clerselier con- time. The straight line AC would known, until Willebrord Snell dis­ tinues: not take the least time, because covered in 1621 that the sines of "This principle is not the cause, the ray, in this case, would be the angles maintain a constant because it is not the principle which spending a larger part of its course proportion fo r any given pair of makes the action, but rather the hidden moving more slowly in the denser media. fo rce and power which reside in each medium. thing, which things are never directed to

EDITORIAL 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 3 with foreknowledge. Is not evolution act on it and has no power over it. But, trum, and so forth . the result of random events, ordered by as the entire speed and direction of this What then is wrong with your view the survival of the fittest? Back to body depend on its fo rce and the dis­ of nature? We can hardly think of a Clersel ier: position of its fo rce, it is much more better argument for the existence of "2. This same principle must make natural, and, in my view, much more intention in nature than that to which nature irresolute, not knowing which scientific, to say as Mr. Descartes does, Clersel ier leads us in his attempt to way to go when it makes a ray of light that the speed and direction of this oppose it. We have been arguing for pass from a less dense to a more dense body are altered by the alteration such a standpoint, the one which is the medium. For I ask you: if it is true that which takes place in the fo rce and the actual basis of all modern science, nature must always act by the shortest disposition of this fo rce, which are the which begins with Nicholas of Cusa's and simplest path, and given that the true causes of its movement, and not to great breakthrough in the De Docta straight line is undoubtedly shorter and say as you do, that they change by an Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance), simpler than any other, would it not intention which nature possesses of and proceeds through Leonardo, make nature hesitate, (if you wish that it always taking the path it can pursue Kepler, and Leibniz, into the work of act by this principle), when a ray of most quickly, an intention which it can­ Gauss and Riemann, reaching unfortu­ light, passing from a point in a rare not have, since it acts without knowl­ nately a temporary dead-end about medium to a point in a dense one, must edge, and thus has no effect on this that point. simultaneously fo llow both the straight body. " But we have had some trouble getting line and the bent one, since if the one So, if we accept Clerselier's argu­ your attention. Perhaps, if you have fo l­ proves shorter in time, the other is short­ ments, as almost every scientifically lowed the argument, we can hope for a er and simpler in length? Who will educated person today would have to bit more success here. decide, and who judge?" admit he does, Fermat's Principle of -Laurence Hecht Who indeed? Least Time is an absurdity. And yet it is Intention in Nature true, and stands as one of the founda­ Notes ____-;---; ______Finally, Clerselier argues: tions of all our knowledge of nature. 1. Oeuvres de Femiat, Paris, 1891-1922, II, T. "3. As it is not time which moves, it From it came the work of Leibniz and p. 354 (cited in C. Caratheodory, "The Beginning of Research in the Calculus of cannot be time which determines the the Bernoullis on the cycloid and the Variations," presented on Aug. 31, 1936 at motion, and when a body is once non-algebraic curves, which were the the meeting of the Mathematical Association moved and set on a certain path, there heart of the development of the calcu­ of America in Cambridge, Mass., during the tercentenary celebration of Harvard Uni­ is no reason to believe that time, lus. Fresnel's developments of the wave versity). greater or lesser, could cause this body theory are based on it, and so everything 2. Ibid, p. 457. to change its path, since time does not we know of the electromagnetic spec- 3. Ibid, p. 454.

The Political Issue of 'Human Cloning'

he essence of the political issue have been duped into admiration for violation of all well-established, suc­ T of "cloning," is underscored by a the cult of "molecular biology." What cessful methods for dealing with the current series on this subject is new, is the revival of the kinds of control of the spread of hoof-and­ appearing in the German popul ar­ thinking on eugenics associated with mouth disease, is being explained by entertainment daily Bildzeitung. the Nazis then, as is to be seen now some official circles in Britain, as a There we find featured a reported in the influence of the science-fiction probable precedent for the applica­ intention to clone a replica of Adolf cults of the "New Economy" cult of tion of the same mass-killing policies Hitler, using material extracted from "information theory, " and "artificial against human beings, in the case of Hitler's skull. Ironically, this scan­ intelligence," today. There has been a major epidemics among human pop­ dalous news item accurately under­ recent spillover of those science-fic­ ulations. scores the fact, that the current rash tion cults, into the spread of such If we look around us, in the world at of proposals for cloning do, like wildly reductionist doctrine of molec­ large today, no honest and intelligent much of current trends in U.S. ular biology as the infamous "Bell person could deny, that there is, health-care policy, parody th-e Nazi Curve" racism spil led out of locations indeed, the smell of Auschwitz in the regime's views on the biology of such as Harvard University. currently pan icked efforts to ram mankind. The clear and present danger from through such wild-eyed assertions of The inhuman views of the Nazis, the spread of this "human cloning" the universal authority of molecular and those Americans who, back then, fad, is to be recognized in the mass biology, as seeking clearance for shared ·and praised the Nazis' eugen­ slaughter of cows and sheep in the human cloning. ics policies, are echoed widely today United Kingdom and elsewhere. That -Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. among those susceptible persons who killing, in conscious and malicious Aug. 10, 2001

4 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY EDITORIAL presidential candidates visiting nuclear against the Malthusian forces who want a power plants! New Dark Age, with a world population So, I would be grateful if you correct under 1 billion. your comments on our royalty in the Prince Bernhard, along with Prince upcoming issue of 21st Century. Philip of Great Britain, founded the Jan Wieman, Nuclear Fuel Cycle World Wildlife Fund or WWF (now Letters Manager, Borssele NPP called the World Wide Fund for Nature) in October 1961 . Its purpose was to fund and popularize their human-removal, Prince Bernhard Marjorie Mazel Hecht Replies animal-"conservation" plans for Africa Was A Nazi! Our description of Prince Bernhard as a and developing nations in general. Te n former Nazi Party member is entirely years later, Bernhard and Philip founded To the Editor: accurate. Although the details of the the "1001 Club," an elite group of 1 001 As a I ifelong professional in the Prince's history may not be widely known Malthusians, whose $10,000 initiation nuclear industry, I enjoyed the articles to the younger generation in the fee goes into a trust fund to bankroll the on the revival of the nuclear technology Netherlands, they are available to anyone WWF activities. in your Spring 2001 issue ["The New willing to do the historical research. The Prince Bernhard was the fi rst head of Nuclear Power," p. 49). However, I take photocopies shown here (pages 6-7) doc­ the WWF. He was replaced in that capac­ strong offense at your comments on our umenting Prince Bernhard's membership ity by Prince Philip in 1971, after the rev­ Prince Bernhard, who-as co-founder of in the Nazi Party, are part of the historical elations of his role in the Lockheed the Wo rld Wide Fund for Nature­ record. bribery scandal forced Bernhard to with­ seems to be very unpopular with your This is not simply a question of an draw from his more public functions. editorial staff. "unfortunate" past. Membership in the The murderous activities of the WWF, Especially the description of him on Nazi Party then, and the promotion of especially in Africa, and its spawning of page 69, as "former Nazi Party member Malthusian environmentalism and ter­ eco-terrorism networks are documented Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands" is rorism now, are predicates of the same in great detail in a 21B-page special inflammatory and totally unfounded. Let pro-oligarchical ideology. Both fascism report publ ished by Executive me inform you that Prince Bernhard was and Malthusian environmentalism view Intelligence Review.1 Prince Bernhard the commander-in-chief of the Dutch human beings as no better than beasts. was intimately involved in the African Resistance during World War II, and For the Nazis, this rejection of the Judeo­ depopulation plans, personally funding was-and is-highly regarded for his Christian tradition, which sees mankind such projects as "Operation Lock." democratic attitude and loyalty to the as made in the image of God, was As for Bernhard's Nazi past, here is a Netherlands' war veterans. To call him a expressed in Hitler's state doctrine of summary from the special report: Nazi is slanderous. To connect his name "useless eaters" and the practice of bru­ "Prince Bernhard first became interest­ with whatever folly is undertaken by the tal "eugenics" to get rid of them. ed in the Nazis in 1934, during his last WWF in their green ideology, is foolish. The present-day Malthusians may year of study at the University of Berlin. Furthermore, the Dutch royal family come up with variations on why and He was recruited by a member of the itself can hardly be accused of anti­ how to get rid of the "useless," "over­ Nazi intelligence services, but first nuclear opinions. It was Prince consuming" human eaters, but the end worked openly in the motorized 55. Bernhard's spouse, Queen Juliana, result is the same: culling the human Bernhard went to Paris to work for the who-in 196B-brought the first Dutch population by opposing the advanced firm IG Farben, which pioneered Nazi reactor in Dodewaard to power. In an science and technology that would fos­ Economics Minister Hjalmar Schacht's opening ceremony, she was asked to ter prosperous economies, able to sup­ slave labor camp system by building con­ pull the control rods so that the plant port a growing world population. centration camps to convert coal into would come to full generator output. Like Hitler, the Malthusian environ­ synthetic gasoline and rubber. Bernhard's She did this so enthusiastically, that the mental ists don't hide their people role was to conduct espionage on behalf plant almost tripped on overpower, and hatred. Prince Philip himself has said of the According to the April 5, 1976 55. the unit manager had to interfere with publicly that he wants to be reincarnat­ issue of Newsweek, this role, as part of a the unheard-of words, "This should be ed as an AIDS virus to better aid the special intell igence unit in IG 55 enough, Yo ur Majesty." process of depopulation. Farbenindustrie, had been revealed in The present Crown Prince, Prince We uncovered the details of the Royal testimony at the Nuremberg trials. Wi llem-Alexander, did not hide his control of environmentalism in the course "When Bernhard left the to marry 55 interest for nuclear technology when he of a special project to make public the the future Queen Juliana, he signed his visited our plant recently to be informed actual fa scist background of today's anti­ letter of resignation to Adolf Hitler, 'Heil on the 1997 plant upgrading project. He nuclear, anti-population environmentalist Hitler'! William Hoffman writes in his went into the reactor building in full pro­ groups. Anyone concerned with the pro­ book Queen Juliana: 'Tensions [over the tective clothes, with a lot of media inter­ motion of science and technology for the marriage) were not cooled when ... est. It was a big boost for our public rela­ betterment of all mankind, needs to know Adolf Hitler forwarded his own congrat­ tions effort. I am not aware of any USA this background, in order to win the fight ulatory message. The newspaper Het

LEITERS 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 5 Vo lk editorialized that "it would be bet­ of Hitler changed after Hitler's forces public record. Not to acknowledge t�is ter if the future Queen had found a con­ invaded The Netherlands. Nevertheless, history, or be aware of it, makes it impQs­ sort in some democratic country rather Prince Bernhard's anti-population poli­ sible for a pronuclear person like yo�rself than in the Third Reich.' " cies and programs as a founder and to effectively fight for nuclear power­ It is conceivable that the Prince's view active leader of the WWF are a matter of and progress. I suggest that you read the

c::I These documents, declassified during the 79905 in the Netherlands and the United States, prove that Prince Bernhard was a member of the National Socialist Wo rkers Party, the NSDA p, or; as it was known for short, the Nazis. Above: This is a record of Bernhard's dues payments to the NSDA P. It shows that the Prince ("Prinz zur Lippe, Bernhard Leopold") was born on June 29, 7917, and joined the Nazi Pa rty's Greater Berlin organization on May 7, 7933 ("Eintritt" in the upper right­ hand corner). His membership number is 2583009, just above "Eintritt. " He left the Nazi party only because he wanted to marry Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, and the Dutch royal fa mily did not want any possi­ bility of scandal. The liol1ol'.blt Below: This is a letter fr om the U.S. Embassy The Seoret.ry or ct. to, in The Hague, to the U.S. Secretary of State, .ub In.c ton, t. C. confirming Prince Bernhard's membership in HI': the NSDAp, as shown on a list prepared by tb. hOnl)r to rehttt) th., con80Ues6t.e Headquarters Berlin Command, Office of till".. liat otlfSJ)." rulctlniln the .elli\l4lu •• therlande, Military Government fo r Germany (U.S.) on torwerat'4 to tbeJ)epn'tlnpt "lIB .ocOII"Mch p.nlecl by �'D"lt"ltb.BabuIYbr Nov. 7, 7947. 1.111 4.t.. ...&1 27. 1948, by the Cbht 01' "o,.et�n•• tattYl"r CornJ..�lon. .1rna4 Above, page 7: A list of NSDA P members, the Uet preparea '}ll ... . including Bernhard as well as other mem­ pper.ntly ii•• 4quart.eu BerUn COM.nc, Jttice or 1ll1.i1ur»' po"U!la.nt.for bers of his oligarchic fa mily. o.l'a'D7 (US), 117ht f)ocllII.nt beh.in. Br'l1oh, ,-PO\'742A. C'nhi', t.w­ lIUon. Th. Hat.;1. '''.1 toe: Below, page 7: A letter dated Aug. 70, 1,1'147,"&11'8 n;ltt:ti:>!t ·Or.,1nnlne rut s ()f t�e n't!t!tl American Mission, The Hague ...concern­ - f:;.J.lo.-t.ng entry tho lott.er" 1. 'I, the a." •• rlll ing the removal of the name of Prince Bernhard from the consolidated list of

NSDAP members residing in the )OOIJ,)" 1;1':)111 ,rrinco Netherlands." The relevant State Hrth .,1&.eo: Ji::i\Io, Department official notes that, "Since Prince Bernhard's name is also included in lIelllber&lht,i ·'h>. ;>25830')') the consolidated Wo rld List, which has (1n �':I�b\)l "3" the KSb·" e�rro'jlj),:)'"i.nc.) been widely distributed through the ['Lto entered Heth,.rl(ilIdlll: 1.1,,), 1, .i.9JJ Government as well as outside the United :Jete of r JJ,)ne 29,.1911 States, it is fe lt that at this time it is not b1 tl u practicable to alter the current lists by The pereon rer.t'�'9 �,' ":�cJ,,��n�'!leth'rl.,ms&, deleting his name. " ?rinee Bornbord, ··tattle ",u,bt,nd" ot ROI81 all •••. who 1& tllt'one or t.h.1'1'100 ;tether­ This documentation is part of a Strategic t.o �he Ju111nll. ::;eilt.el!l�rtotceede next. Memorandum on the British monarchy'S hnds 111 attacks on Lyndon LaRouche in Brazil and Australia ("Look at What Happened in Brazil, " by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.), which appeared in the Feb. 9, 200 1 issue of Executive Intelligence Review, pp. 20-39.

6 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY LETIERS Notes ______interview of Guilherme Camargo, "How Pr esidential candidate who visited u.s. 1. This EIR Special Report, "The True Story Brazil's Nuclear Association Defeated a nuclear plant was Lyndon H. Behind the Fall of the House of Windsor," was Greenpeace" (2 7 st Century, Spring 2001, LaRouche, Jr., for whom the promotion commissioned by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr., and published in September 1997, 218 pp. p. 63) to understand this better. of nuclear energy is a central campaign P. S. Not surprisingly, the only recent issue. A Dutch Legal Expert Replies We asked a legal expert, Mr. j.}.G Wilgers, from the Netherlands, to respond more specifically on the history of Prince Bernhard. In a Dutch court, Attorney Wilgers has won the right to call the Wo rld Wildlife Fund a "criminal organization." He is currently planning to take Prince Bernhard to court in Belgium, fo r crimes against humanity, concerning his role with the WWF in African genocide. Mr. Wilgers also intends to broaden his suit against the entire leadership of the WWF. Here is his response: [Princel Bemhard von Lippe Biesterfeld did not lead the Resistance. The Resistance, which consisted almost entire­ ly of the left wing of Dutch society at the time, did not allow itself to be led; there was no leadership. Yo ung men of the left showed the most initiative and were not planning to let themselves be led by reac­ tionaries. It is a question of myth creation. This former Nazi, might have been allowed to take some boys in overalls with a stengun, and call it the Irene-brigade [after one of the Orange princesses] ' ��- � ...... who were supposed to liberate .. -.crNl'tClf'.,...,.. . ' ...... "...... DEPARTMENT OF STATE Amsterdam. Queen Wilhelmina begged WASHINGTON. the Allies for permission to do this. The Allies kept this remarkable German prince far from the front, and

August from military activities. The myth about 10. 1948 Of Aliih: .. : his being a veteran, continuing to this AIR MAIL day, is more an indication of the falsifi­ cation of history and manipulative ...... ",' image-creation. The myth was desired in connection to the postwar domestic sit­ uation. Militarily, this Irene-brigade was To the nonsensical and superfl uous. It was fur­ Otticer in Obarge of the Amer1can Miseion, ther of interest, that a so-called Dutch The Hague. prince, was allowed to hold the pen in the name of the government during the The Secretart of. State rete'r8to the Embeesy' 8 despatch Ro. U3 ot June 23, 19ts, concerning the capitulation in Wageningen. removal of the ot Prinoe Bernblt,rd trom the consolidated 118t name The real Resistance, has hardly even ot NSDAl' _libel'S res1dlng 'In the Netherlands. been mentioned in the news after the Slnc. Prince Bernhard". name 18 alao included 1n the con8011dated �orld Llet, been Widely di.tr1buted war, relative to the inflated veteran story 1ihroughou1i the ·Govemm.nt.which aa well baa outaide the United 1\8 of the [Irenel-brigade. Journalists further state., 1t le tel� tba1i.at this time it 1e not praot10able to alter the ou�nt 118ts by d.let1ng name. Should developed the myth, there be any oooa810n 1n the future to ia8uehiB new edltlon a of tb a se 11eta oonalderatlon can 1ihen be g1ven to �he re- As for the Green ideology, it was t quest for th. l1eletlon Pr1noe Bernbardt, ' 'or name. drawn slowly from the ideas of eugenics

promoter, Julian Huxley. This is a typical

LEITERS 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 7 British affair. After the creation of the raw electric current, but on the conductor at Johns Hopkins, Henry A. Rowland, materials protection agency, IUCN (the which carries it." also "doubted the truth of Maxwell's International Union for the Conservation Wire explosions by Ampere tension statement and had sometime before of Nature and Natural Resources) by the would not be possible if the electrody­ made a hasty experiment for the purpose British, which for reasons of quasi-inter­ namic force was exerted on the conduc­ of detecting, if possible, some action of national ism was established in tion electrons. These electrons sl ip the magnet on the current itself, though Switzerland, funds were necessary to sat­ through the metal lattice without cou­ without success." isfy the costs of this agency. Therefore, pling to the atoms. If this were not so, Hall therefore set up an experiment in the Wo rld Wildlife Fund was formed. then an alternating current would rattle which a current was passed through a The British Privy Council was involved the wire to and fro. thin gold leaf mounted on a plate of in th is to a high degree. In order not to I do agree with you that Weber's the­ glass: The glass plate was inserted reveal to nationalists that this was a British ory carried the seeds of special relativity. between the poles of an electromagnet institution, a former German prince was The velocity vof charges in Weber's cur­ so as to cut the "lines of magnetic force" asked to be the President of the Club. That rent element became the v of the perpendicularly. Measurement with a is how this von Lippe Biesterfeld got the Lorentz force, and Einstein's v of the galvanometer indicated that the current opportunity to build his own personal ... arbitrary observer. was being deflected in the direction network (the 1001 Club). Under the flag Peter Graneau perpendicular to the shortest path of of international interest, the interests of the Concord, Mass. flow of current. The phenomenon, West were looked after.... which we now so easily call the Hall Under the flag of international interest, effect, thus indicated to Hall that a number of green myths have been spun Laurence Hecht Replies Maxwell was wrong. The current itself for the purpose of collecting a lot of You are right that Ampere's Law does is deflected ! money: animal species going extinct, oil not describe the interaction of "two ele­ Respecting Maxwell, there is no get­ wells drying up, climatological disasters, ments of moving charge." The memory ting around the fact that his famous demographic bombs, and so on .... of several stimulating telephone conver­ Treatise is a willful attack against both Mr. J.G.G. Wilgers sations last year, in which you under­ Ampere and the "German school" as he Yerseke, The Netherlands lined this distinction between Ampere's calls it, that for the purest of political view and We ber's, was on my mind motives, science being, then, as always, even as I wrote the editorial. Yet I see nothing but politics, if we understand On the Ampere-Gauss­ that even so, I let a misstatement slip in. that term in its broadest, and not always Weber Electrodynamics On this charge, I plead guilty. derogatory, philosophical sense. Yo ur citation of the quote fr.om In my view, the problem of what goes To the Editor: Maxwell, however, I think only confuses on when electricity passes through a Needless to say, I very much enjoyed things. It was doubt over the truth of this wire remains a great enigma. (Hall, you your editorial on the suppressed electro­ very citation which led Edmund H. Hall may know, devoted the rest of his life to dynamics of Ampere-Gauss-Weber to make his discovery of what we today probing this mystery.) I have nothing but [Spring 2001]. Science cannot reliably call the Hall effect in 1879. His paper of respect for your work on these matters. advance without knowledge of the prior that year in the American Journal of Yet I cannot buy a formulation such as history of the subject. With due respect, Mathematics' begins: "These electrons slip through the metal however, I have to draw your attention "Sometime during the last University lattice without coupling to the atoms." If to an error in your editorial. Ampere's year, while I was reading Maxwell's the phenomena you cite seem to prove law does not describe the interaction of Electricity and Magnetism in connection it so, yet it seems there is much else to "two elements of moving charge." with Professor Rowland's lectures, my suppose otherwise. For example, given Ampere defined his current element attention was particularly attracted by the snail's pace at which electrons seem as an infinitely small (stationary) piece the following passage in Vo l. II, p. 144: to pass though a wire, can we say that of conductor metal. In our book [The passage you cited fo llows, along an alternating current (or any current) is Newtonian Electrodynamics (New with several additional sentences from merely due to the passage of electrons? Jersey: World Scientific, 1996), we Maxwell]. I know your thoughts go deep on these [peter and Neal GraneauJ modern ized "This statement seemed to me to be matters, deeper than can usefully be the concept by describing the Amperian contrary to the most natural supposition probed in a letters column. I, therefore, current element as an atom ic dipole piv­ in the case considered, taking' into would invite a longer contribution, for oted on the lattice site. Lest there should account the fact that a wire not bearing publication, should you be able to fi nd be any doubt about Ampere's definition, a current is in general not affected by a the time for it. Meanwhile, you should Maxwell expressed it in article 501 of magnet and that a wire bearing a current find the contribution of Remi Saumont in his Treatise as follows: is affected exactly in proportion to the the current issue thought-provoking. "It must be carefu lly remembered, strength of the current, while the size that the mechanical forte which urges a and, in general, the material of the wire Notes ______1. E.H. Hall, "On a New Action of the Magnet on conductor carrying a current across the are matters of indifference ...." Electric Currents," Arner. J. Math., Vol. 2, p. 287 lines of magnetic force, acts, not on the Hall goes on to say that his professor (1879).

8 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY LETTERS More on Weber's Yo u have never mentioned [that] I In good friendship, I have to say that it have a book, in your book reviews .... strikes me as ironic that you, one of the Electrodynamics Bert Schreiber orneriest of old iconoclasts I have ever To the Editor: Bellaire, Tex. had the pleasure of running into, are just ...Re: Yo ur editorial (Spring 2001): as surprised by the fact that "they" didn't Fascinating, but I detect a flaw or teach you any of this, as any old, run-of­ don't or can't read English. On page 5 is Laurence Hecht Replies the-mill, establ ishment-type physicist. the We ber Constant: "It was found to the Yo u are making two errors of method. But don't get annoyed at me for it. I product of the velocity of light in vacu­ First, you are trying to fit We ber into the didn't charge you thousands .of dollars

UO, with the square root of 2." box of modern textbook physics. It does­ for a university education, to claim that What does that mean? Later: "In elec­ n't work that way. He did the work. He you would become educated in physics tromagnetic units it was equal to the made the discoveries on which Maxwell's if you mastered the textbooks I made you light velocity." (Velocity is totally incor­ fraudulent glosses, and all the modern buy. In my view, most of them are not rect. It should be speed.) Got some dou­ textbooks are based. Weber's point of worth the BTU-value contained in them. bletalk here. What was actually meas­ view, which follows from Kepler, Leibniz, Concerning the quote you question on ured was the ratio of the electromagnet­ and Gauss, is entirely diffe rent from what page 5, I think your eyes played a trick on ic to the electrostatic units that gave the is taught today as accepted practice of you, causing you to drop some lines. The identical numerical value that was iden­ classroom mathematics. The latter is fu ll sentence reads: "It was found to be tical to that for the speed of light. It did based on an entirely opposite intellectual experimentally equal, in electrodynamic not give the speed of light, [which] as a tradition, associated with such names as units, to the product of the velocity of ratio is dimensionless. Newton, Euler, Laplace, and Cauchy. light, in vacuo, with the square root of 2." On page 7, first column near bottom: Second, and related, you fail to recog­ I'm sorry we haven't mentioned your "The Weber critical length has the value nize that science is hypothesis. The char­ book. We are able to review only a very [followed by an equation]." acter of your quibbles assumes that one small portion of those brought to our Questions: can deduce the laws of physics from cer­ attention. For interested readers, it is: Bert Schreiber, Quantum-Quanta, The • Why was no value for two charges tain self-evident observations, assuming given as proof? that one is sharp enough to do so. You Theory of the Universe, (2001 ) 2 vols., The first term looks like (that square seek the errors of others in the deductive 198 DM (Michaels Ve rlag, Ammergauer root of 2 bit) like it it is just the speed of process, when the important ones lie, Str. 80, 86971 Germany, Phone: 08861 - light. ... rather, in the underlying ontological, and 5901 8), e-mail: [email protected]. The dimensions do not give any epistemological assumptions. But a per­ remaining value for length. In fact, what sisting bias to empiricism has caused you are the dimensions for charge. The to reject these from the get-go. (For more Deregulation and the whole equation's answer? elaboration on this point of epistemology Invisible Hand Further quote: " ...there is a critical and scientific method, I suggest you length below which the force of repul­ study LaRouche's "How to Define a To the Editor: sion between two electrical particles is Physical-Economic Collapse: Marat, De Regarding the article, "The Fraud of changed to attraction and vice versa!" Sade, and 'Greenspin,' " in Executive Deregulation (Spring 2000) [by Marsha Very bad and indefinite wording. Intelligence Review, June 29, 2001 .) Freeman], it misses one "slight" point­ Which or what two particles? The force Concerning Weber's discoveries in elec­ energy prices have not been deregulated of repulsion is only between like trodynamics, there is no textbook shortcut by the Democrats in California to allow charges. to understanding these matters. You must supply and demand to set prices. (It's called the free market.) They wanted to • What happens when the charges read Weber's writings. Some are in English, are attractive or of opposite signs to start? and I think you may know some German. pander to their electoral base ...so they

• How can they get that close to­ Yo ur questions are either answered there, only deregulated the supply side, not the gether in the first place? (I am guessing or you will see that they do not have any demand side. Building socialism is a that this length is under an electron's meaning in the historical context. I pre­ noble aim, even it if has been proven diameter.) sented a summary of the Ampere-Gauss­ over and over again not to work. I grew

• What do the masses of the particles Weber electrodynamics, including refer­ up under communism in Hungary, so I have to do with it anyway? Gravitational ence to the key original writings, in the Fall know first hand that political meddling effect is below Planck's Constant, so no 1996 issue of 27st Century. of most kinds only produces misery. Yo u gravitational action can take place. Weber's electrodynamics was excised write about a perfect example of it. Simply, no anti-gravity from any cause. from the curriculum in Germany in the Allowing people/companies to sell at Lastly, [the internet search engine] 1880s, after Helmholtz had consolidat­ whatever price the market bears is the Google has nothing on the electrical ed his control over the Physics one and only way to make sure there is Weber's Constant and neither do two Department at the University of Berlin. plenty of everyJhing, including the very old books I have on electricity and The publication of Maxwell's famous incentive to produce and/or save.. .. magnetism and the "Bible," Handbook Treatise did the job in the English-speak­ Any price gouging is transitory when the of Chemistry and Physics .... ing countries, about a decade earlier. Continued on page 75

LETTERS 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 9 NEWS BRIEFS

WILL THE U.S. JOIN THE ITER INTERNATIONAL FUSION PROJECT? At the "Frontiers in Fusion Research" conference sponsored by Fusion Power Associates in Wa shington, D.C., Sept. 25, a major question on the agenda was whether the United States will join with Europe, Canada, Japan, and Russia to design and construct the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER. Unwilling to spend the $200 million per year that participation in the project would require, the U.S. Congress ended this country's work on ITER during the Clinton Administration. Now, France and Canada have come forward with poten­ tial sites for the construction of the tokamak experiment, and Japan will announce its site selection by November. International conference participants indicated their willingness to proceed with ITER without the United States, but it was clear that a major lobbying campaign is under way to have the United States rejoin the program. Courtesy of ITER The next issue of 21st Century will include more coverage of this fusion confer­ The july 2001 design fo r the ence. International Th ermonuclear Experi­ mental Reactor, ITER. Canada, France, MONARCH CATERPILLARS ARE SENSITIVE TO POLLEN FROM Bf CORN NOT and japan are vying fo r the project site. U.S. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) studies of Bt corn found that monarch caterpillars are not very sensitive to pollen from most types of Bt corn, and that caterpillar exposure to Bt pollen is low. Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a soil bacterium that is engineered into corn as an alternative to conventional insecticides for controlling moth pests. A small, but much publicized study, in 1999 had sug­ gested that monarch caterpillars were injured by eating milkweed leaves that were heavily dusted with Bt corn pollen. This then made headlines with the message "Genetically engineered corn endangers monarch butterfl ies." Entomologist Richard L. Hellmich, from the ARS Corn Insects and Crops Genetics Research Unit, in Ames, Iowa, reported that pollen levels had to be "greater than 1,000 grains of pollen per square centimeter before there were any toxic effects in monarch caterpillars, and even greater levels before the effect was significant." Cui4ado comoa f.ax.o. amb1e.ntaU.eiu1 lAtal BRAZIL COURT REVOKES ORDER SEIZING BOOK GREEN MAFIA Judge Paulo Mauricio Pereira of the 24th Civilian Court of Rio de Janeiro, on Aug. 29, 2001, revoked his earlier decision to seize copies of the book Green Mafia: Environmentalism at the Service of Wo rld Government and copies of the magazine Nuclear Brasil, in which an advertisement for the book appeared. The reversal came after Lorenzo Carrasco, Brazilian correspondent for Executive Intelligence Review and author of the Green Mafia book, filed a petition as an aggrieved third party in the Wo rld Wide Fund for Nature's legal offensive against the organization of Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. in South America, the MSIA (lbero­ MAFIAVERDE American Solidarity Movement). o amblent.al1smo e. serv11)Odo Governo Mundlal Carrasco, a co-owner of the publishing house that published Green Mafia, IoItJU _ ..._ . ___ _ ..... __ �-...... --- ...... ,�. argued that the book fe ll outside of the temporary restraining order that the WWF __ tOJllTol. __ .. __ .. ,...... ,wt·__ "" _...... __ . _J>Acl.�_�� had obtained to prevent the MSIA from publishing or saying anything about the _,...._ _ -,..a._� __� . ____ ��40_ WWF. Although the books and magazines seized on Aug. 27 were returned to Carrasco,

_,..,.,.._�_.... «. " .....ua._.-.Ilo_ �.... the legal battle, initiated by Prince Philip's WWF against LaRouche's forces in Brazil, continues. The MSIA is still under a temporary restraining order not to say "Protect yourself aga inst the fa lse anything about the WWF, and the WWF is pressing for damages in its court case, environmentalists!" is the headline of alleging "slander." The WWF did not present any evidence refuting the truthfulness this advertisement fo r the Portuguese­ of what the MSIA said about the WWF, but claimed only that the MSIA had offend­ language book, Green Mafia, published ed its "honor." Meanwhile, the case has become a cause celebre within the Rio in Brazil by ElR. courts.

10 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY NEWS BRIEFS MAGLEV TRAIN SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE GREAT ER SECURITY "As rapidly and as feasible fi nancially, we must begin developing a high speed ground transportation system, for freight and people, operating possibly up to the speed of sound to take the place of commercial aircraft," says Col. Roy D. Vinson (U.s. Army, ret.). Vinson, a hero in Patton's Third Army and later the head of com­ bat training of the South Korean Armed Forces, is the inventor of a unique magnet­ ic levitation system, called Magnetrain, employing hydraulically controlled perma­ nent magnets (see 21 st Century, Winter 2000-2001 ). "The fanatical fringe element is not only foreign, but domestic as well," Vinson says in a release issued October 10. "Recent events confirm the fact that disturbed individuals can cause destruction on a limited basis, such as the Greyhound bus tragedy, or a wide-scale basis, such as the Oklahoma bombing of the Federal build­ Courtesy of Magnetrain ing. We need to protect ourselves against foreign enemies. But, we also need to pro­ The Magnetrain maglev system, tect ourselves from enemies within. Prevention of future catastrophes cannot be designed by Col. Roy Vi nson, uses tota lly eliminated, but by rethinking our mass transportation system, future tragedies permanent magnets fo r levitation, and a can be greatly reduced." patented hydra ulic system to maintain an air gap. Here, an artist's conception 'THE WORLD IS GOING TOWARDS A GLACIAL ERA,' SAYS L1NDZEN of the Magnetrain as it enters a station. "The end of the world is not ahead," climate scientist Richard S. Lindzen told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera June 15, in an interview with Alessandra Farkas. "The world is going towards a glacial era," Lindzen said. "In one century the climate will be different from today, but simply because atmospheric changes are the ru le ....CO 2 emissions have nothing to do with that. ...Think to the 'miniglacial era' that brought snow and ice to Europe in the 17th and 18th Century. Or to the Middle Age Optimum, where the word pollution did not exist yet, but Iceland and Greenland were temperate, inhabited areas, where wine grapes were grown. Te mperatures, at that time, were between 2° and 5° C higher than today." Lindzen, a Professor of Meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was asked whether man can do something "not to worsen things." He replied : "This question goes out of the scientific field and enters the domain of religion. You are ask­ ing me whether sacrifices to gods are opportune to improve things .... My impres­ sion is that Europe, above all, is prey to environmentalist religion and hysteria."

RUSSIA AND INDIA TO SIGN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DEAL Russia will build a nuclear power plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India, according to an agreement between the two countries, to be signed in October. Russia will supply the design, 90 percent of the equipment, and 54 percent of the $1.5-to-$2 billion cost, at 4 percent interest. India will pay for the plant in 14 install­ ments, beginning one year after it is commissioned, which is projected to be in 2007. The plant will supply power to four Indian states.

INDONESIA, REPUBLIC OF KOREA SIGN NUCLEAR DESALINATION PACT Indonesia and the Republic of Korea signed a memorandum of understanding in October to launch a preliminary economic feasibil ity study for a nuclear desalina­ tion project on Madura Island, Indonesia. The study is under the umbrella of the Soviet Nuclear#. Society ,:y. International Atomic Energy Agency's technical cooperation project on desalting seawater, which involves nine other countries. Korea is now working on a co-gen­ Th e nuclear-heated desalination unit of erating nuclear desalination plant with a 330-megawatt-thermal nuclear reactor, and the Shevchenko BN-350 (now called Argentina, China, India, and the Russian Federation are also developing reactors for Aktau) in Kazakhstan on the Caspian desalination. The coupling of nuclear power plants with desalting plants has been Sea-the first and only industrial-scale studied since the 1960s. Japan has several small-scale nuclear-powered desalination nuclear desalination plant. The BN-350 plants to supply freshwater inside nuclear power plants, and the Russians have 16 is a 135-M We liquid-metal-cooled fa st small plants on nuclear-powered ice-breakers and other nuclear-powered ships. The breeder reactor, in opera tion since only industrial-scale nuclear desalination plant is the BN-350 in Kazakhstan. 1913.

NEWS BRIEFS 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 11 IN MEMORIAM

An Appreciation of the Work of Fusion Scientist Daniel Wells by Charles B. Stevens

aniel R. Wells, Ph.D., Professor of of cheap, clean and plentiful fusion D Physics Emeritus at the University energy, but also because it promised to of Miami (Coral Gables), died on May be an experimental testbed for a series of 28 at age 80. Wells, a pioneer of ther­ revolutionary scientific breakthroughs. monuclear fusion plasma physics, was a But, in April 1987, the U.S. govern­ scientific advisor of 21st Century ment put the FEF into "forced bankrupt­ Science Te chnology magazine and a cy," with the intention of shutting down & scientific coll aborator of Lyndon H. its work and its support for LaRouche LaRouche. and his missile defense policy, which Born in New York City on May 2, had been publicly adopted by President 1921, Dan We lls received his Bachelor's Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983, as degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).l Cornell University in 1942. He served as This historically unprecedented action a pilot in the u.s. Army Air Corps during also aborted the FEF's revival of Wells's the war, and received his Master's degree experiments. in Physics from New York University in Breakthroughs 1952, and his Ph.D. in Physics under The breakthrough aspect of Dr. fu sion scientist Winston Bostick at the We lls's work had come to light in a Stevens Institute of Technology in 1963. series of FEF scientific seminars in 1985 From 1955 to 1963, Wells was a mem­ Daniel We lls in 1986: "/ am of the and 1986. At that time, Wells, at the ber of the Plasma Physics Laboratory at school that looks fo r naturally occurring instigation of LaRouche, made a discov­ Princeton University. He became an geometries in the plasma to do the job ery which LaRouche described at the Associate Professor of Physics at the of confinement. " time as tending "to revolutionize all the­ University of Miami in 1964, and a fu ll oretical physics, including biology." Professor in 1967. ing spheromaks, compact tori, and Briefly: We lls had presented his work Dan Wells began his work in force­ reverse field pinches throughout the on his experimental Tr isops fusion engine free coils at Princeton in the early 1950s, world. and the underlying "force-free" plasma and made it the subject of his doctoral During the 1970s and 1980s, Wells theory it was based upon, at an FEF sem­ work. At Winston Bostick's suggestion, was a scientific advisor to the Fusion inar in 1985. During the seminar, he was look.ingat the strange structures Energy Foundation (FEF), along with his LaRouche interjected the question of produced when two conical theta former teacher at the Stevens I nstitute of whether We lls had ever considered the pinches were fired at each other. To him, Te chnology, the late Winston Bostick, formation of the solar system, the genera­ they looked like vortices, of the sort he another fusion pioneer and co-founder tion of the Keplerian values for those had seen when testing aircraft in wind of the FEF in 1974. The FEF was the pub­ orbits, and the approximation of the tunnels during Wo rld War II. He specu­ lisher of Fusion magazine, predecessor Keplerian values given by the famous lated that these were force-free or quasi­ to 21st Century, which reached a circu­ Titius-Bode relation in terms of his "force­ force-free structures, because of their ·Iation of 200,000 at its height. free" plasma theory and experiments. relative stabil ity. When the u.s. government withdrew Professor Wells meekly replied that he The Trisops fusion device, designed by its funding of Professor Wells's experi­ had not. (He joked that the University of Professor Wells, later used the theta pinch mental work in the early 1980s (ironi­ Miami Department of Physics had limit­ principle to create stable plasma rings, cally, just after he had experimentally ed him in the domain of astronomy to which, when fired at each other, create demonstated that his fusion device teaching a general course, primarily for the high temperature and high density could work), the FEF began its first major the benefit of the Miami football team.) necessary to initiate the fusion of nuclei. experimental project, reviving Dan Wells said that he had not had the occa­ We lls's theory of minimum-energy Wells's fusion experiments. The FEF took sion to reflect upon the questions configurations for magnetic confinement up We lls's experiments not only because involved in the formation of the solar of hot, thermonuclear plasmas became it offered the most direct route to har­ system and the Titius-Bode relation, the basis for fusion experiments involv- nessing the virtually unlimited potentials though some of his postgraduate stu-

12 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY IN MEMORIAM dents had begun explorations of the modern theory of supersonic flight, and implications of force-free plasmas for his role as the most creative aerodynam­ general relativity. icist of the German jet and rocket pro­ In early 1986, Professor We lls reported grams. After World War II, Busemann to the FEF that he had carried out the was brought to the United States, where required review of the material, and to his he made major contributions to the U.5. great surprise, he was able to account for efforts along these lines. both the Keplerian values for the planetary At the end of the war, many of orbits and the Titius-Bode approximations, Busemann's collaborators and his own based directly on his "force-free" plasma papers were captured by the Soviets. It theory. He presented his results to an FEF has generally been reported that these seminar in early 1986. (His article on this, also provided fruitful contributions to "How the Solar System Was Formed," the Soviet Union's aircraft and rocket appeared in the July-August 1988 issue of programs. What Belokogne reported to 21st Century. LaRouche wrote a related me was twofold: First, Busemann's aero­ memo, "Private Information Concerning dynamic work was primari ly based on the Coming Report on 'Keplerian Orbits' In Bernhard Riemann's discovery and con­ Local Plasma and Related Events," dated cept of the shock wave. Second, he April 11, 1986.) reported that Busemann had applied As LaRouche had forecast, Professor We lls's working through of the generation Riemann's concept of the shock wave to We lls did begin to extend his "discov­ of the Keplerian values fo r the orbits of the the possibility of harnessing inertial con­ ery" to fundamental physics questions, solar system, in terms of his "force-free" fi nement fusion. such as the curvature of space-time, the plasma theory, was the cover story of the Also, according to Belokogne, this structure of the "vacuum," the atom, the July-August 1988 issue of21 st Century. Busemann work provided a critical nucleus, and subatomic particles. But input to the development of the Soviet We lls's discovery also sparked another The Busemann Angle hydrogen bomb. This can be seen, for revolutionary scientific discovery-that Some inkling of these future develop­ example, in the published work of the of Dr. Robert J. Moon's nested Platonic ments was first arrived at by this author Soviet scientist Sedov's pre-1945 and solids model of the atomic nucleus. in 1978, during a laser-matter interac­ post-1 945 work. This 1978 rediscovery Dr. Moon was also a co-founder of the tion conference held in Moscow. At that of the Riemann shock wave concept Fusion Energy Foundation, and in 1986 time, I was informed by Professor V.A. also led directly to the LaRouche­ he was the scientific director of the Belokogne of Moscow State University Riemann Economic Model. Foundation. Previously, he had been a of the broader implications of the work I was also aware, at that time, that Professor of Physics at the University of of the German aerodynamicist Adolf Adolf Busemann's work was the initial ' Chicago, where he had been an experi­ Busemann. I was already aware of the spark for Dan Wells's "force-free" plas­ mental pioneer during the Manhattan work of Busemann in developing the ma theory and fusion experiments. At Project of Wo rld War 11.2 Stimulated by the discussion during Dan We lls's 1986 FEF seminar, Dr. Moon reviewed the scientific work of LaRouche. Shortly thereafter, he derived his nested Platonic solids model of the atomic nuc;:leus. Beyond its own revolu­ tionary implications, Dr. Moon's discov­ ery resituated the great scientific work of Ampere, Gauss, Weber, Riemann, and Beltrami-the leading physical science minds of the 19th century. He had long been a champion of their electrodynam­ ics, as opposed to those of Clerk Maxwell and company. From the standpoint of both Wells's and Moon's discoveries, it was clear that it would be possible to rework the initial discoveries of Johannes Kepler, the founder of modern physical science, in terms of Ampere, Gauss, Weber, Riemann, Beltrami, and LaRouche, A 1999 version of We lls's Tr isops conical fo cus fusion device, currently under unleashing a new scientific renaissance. investigation at U.S. national laboratories.

IN MEMORIAM 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 13 Langley, Virginia, in the early 1950s, Busemann had written a short note on force-free plasma structures, probably in Remembering Bob Stevenson, connection with his work on hypersonic aircraft. Wells came to know these struc­ tures during his wartime flight testing. Oceanographer and Friend We lls went on to apply the work of by Marjorie Mazel Hecht Eugenio Beltrami to these force-free plasma configurations of Busemann. Beltrami was a leading Italian mathe­ r. Robert E. Stevenson, one of the matical physicist and educator in the lat­ Dworld's leading oceanographers ter part of the 19th century. He founded and the "father" of space oceanography, the Italian school of aerodynamics, died of cancer Aug. 12 in Hawaii, at age whose theoretical descendants are still 80. at the forefront of the field, many of As a scientist and teacher, Bob was a whom directly collaborated with Adolf joy. His broad knowledge of the oceans, Busemann (for example, To ny Ferri). atmospheric science, and history, com­ Beltrami was also a leading collaborator bined with his commitment to truth, his of Bernhard Riemann. In fact, Riemann wonderful sense of humor, and his will­ assigned Beltrami to refute the electro­ ingness to take on colleagues who fell dynamics of Clerk Maxwell, as opposed into the politically correct swamp, to those of Ampere, Gauss, and Weber. gained him an enthusiastic following We lls wrote about the application of among scientists and laymen alike. He Beltrami's work to plasma research in the also was not afraid of learning some­ theoretical journal of the Fusion Energy thing new, even when it meant giving up Foundation, International Journal of a fondly held idea. Fusion Energy, July 1985 (Vol. 3, No. 3). Bob was a member of the scientific Reviving Trisops advisory board of 21st Century Science Until recently, I was involved in a pri­ Te chnology magazine, and took his & vate effort to revive Dan Wells's Tr isops job seriously, offering ideas and criti­ fusion experiment. Work on the Tr isops cism, and writing articles until just approach is now continuing at various before his death. U.S. national laboratories-Los Alamos, He was a great educator and racon­ Livermore, and Sandia-as an applica­ teur. One could not help but have fun Bob at the Kennedy Space Center in tion of the development of magnetized listening to him talk about the historical December 1998, just before the launch target fusion. development of ideas in oceanogra­ of the Endeavor Space Shuttle. I had the great pleasure of knowing phy-or almost anything else. In the Dan and his wife, Mary, for more than a course of his career, he wrote more than nology to solving problems of the quarter of a century, and of benefitting 100 scientific articles and several books, oceans. from his ideas about fusion energy. including the most widely used textbook Fathering Space Oceanography We extend our sympathy to his family. on the natural sciences. From the 1960s until his death, Bob After earning a doctorate in oceanog­ worked as a consultant to NASA, Notes ______raphy at the University of Southern instructing astronauts in the Qbservation The FEF and two political publications associat­ 1. ed with LaRouche, which were also put into California in 1954, Bob became a 'spe­ of the oceans from orbit and revolution­ forced bankruptcy, brought suit against the gov­ cial research oceanographer for the U.S. izing what we know about ocean ernment, and two and one-half years later, won Office of Naval Research in London. He dynamics. He was scheduled to fly on its suit and then won again against the govern­ ment's appeal. Federal bankruptcy judge, later taught oceanography at the univer­ the Space Shuttle in 1984-and would Martin V.B. Bostetter, Jr., ruled that the govern­ sity level and directed the biological lab­ have become, at the time, the oldest ment had acted "in bad faith" and perpetrated a oratory of the Bureau of Commercial space traveller-but he did not, because '1raud on the court." 2. For example, during the war, Dr. Moon utilized Fisheries from 1965 to 1970. Then he his wife was seriously ill. His younger the cyclotron he built and designed at Chicago rejoined the Office of Naval Research, colleague, oceanographer Dr. Paul to figure out how to procure pure enough as its scientific liaison officer in San Scully-Power, flew that mission instead, graphite to make a nuclear pile work. He then went on, with his close friend and scientific col­ Diego, and later as its deputy director, as the first Australian in space. laborator, James Franck, to oversee the con­ working at Scripps Institute of Scully-Power wrote of his friend and struction and successful operation of the Oceanography. mentor: "Bob was the instructor to the Hanford plutonium breeder reactors. But it was also Franck and Moon who authored and circu­ The U.S. Navy awarded Bob its high­ Astronaut Corps. He instructed each and lated the Concerned Scientists petition against est civilian award, the Meritorious every one of them in the greatest of all the unnecessary dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, and later Dr. Moon became the first Civilian Services Award, in 1985, for his endeavors of the Corps-looking at editor of Th e Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. innovative role in applying space tech- mother Earth and understanding what

14 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY IN MEMORIAM they saw, and recording that which was Letters new, In this sense, he is singularly Continued from page 9 responsible for one of the greatest treas­ market is allowed to produce new sup­ ure troves of knowledge that we have plies and competition. today of the Earth." Steve Kingsley, Bob launched his more recent work in Ridgewood, N.J. training young astronauts head-on against the strong current of popular opinion on global warmirig, ozone Marsha Freeman Replies holes, and the like. His 1996 briefing The writer seems to be unaware of the book, for example, was titled "As the economic history of this country. State Wo rld Burns and Glaciers Grow to the responsibility to ensure that there are Sea." adequate, rei iable, reasonably priced Although Bob retired from the Office supplies of electricity is not socialism; it of Naval Research in 1988, he contin­ is the principle of promoting the "gener­ ued to train astronauts and to steer al welfare," as stated in the Preamble of oceanographic affairs, serving as the the U.S. Constitution. Secretary General of the International Electricity is not a "commodity," but Association for the Physical Science of critical infrastructure, which enables the the Oceans from 1987 to 1995. In this development of industry and agricul­ capacity, he worked with oceanogra­ ture, similar to transportation systems, phers from arouna the world, and organ­ and a clean water supply. That is why ized two major international scientific Bob in August 1998, on an airshow tour the industry was regulated by the gov­ conferences as part of the International with the "Sentimental journey. " ernment, after the Wa ll Street-controlled Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, one abuses of the 1920s. in Vienna in 1991, and the other in Changed the Face of the Oceans" (Fall The dramatic and sudden catastrophic Honolulu in 1995. 1998), telling the story of how the rise in electricity prices charged to utili­ Bob also remained active in the Skylab and Shuttle observations revolu­ ties and citizens in California over the Confederate Air Force, a volunteer tionized our knowledge of the oceans; past year did not arise from an imbalance group of Wo rld War II veterans who and his account of how climate science in supply and demand, or from a lack of refurbished B-17s and other'Worid War was buried by "an avalanche of ideolo­ competition. It has been amply demon­ II aircraft and took them on air show gy-based computer models," in "An strated through a look at the facts, that tours around the United States. Oceanographer Looks at the Non­ even when demand was low this past 21st Century magazine will publish Science of Global Warming" (Winter winter, power generators and marketers more of Bob's articles in its coming 1996). gamed the market to drive up the price, issues. Recommended reading, for those We extend our sympathy to Bob's and fleece the population. not fa miliar with his work, are his article wife, Jeani, and his two sons, Robert and In Texas, where there is 20 percent "Spiral Eddies: The Discovery That Michael. We will miss him. more supply than demand, on the first day of deregulation, day-ahead prices spiked to $1,000 per megawatt-hour. Forcing people to pay exorbitant prices for electricity will not bring bal­ ance to "supply and demand." It will just continue to raise the profit margins of the energy pirates who are manipulating the market, and leave the lower third of the U.S. population little access to the 20th century's greatest contribution to economic prosperity.

Correction The Astronomy Report, "How I Know Pluto Is a Ku iper Object," An informal session of the InternationalAssociation fo r the Physical Science of the Summer 2001 , p. 80, misstated the Oceans, in Va ncouver in 1987. From left: Or. Ceorgiey Crechko, Cosmonaut on date of discovery of the asteroid Soyuz and Salyut; Bob Stevenson; Or. Paul Scully-Power, then of the Naval Chiron: It was discovered in 1978, Underwater Center in New London; and Or. Ned A. Ostenso, Director of not 1970. Oceanography of the Office of Naval Research. u.s.

IN ·MEMORIAM 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 15 Fa r from being an uninterrupted Dark Age, the Middle Ages was the period when science was reborn in the We st, its fl ower being the ca thedra l movement. Th e ca thedrals were schools, and their building sites laboratories of in vention. Th e ca thedral movement was the prelude to the Renaissance of the 15th and 16th Centuries.

Th e western fa cade of Notre-Dame de Chartres in France.

16 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY The Scientific Renaissance of The Medieval Cathedrals

by Philippe Messer

great disaster befell the history of thought in the year 48 than the old. For our own, elevated by Christ's teaching, B.C.: the Library at Alexandria was burnt to the ground . would outstrip all the wisdom of the Academy. The old The soldiers of Julius Caesar, bearing what some might had but Plato's disciplines to teach with; despite which, Acall "the White Man's Burden," simply destroyed 700,000 shaped by the seven liberal arts, it shines forth yet. Our priceless works of science, the effects of which destruction are own shall enjoy the sevenfold fu llness of the Spirit, and fe lt to this day. Scientific thought in Europe was to be reborn shall carry far beyond all the dignity of secular wisdom. solely through the process of building the 80 or so cathedrals of th is continent, between the 12th and 13th Centuries. The These were not words cast upon the winds. In 789, the cathedrals should not be seen as symbols of prestige, put up Admonitio Generalis (General Advisory) proclaimed: "Let by cunning artificers, or by some elite with access to arcane there be schools to teach the children to read. Let there be in knowledge. They are the fru it of efforts to rediscover what had every Bishopric and monastery, the teaching of psalms, notes, been fo rgotten of the Ancients, and to afford the common peo­ singing, arithmetic, grammar.. .." In 805, guidelines to the ple access to that storehouse of ideas. Missi Dominici stressed the importance given education under The drive to educate the people, was launched by Saint Charlemagne: "Readings. Song. Scribes, that they not mar the Colomban (ca. 530-61 5), and by a handfu l of Irish page. Notaries. Other disciplines. Arithmetic, the art of medi­ Augustinians, who built a network of roughly 150 monasteries cine." The monasteries that had been built up by the Irish on the European continent, between 575 and 725. Among Augustinians spearheaded these initiatives, but on the parish those monasteries, some became a beehive of intellectual life, level as well, elementary schools were opened, in a vast open to all including those who had no intention of entering scheme to educate leaders, both laymen, and churchmen. religious orders. The Emperor Charlemagne adopted this edu­ In addition to guidelines from the Imperial seat, the Church cational project as his own, and, in 782, appointed Alcuin, a took major steps. In 789, a Synod laid down that each bishop monk from Yo rk, to act as his advisor, and to run the Palatine must set up a school in his jurisdiction; in 81 3, a Council School at Aachen. ordered the opening of schools to teach letters and the Holy Converting pagans by brute force, by rote-learning of Scripture; in 81 6, another Council arranged the clergy into dogma, was not Alcu in's way. To convey the meaning of Holy chapters and defined how each chapter was to run a school. Scripture, Alcuin drew upon forms of knowledge outside of On Charlemagne's death, feudal structures gnawed away at the Scripture: "the degrees of the sciences of grammar and phi­ the Empire, but the schools stood firm as power structures dis­ losophy lead to the peak of evangelical fullness." He wrote to solved. Charlemagne that Gerbert, the Precursor In 972, Gerbert was appointed head of the Reims episcopal were many to share your intentions, Franken would be school. Although he never built a cathedral, he introduced a the seat of a new Athens, indeed, a new Athens, finer science hitherto unknown in France, without which the

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 17 - J! .. 1-" "&4 .,...., 1.u1,21 '!f( �/ rtl" �'11 1 Z 1 v...... r,:., � /�I.r;:--.. ""'I �I( '""'II eM XM 1M c X ��x � ell 9 s f. q - .� 1 1('" If;'\ � Ji'I ' ' J) . I\..I� 1'- '.) .. �.tL it. li.,i ... . ;;. [ i (; X , :f� � !.V. 1 to: X 1 \....-J 11'1 I 0)

.019 Figure 1 0) 8 0) GERBERT'S ABACUS FOR SPEEDING CALCULATION om I Above, the Arabic figures used fo r the apices, including 0) (08 zero. Right, a representation of part of Cerbert's abacus 5;19 (from Cuy 8eaujouan, Autour de Gerbert d' Aurillac). (0(0 0) For the zero, the user left thespace empty, or set down 100065 a blank token. 8 0)(0

Gothic revolution could never have taken place. His drive to each being in an order of units-thousands, millions, and so form a political elite committed to the common good, rallied forth. The Roman abacus used tokens, each of which had a allies to the Cathedral Movement. Gerbert was born at value of a simple unit. Gerbert used tokens, called apices, on Aurillac, educated at Vich in Catalonia, and probably studied each of which one of the nine Arabic numbers was graven at Cordoba, where a library of 400,000 books attracted both (Figure 1). He explained his choice as follows: Christian and Jewish scholars. What is known is that Gerbert introduc� .6.rab science into France: arithmetic, with Indo­ As is well known, the entire series of the multitude of Arabic numbers; astronomy, through the work on the preces­ numbers moves forward from a limit which is a point of sion of the Equinox; and other studies in physics and optics. departure, and this progression goes towards the infinite. In 970, he was at Rome, where his knowledge of astronomy In refusing to qualify this infinite multitude by a multi­ and mathematics came to the Pope's attention. In that city, he tude of simple names, the philosopher has solved the met Otto the First, King of Germany and Italy. Impressed by problem in the fo llowing manner: he decided that one Gerbert's mind, the King asked the Pope "to keep the youth by should define the limit of a basic quantity; names have him, and to allow him no means to return to his own land:'L. been defined which are not composite, solely for those Gerbert did not, however, remain at Rome, but, as we have numbers which lie within the borders of that quantity. said, became head of the episcopal school at Reims in 972. There, he broadened the field of knowledge. In Alcuin's day, Gerbert was less successful in introducing the Zero into his theology and grammar were the core of the curriculum. calculations-table; accordingly, the place the Zero should Gerbert stressed the liberal arts, believing, as he did, that there have occupied, stood blank. was no divide between faith and reason: Beyond his critical contribution to arithmetic, Gerbert com­ piled, and made known, the foundations of geometry, which The Godhead hath given men a great gift, when he he defi ned as did grant them Faith, without denying them Science. The just man doth live by Faith, but yet there must be the science of measurable proportions, or, the demon­ Science joined to it, it being said of fools, that they do strable dimension which one seeks through propositions lack Science. which have been developed for the purpose of measure­ ment. This was the conviction he instilled in his many students, some of whom became great men, such as the French King Relying upon the work of Boethius and Pythagoras, his main Robert the Pious, and Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres. The many work in this area was devoted to the problems of angles and treatises, notably De Ceometrica and De Astrolabio, left by triangles. To Gerbert, the various types of angles are not self­ Gerbert or by his disciples, and descriptions left by a student evident facts; he shows how they may be created through "cir­ called Richer, give one a glimpse of the depth of his scientific cumferent lines" alone. Having once given a general outline, knowledge. Gerbert developed a new type of abacus, which, he showed how one may solve the problem of measuring in Richer's words, "allowed one to divide and multiply a great inaccessible objects, the breadth of a river, the depth of a well, many numbers so quickly that, given their multitude, one or the height of a tower. To solve the latter problem, Gerbert could perform the operations in less time, than one would did not use the cast shadow, as Thales had, but rather pro­ have needed simply to formulate." posed using a mirror (Figure 2). The astrolabe was also used as The abacus was a wooden plank, with compartments, in a sighting instrument. columns corresponding to the units, by tens and by hundreds, To Gerbert, geometry was not simply a tool for solving con-

18 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY crete problems, but a method for conceiving of, or grasp­ ing, the Universe:

[F]or those who seek true wisdom, this science is of great value. It is a means most suited to arming the fo rces of mind and intel­ lect, and to sharpening the wit, and is, moreover, ID a most delightful disci­ c: Q) CJl pline, leading one on .0 rationally, to discover a o great many true things, which may strike the Mirror many as astonishing and most remarkable, as well as to contemplate the Figure 2 extraordinary properties of DETERMINATION OF HEIGHTS BY REFLECTION the nature and power, Gerbert explains: "Having fixed the center of a looking glass, or the center of a water beaker alongside the ineffable fo rming a plane surface, the geometer sights fro m different places, until the apex of the thing wisdom, of its Creator, to be measured can be seen in the looking glass, or in the middle of the fu ll water beaker. who has placed every­ Once he has seen the apex, and carefully measured the distance from the center of the look­ thing in number, dimen­ ing glass, as well as the height of observation, this will yield, by a process of comparison,

sions, and weight. the height of the object to be measured, being a fu nction of the distance at which it lies. II

The science which most occupied Gerbert was astronomy. It is to him that we owe sentation of the world (Figure 3) became possible. This was a reliance on the astrolabe; he had spheres, both fu ll and hol­ disk, on one side of which appeared the terrestrial and heav­ low, built to describe the movement of the planets and of the enly spheres, and on the other, a pivotting rule, to the ends of constellations. Thanks to the astrolabe, a stereographic repre- which were affixed slotted copper plackets. The star was sight-

North

Celestial sphere

Tropic of Cancer

Tr opic of Capricorn

Figure 3 THE ASTROLABE AND STEREOGRAPHIC PROJECTION The astrolabe was used, in particular, to find the position of the stars, and assess the heavenly coordinates of a star at a given latitude. The astrolabe is based on the method of stereographic projection (diagram at right), which allows one to project the celestial sphere onto a plane surface.

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 19 ed through those slots, the height of which was defined by the had been shown a single one among the constellations, rule's position, relative to the notches on the disk. seek out upon the spheres all the others. Gerbert also built armillary spheres, to represent the move­ ment of the planets. In that sphere, made up of circles only, the Lastly, Gerbert also taught music, a thing theretofore oblique one represented the ecliptic, the parallel ones repre­ unknown in Gaul. According to Richer, he sent the Equator, the tropics and the polar zones. Richer described the instrument thus: "Within that oblique, he hung did set out the notes upon the monochord, distinguish­ the planetary circles, by a most clever artifice. Their revolu­ ing, from their consonance and symphony, tones, semi­ tions, their respective heights and distances, he did wonder­ tones, ditones and sharps, and, by rationally ordering fu lly explain to the students." Richer further reports on the the tones and sounds, did make their relations percepti­ building of another sphere, whereon the constellations were ble. represented by copper and iron wire. The sphere was cut by a tube to indicate the axis which pointed to the heavenly pole. In 980, Gerbert returned to Rome, where he taught this sci­ In Richer's words: ence to Otto the Second, who, in 983, appointed him Abbot of Bobbio, a monastery founded by Saint Colomban and cele­ when one looked at it, the construction represented the brated for its splendid library. The death of Otto, at the hands Heavens. It was so built, that the stars of all constella­ of the Saracens that same year, forced Gerbert to flee to Reims. tions were represented by signs upon the sphere. The Aided by that city's Archbishop, Adalbert, he helped to bring construction was a godly one, in that even he who knew to power Hugh Capet in 987, while supporting the imperilled nought of the science, could, without a guide, once he Otto the Third, then a mere boy, and his mother, Theophania.

Genesis and the .laws of Physics

illiam or Conches wrote that "what matters, is not that the isoperimetric theorem, deemed circular action to be the WGod have done a thing, but to look at that thing, to most efficient, that is, the circle which, for a given perimeter, explain it by reason, to show its purpose and use. God can, includes the greatest area relative to any other figure. God to be sure;. do ·any thing, but what matters, is that he have not only "does not throw dice," but, to the Chartres School, done one, or another, thing. God could, if he would, no neither does He create the superfluous. Nicholas of Cusa doubt make a calf from a tree trunk, as the rustics claim, but extended that notion with his "minimum-maximum princi­ has he. ever done so?" ple," whereby nature performs the greatest amount of work ' "To �xplain bY' reason," that is, to understand the cause with the least effort, as did teibniz, who called it the "prin-

and nature of t!lings, is what Thierry de Chartres attempted ciple of least action." "i .,; , in De Sex Dierum Operibus (Oh the Work of Six Days), Thierry then turned to meteorological phenomena, to where he relied upon Plato's' Timaeus in interpreting describe the process of evaporation and condensation. of Genesis. The reader will find below excerpts of that text, as water: it gives one a clear notion of the Chartres school method, and hciw they hypothesized the physical phenomena which The air being illuminated by the ,power: of the higher govern our universe. element, nature has it, that fire, owing to the illumina­ Thierry of Chartres explained what took place on the First tion of the airs, doth heat the third element, being Day of Creati.on� emphasizing tHat the universe is not a col­ water, and, in so, doing, doth raise ,itabove .the airs. lectioh of fixed objects, but rather ";'oves: The nature of heat, is to divide water into tiny droplets, ' and through motion, to raise those droplets above the . ' . !l I p the beginning, God created the Heavens and the airs, as one may see whenever a stewPQt give off ' Earth," which means that at the instant time began, "he steam, as do the clouds of' tl1e 'Sky, The clouds; like created" matter. The heavens, being once created, and steam, are but a mass of th� tiniest'droplets raised by being of a very lightness, cannot be still, while, con­ the airs, thanks to the power of heat. But if the heat be taining as they do, all things, could not have moved too strong, that mass will diss,olve into pure air; where­ forward from one to another point: which is why, from as, if the heat's power be but weak/ those tiny droplets, the very instant the heavens were created, they did one spilling into the next, do become great drops, and rofate, so as to perfectly accomplish the first rotation in then will it rain. Do tiny droplets freeze by the action a stretch of time. And that was then called the first of wind, then will it snow, while if great drops do "Day." freeze, then will it hail. "

Thus; Thierry considers circular action to be the essential Having once explajned thi�, rathe( accurately in poi�t of form of motion of the universe. The Greeks, in developing fact, Thierry presses ahead:

20 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY Gerbert became isolated and bogged down in intrigues of var­ impose the Filioque principle on the Eastern Empire, ious kinds, until, in 997, he received a letter from Otto the Byzantium, which denied that the Holy Spirit proceeds from Third: both the Father and the Son. Put in non-theological terms, the Byzantine position amounts to negating man's capacity to I am ignorant, my education is but slipshod, do you grasp, or to consciously master by an act of the will, the laws help me: do you put right what has been ill-done, and of the Universe. show me how I may properly rule this Empire .. .. And Byzantium did react. In 1001, revolts broke out, organ­ [E]xplain to me the book of arithmetic you have sent ized by the Roman aristocracy, in the course of which both me. Otto and Sylvester had to flee Rome. Some months later, Otto III died, at the age of 22. Sylvester did return to Rome, but died Gerbert thereupon left for Italy, where he wrote for his in 1003. Although one might, at first glance, conclude that young pupil, the treatise Of Reason, and the Use of Reason. their attempt to restore Charlemagne's project had failed, the In 999, Gerbert became Pope under the name of Sylvester seeds sown by Gerbert had taken root. His student Fulbert II, receiving the ecclesiastical subm ission of Robert the Pious, arrived at Chartres in 987, to carry forward the work of his King of France, Boleslaus of Poland, and Stephen of Hungary. master. The dream of Otto the Third and Sylvester II, which was to return to Charlemagne's path, began to take shape, and they The Chartres Curriculum pushed so far as to take back Byzantine conquests in southern On coming to Chartres, Fulbert, who had brought Gerbert's Italy. Byzantium was not blind to the threat. As early as 809, treatises with him, was ready to teach the liberal arts. This Charlemagne had attempted, at the Aachen Council, to bears no relation to "Iiberal arts" as they are taught in

...the "firmament" are. ihe airs, which, by their very lightness, owing to their nature, do encircle and firmly close about the Earth, collecting it into a spherical shape, and lending it the hardness we may observe: indeed, between the Earth's hardness, and the airs' lightness, there is reciprocal action, whereby, the Earth's hardness doth arise from the compressive nature of the light airs, while the latter's lightness and mobility do take on that nature, through their pressing upon and resting upon the solidity of the Earth.

Here, Thierry has introduced the notion of compressive force, air lending the Earth its spherical shape. He now turns to the matter of how the continents appeared:

Indeed, as steam doth rise from a stewpot, the more its watery contents do vanish. If water be spilt over a table, and one then apply heat, those waters will, by effect of heat, shrink, a�d dry areas appear, as the waters do recede and collect into several parts. So air, between two waters, pressed into action by grandiose heat, did make a third full rotation, and, in so doing, did parcel up the surface of the Earth into islands.

We will end here with what might appear to ,be an aston­ ishing hypothesis: this duration was called the Fourth "Day."

Therefore, all things which are to be seen in the In our day, science has established that the comets do con­ heavens, do take their material principle from water: tain ice. In reading the lines. above, one cannot but think o( ' that is how clouds, lightning, and comets were creat­ the discovery by a team of American astrophysicists, in .1998. ed. And so it must be, that the stars, insofar as their They found, in a cloud in the constellation Orion, a gigantic matter is concerned, are water.. ..Accor dingly, the concentration of water vapor. Since that discovery was length of the fourth rotation, in which the heavenly made, water has proven to be everywhere in space, and to bodies did acquire their spherical shape from the play a key role in the birth of the stars. waters, suspended in the form of vapor, I say then, that -Philippe Messer

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 21 Pythagoras, Plato and Boethius, as well as more recent treatis­ es like that of Gerbert.

• Music: Fulbert is said to have been a remarkable cantor, and great emphasis was placed on the teaching of music at Chartres. Fulbert, with his friend Sigond, broke with the monot­ ony of Gregorian melodies, and developed polyphonic forms. There sprang up a great school of singing, both sacred and pro­ fane, accompanied by the lute, the lyre, or the organ. It had become clear that to express musical ideas, a single musical line, or monody, was no longer enough. Thus, Franconius of Cologne wrote in De Diaphonia, that the second musical phrase may free itself from the first, and follow it by notes of varied duration, multiple interventions, and different movements.

• Astronomy: The main authors studied were the Venerable Bede, Abbonius, Denys the Lesser, and certain Arab scientists. Rudolph of Liege, master of the Chartres school, was wont to explain how the astrolabe worked at Mass! That being said, Fulbert's greatest contribution is not located in the disciplines he taught, but rather how he taught. It was he who placed the Chartres school squarely in the Platonic main­ stream. Plato he considered the greatest of all ancient thinkers, and indeed, Fulbert himself was called "venerable Socrates" by Fulbert, Gerbert's student, arrived at Chartres in 987, to carry his students. He thus locates knowledge, not in the world of fo rward the work of his master, and was appointed Bishop of sense perception, but in that of ideas. Knowledge does not Chartres in 1006. As this 11th Century illustration shows, mean making an inventory of the objects the Universe holds, Fulbert did not restrict his teaching to the elites, but taught and classifying them, as Aristotle would do, but rather coming women and children as well. up with hypotheses on the principles underpinning the Universe. Plato does, of course, acknowledge that the senses American universities today. His fame spread, and soon stu­ are of use to grasp the Universe, but he warns against them, as dents came from To urs, Besanc;:on, Poitiers, Orleans, and even "neither do we hear, nor do we see, exactly," and if one wish­ from Liegeor Cologne to hear him. In 1006, he was appointed es to get to the essence of things "that is, what things are in Bishop of Chartres by Robert the Pious, and mobilized the sup­ themselves," this can be done through reason alone. port of sovereigns like Stephen of Hungary and Canute of Thierry de Chartres distinguished the various faculties of the Denmark to finance the building of the cathedrals. However, soul in the following way: "Thus, the soul lies level with the he did not restrict his teaching to the "elites": an 11th Century beast, when it is but a captive to sensation and imagination. obituary shows him teaching men, women, and children. The When it places itself at reason's beck and call, it is peculiar to Heptateuch, the treatise on the seven liberal arts prepared by man. When it rises to the level of ideas, to a discipline, it Thierry of Chartres, Abelard's professor, who was Chancellor becomes something higher than man, as it relies on itself of Chartres between 1120 and 1153, gives one a distinct pic­ alone. And finally, when it attempts to soar to the very limit of ture of what was studied at Chartres. The profane sciences its capacity, to the simple, unifying whole, and brings thought were divided between the trivium and the quadrivium. up to intelligibility, then it relies upon itself, above itself, and The trivium included: becomes a God."

• Grammar: prose and verse composition, the study of the The fo llowers of the Chartres school rejected the notion that Latin classics; man blindly fo llow superstition, opinion, or tradition. Their

• Rhetoric: sacred and profane eloquence; principle was that "man was made in God's image," and that

• Dialectics: Aristotle was the keystone for abstract logic, one should rejoice in that divine quality, and encourage it. although stress was laid on Saint Augustine, Boethius, Scotus That quality is not a sort of particular gift which God attributed Erigene, and Denys the Areopagite. to each individual. It is not a magical "force," summoned up The quadrivium was far more important. As Thierry de by invoking it. Neither is there a recipe to fo llow, with the var­ Chartres wrote: ious ingredients of knowledge. One does not become a musi­ cian, scientist, or engineer because God so predestined us four types there are of reasoning, which lead man to from the cradle. Were that so, man would have no dignity, fol­ knowledge of the Creator, these being, precisely, the lowing, as it were, a blind destiny; he would be an automaton, demonstrations of arithmetic, music, geometry, and animated by an inaccessible spring wound up by God. astronomy. The Chartres school proclaimed the sovereignty of the indi­ vidual. It considered that man in God's image is creative. That The quadrivium consisted of: creativity does not, however, flow from an innate gift in some special area, but rather in the capacity of all men to grasp the • Arithmetic and Geometry: the works of Euclid,

22 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY Universe's laws, and transform the world in which he lives on the world. He wrote: that basis. The harmony of the Universe is no longer a thing for passive contemplation. Thierry de Chartres wrote that "[God,] We, however, who no longer belong to the world, we in ordering that which was disorderly, has made himself visible have left behind for Christ's sake, the beauty of the even to those who have but scarce knowledge," thus showing world, and we know that the duty of a monk is not to himself a student of Plato's Timaeus, where we read: teach, but to weep.

God invented, and gave us sight, in order that con­ Indeed, what was the purpose of teaching, since, he said, templation of the revolutions of intelligence in the Heavens lead us to apply them to the revolutions in our begotten in sin, sinners, we beget sinners; born debtors, thoughts, which, though disorderly, are yet related to the we beget debtors; born corrupt, we beget the corrupt; imperturbable revulutions of the Heavens. born slaves, we beget slaves. As soon as we enter this world, whilst we live here, and when we leave it are we Thus we are not a mere "item" in Creation, among so many wounded; from sole to crown, nothing is whole in us. others. Man holds a special place, described by Honorius of Autun as fo llows : Man is but a sinner, according to Bernard, and the only escape, is through penitence. Saint Bernard was also wary of . . . even had all angels remained in the heavens, man, reason, as he deemed it a source of pride. and the succeeding generations, would nonetheless A very early ecologist, Bernard exhorted men to desert the have been created. For this world was made for man, cities, the Parisian to leave his town, "as they would find more and by world, I mean the heavens and the Earth, and all in the forests, than in books." William of Saint Thierry report­ which is contained in the Universe. ed that Saint Bernard "thought the best was to be got by med­ itating and praying in the forests and the fields, and in so Reason versus Materialism and Obscurantism doing, to take no master, save the oak and the beech." To pray The concept of placing man in the center of Creation did in the forest was mystical ecstasy through mortification and not meet with unanimous approval, even within the Church. penitence. Man's relation to the divine order was not intelligi­ Two currents were fiercely opposed to Chartres's humanism. ble, but rather matter for inexpl icable perception, as .Bernard The first was Aristotelianism. Although Aristotle was studied de Clairvaux himself said: from the standpoint of formal logic, his worldview was rejected by the Chartres school. Fulbert took part in a theo­ Often did the [Logos] enter into me, and oft did I fail to logical controversy with Berenger of To urs, on the question note that it had come, and I recall its presence. And when of Christ's real presence in the Eucharist. The problem I had foreknowledge that it would enter, yet never did I which Berenger's thinking represented went far beyond the have the sensation thereof, nor when it left. How did it framework of a polemic on a doctrinal item. Berenger come to enter my soul? Whither did it go on leaving? claimed to be defending reason, man being made in the image of God, but his approach was materialist. According William of Saint Thierry went so far as to denounce the to Berenger, the sole means to knowledge, is through senso­ Chartres school, which, he said, explains the creation of the first ry experience: man "not through God, but through nature, spirits, and stars." William of Conches, the master of the Chartres school, There is, only what one sees, and what one touches, retorted : and one sees but the substance which is co-natural with the accident. ...[A] II reality is individual, none is uni­ As they are ignorant of the forces of nature, they wish versal: for the senses, the supreme court of all existence, us to remain bound to their ignorance, reject our right to do perceive but the particular. The universal, subject of investigate, and would have us live like bumpkins, in the idea, thus does not exist, has no reality: it is no more belief without intelligence. than a concept, or, if you will, a name. UnderstC\nding, teaching, explaining-such were the tasks To Berenger, man is a creature incapable of discovering a of the cathedral builders. By examining the cathedrals closely, universal principle, whereas the entire thrust of the Chartres the whole of scientific endeavor of the day will become more school was precisely to make the laws of the Universe intelli­ apparent to us. gible, and to affirm that one can indeed discover things which one can neither see, nor smell, nor touch. A Challenge to the laws of Gravity The other hostile current was led by Bernard de Clairvaux, In 1122, Suger became Abbot of Saint Denis. Having the leader of the Cistercian order, and by his friend William of launched, with Abelard's support, a reform of the Abbey, in Saint Thierry. These figures were notorious as well, for having 1140 he began to build the abbey of Saint Denis, in a style led the attacks on Abelard, despite opposition by the then­ which was pejoratively to be referred to as "gothic," that is, Bishop of Chartres. barbarous, by some Italian artists of the Renaissance. By giv­ Unlike the Irish or Chartres monks, Saint Bernard despised ing the impetus to this scientific and technical revolution,

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 23 Suger may be called the key figure in the cathedral movement. He was in a position to act because at the time, he was one of

.,""', the most powerful men in the kingdom, advisor to Louis VI the Figure . . 4 . . . . , . Stout, and then to Louis VII; in 1147, during the Second BEFORE THE GOTHIC . . . . , . Crusade, he was Regent. BREAKTHROUGH . . .. It would be absurd to believe that Suger ever intended to In Romanesque churches, #I'" Keystone .... launch a new architectural fashion. To Suger, a church, no before the "Gothic break­ matter its style, was not an object, but the visible aspect of an through, " the building's idea. He wrote, concerning the new abbey, weight bore down mainly on the walls. Through proper composition, the admirable power of a single, supreme reason, causes the disparity between the human and the divine to vanish. And what would appear to be in conflict, owing to its lesser origin, and the contrariety of its nature, is joined by the simple, luminous concordance of a higher, well-tempered harmony.

The manner whereby the building. causes "the disparity between the human and the divine to vanish," is by reflecting, in its ornament, composition, and so forth, the harmonious order of the Universe. The builders of the Romanesque churches took the same approach; there can be no doubt but that it was from among those builders that the "Gothic break­ through" came, lending the idea still greater force. What, then, did the revolution involve? The builders were by thus reducing each of the vault's compartments to a mere faced with an intractable difficulty: weight! As the historian stone veil, the building's weight, and thus the risk of collapse, Jean Favier wrote: were lessened. The builders dared to design a building for which the main support was no longer the vaults and the [T1 he arch and the vault press downwards upon the walls! Thl'ust was directed to the fo ur points of support, where wa lls. We re one to allow the vault so to proceed, the the diagonal arches of the intersecting ribs ended, rather than springs would splay, and the wa ll collapse. Paradoxical onto the walls, into which openings could then be made, to as this may be, still more weight was added. The heavier create a flood of light. The architects had succeeded in putting the vault, the thicker the walls.. ..[E] xternal buttresses up buildings that, though lighter, were larger. Lastly, an effec­ were used to counter the thrust. It holds, but one can't tive vault structure was needed. The early four-part vault had see a thing .. .. proven unstable, whenever a larger nave was called for; as for the six-part vault, though stronger, its thrust was unevenly dis­ And the larger the building, the more massive it had to be tributed. The final outcome was the uneven quadrilateral, a (Figure 4). As we have seen above, there is noth ing superflu­ rectangular bay (Fit-ure 5). ous in nature; were they to succeed in putting up larger build­ The remaining problem was that of the gigantic thrust ings, architects had to study the operation of nature through applied by the weight of the vaults, and by the roof onto the force and thrust. Tr icks had been thought up to get round some pillars. Rather than build supporting wa lls either side, the of the difficulties, for example, by using a fluted vault, allow­ architects chose to consolidate through outside pillars (but­ ing for somewhat lighter wa lls, and larger windows. Others tresses and abutment piers), weighted by pinnacles, which developed the broken arch, removing the central part of the supported the flying buttresses. The latter were built stiff traditional arch, strengthening the vault in so doing, since, enough to bear the thrust, but yet flexible enough, as struts, to with the Roman arch, it would tend to collapse. In 11 00, in act as a buffer to downward stresses (Figure 6). England, intersecting ribs were invented: two diagonal arches It should be emphasized, however, that there were reasons were placed under the ribbed vault, crossing at the keystone. other than the purely technical, for the use of the Gothic vault, The latter technique is nevertheless somewhat unsatisfactory, which greatly contributes to the idea of elevation that springs as it adds weight to the vault. All sorts of technical procedures to mind as soon as one enters such a church. A roman arch, or were thus tried out, but gravity was as obstinate as ever. a cupola, leaves a "finite" impression, of being somehow The revolution fi nally happened when the principle of con­ wa lled within a half-cylinder or semi-spherical shape. struction was changed. Gothic architecture is not just tacking Whereas, with the broken arch and intersecting ribs, one finds on technical features such as the ogival vault, flying buttress, oneself between four parallel pillars which meet above our or broken arches, all of which were known to the Romans. The head at the keystone: the parallels meet at the vanishing point new principle of construction involved having the vault take (Figure 7). Although painting and drawing had, at the time, lost over the function of the diagonal rib or ogive, and vice versa. all notion of perspective, that science appears not only in the The ogive's function was to stiffen the vault and oppose thrust; overall design of the cathedral building, but in the Rose win-

24 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY cal force over the spirit. One of the day's most widely read documents, Denys the Areopagite's Heavenly Hierarchy, gives one a better under­ standing of what this light meant to the builders of the day:

All creatures, whether visible or invisible, are a light, flowing from the Father of light. ... This stone, this block of wood, is a light to me . . . as I observe that it is good, and beautiful; that it is, in accordance with its own rules of proportion; that it diffe rs in genus and species from other genera and species ...that it cannot be in breach of its a a own order; that it seeks its place, according to its own specific gravity. In observing such things ...they become light for me, that is, b b they fill me with light. For I then wonder whence came the properties of stone .... And thus, guided by reason, am I led through a a all things, to that cause of all things, which gives them place and order, number, species and genus, goodness, beauty, and essence, as b b well as all other gifts and qualities.

Light is the internal principle which organizes a a things. We will now try to make this principle of the cathedral visible.

a k------::::4a The Cathedral As Mirror of the Universe A scientist may be a formalist through and through, but he will find it hard not to be moved b 1E------:31 b by the beauty of the Universe. Once he has uncovered its coherence, its harmony, which appears in the infinitely large and the infinitely a 1iE'------iiIa small, he cannot but feel joy and beauty. The rea­ son that cathedrals too give us the feeling of joy and beauty, is that, in their depths, they reflecJ an b �----�:III b underlying principle of composition which is coherent with the harmony of the Universe. In this way, the cathedral does not imitate nature, a a F------'''ta the Rose Windows do not look exactly like a Rose. The Rose Windows are beautifu l, because Figure 5 they really do represent a principle of nature. The TECHNIQUES FOR LESSENING THE WEIGHT BORNE BY WALLS point is not to try to weasel out some magical, To lessen the weight borne by the walls, architects decided to direct golden number, or start sketching all manner of thrust onto certain weight-bearing areas. Above, the fo ur-part vault; geometrical forms. To do so, would distract us center, the six-part vault (points a bear the most weight). Below, the from the essential, because what we are looking "lopsided" quadrilateral vault, where all points a and b bear the for is neither a number, nor a shape. Neither do same weight. numerology or symbolism have any relevance Source: Sketches by Olivier Leneveu, in L'univers de Chartres here, as their only purpose is to decode some conventional object. Symbolists, will for example, tend to go on the assumption that the architects · dows, which are the projection of a cone onto a plane, all the assimilated, arbitrarily, a particular number or geometrical fig­ elements of which point towards the center. ure to various elements in nature, which is why one finds th is Th is breakthrough made it possible to transform what might number, or that figure, in a cathedral. The truth is that there are have been massive, overpowering buildings, into light-filled no esoteric secrets in cathedrals, and one need not be an ini­ spaces. Light became one of the main "materials" of the cathe­ tiate to grasp its principle of composition. drals, but not a mystical sort of light which exercises a magi- A clue has been supplied thanks to the work of Roland

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 25 Bechmann, who has examined the notebooks of Villard de Honnecourt. The latter's drawings represent standing men, on whom one and the same outline are superimposed (Figure 8). Bechmann writes:

the rectangle appears to be composed, very precisely, of two rectangles formed on the square and the diagonal, the diagonal of which is equal to three times the small

=: --1 side (because 32 (2 2)2 + 12) ....

What is interesting, is that this type of proportion appears to have been used for the blueprint of certain cathedrals, such as Reims, Bourges, Troyes, or To urs (Figure 9). Another clue is supplied by correspondence between two of Fulbert's contemporaries, both masters of the Chartres school, Rudolph of Liege and Ragimbald of Cologne. They had posed the problem of doubl ing the square's area. Although they did not know Plato's dialogue Meno, they came to the conclusion that the only solution to the problem was geometrical, rather than arithmetic. If one takes the diagonal of a square, which becomes the side of another square, the latter's surface will be twice that of the first square (Figure 10). On raising one's eyes to the light of Chartres's Rose Windows, "guided by reason" one discovers the "rules of proportion" based upon doubling the square: the circles inscribed within various nested squares, give the location of the cathedra l's three Rose windows (Figure 11). The same configuration appears in the blueprint for the cathedral (Figure 12). The builders were thus particularly interested in the relation between the square and its diagonal. Why ? Noteworthy is the fact that the square's diagonal is incommensurable with its Figure 6 side. Nicholas of Cusa was to show that polygons were CHARTRES' FLYING BUTTRESSES incommensurable with the circle; similarly, the cathedra l's The small arches within the fl ying buttresses act as designers had understood that for different species, there are braces against downward thrust. Here, a photo of the different forms of ordering or organization. From an arithmeti­ flying buttresses and buttresses on the north side of cal standpoint, the square's diagonal is incomprehensible. In Notre-Dame de Chartres. geometry, it becomes perfectly intelligible and usable. According to the architects of the day, the nature of the

Figure 7 COMPARISON OF STRAIGHT TO DIAGONAL (OGIVAl) VA ULTS On the left, the va ults of Saint Philibert at To umus. On the right, the ogival vaults at Chartres. A deeper sense of per­ spective is gained through ogival vaults, as well as a more acute sense of elevation and weight­ · Iessness.

26 Fa ll 2001 21st CENTURY Figure 8 ORIGINAL SKETCH BY A MEDIEVAL ARCHITECT Figure 9 Original sketch by the medieval architect CATHEDRAL PLANS CORRESPOND TO Vi llard de Honnecourt of a standing man. DE HONNECOURT'S 'STANDING MAN' The scholar Roland Bechmann has fo und Th e plans fo r the cathedrals at Bourges, Troyes, and Reims. They that the figure can be analyzed into two rec­ correspond to the "Standing Man" proportion. tangles, the diagonal of which is equal to three times the short side.

Universe could only be understood through geometry, a domain superior to arithmetic. One might add that the geometrical progression of various squares in the Rose Windows, is congruent, coherent, with the ordering one finds whether in a flower, or· in a far-off galaxy (Figure 13). Kepler was to go further in describing this "harmo­ ny of the universe." Recent efforts, by Jonathan Te nnenbaum and Lothar Komp, have confirmed Kepler's work, by showing the role of self-similar spiral conic action, both in the well-tem­ pered system in music, and in the the solar system's organiza­ �------""1------tion. Lest all these spirals make the head spin, let it be said here that one should simply see them as the signature of a higher ordering. The Rose Windows are not fixed objects, trapped within two dimensions; rather, they reflect a living principle.

Impact of This Scientific Renaissance In De Sex Dierum Operibus (On the Work of Six Days), Thierry of Chartres explained that

the causes of the reality of the world are four in number: the efficient cause, that is God; the formal cause, that is God's wisdom; the final cause, that is his Goodness; the Figure 10 material cause, that is the four elements. THE FAMOUS PROBLEM OF DOUBLING THE SQUARE Man having been created in God's Image, and himself being By tLiming the diagonal of the small square into the side possessed of that creative quality, he must come to know the of a second square, one obtains a square that is double laws of the Universe (God's wisdom) to intervene into the the area of the first. This can be proven geometrically, Universe (the four elements), and improve the world in which he because the small square contains two identical right­ lives (Goodness). These various elements cannot be dissociated . angled triangles, while the large square contains fo ur Cathedral-building, the product of art and of science, flows such triangles. from that thought. The technological challenge that represent-

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 27 ed, called both for a better grasp of the laws of nature, and for "Intellectuals" of the cathedral schools, never forgot that more educated men, more food, a greater amount of energy, time exists only relative to man's intervention into his envi­ better tools, such that all the species of progress which emerged ronment, and the improvements he can effect there. This con­ from these building sites, had an impact on the economy as a cern is often reflected in the building's stained glass windows whole. How cathedral-building became the key factor in and sculptures. The 12 months of the year are represented by European demographic growth and urbanization, between the the 12 constellations (the 12 Zodiac signs), alternating with 11th and 14th Century, is thus more readily grasped. human activity which corresponds to the time of year. One

Figure 11 THE ROSE WINDOW AT CHARTRES DOUBLES THE SQUARE The geometrical principle underlying the three Rose Wi ndows at Chartres, shown in the diagrams here, is simply the dou­ bling of the square's area. This figure represents the North Rose. The photo of the base of pillars from the northern porch of the Chartres cathedral also shows the use of the doubling of the square. Plainly, cathedrals are no more mysterious or esoteric, than those invisible laws a scientist seeks to discover in the phys­ ical universe.

28 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY finds the Fish (March) and a vintner cutting his vines, the Goat (April) and a man grasp­ ing branches of a tree covered with flowers and leaves, the Bull (May) and a hunter with his falcon, the Tw ins (J une) and a peas­ ant with a sickle cutting grass, Cancer (J uly) and a harvester, and so forth. The Cathedral Movement was a true "Great Project," seen from an economic and scientific standpoint, and can properly be compared to the Apollo Program. The build­ ing sites were research laboratories, where new too ls were developed for construction or work in the fields, for example. The rea­ son is that building the cathedrals meant mechanizing the means of production, as both the quality, and the quantity, of what was produced, outstripped whatever had been known theretofore. The workforce had to be freed from extreme labor-intensive forms of work, to more skilled tasks. The introduction of the cam shaft enabled circu­ lar motion to be transformed into reciprocal motion, so as to crush grain, fu ll cloth, saw wood, crush are, drive iron-mill bellows and smithy-hammers, all with unprecedented ease. Mechanizing smithies led to stronger, more accurate, tools, produced in greater Figure 12 number. Through these advances, ever more THE SQUARE-DOUBLING PRINCIPLE IN THE PLAN OF CHARTRES houses could be built in stone, and ever The geometric principle of the doubling of the square recurs in the more land cleared. blueprint fo r the cathedral. Above all, the central importance of the

Figure 13 THE GEOMETRIC GROWTH PRINCIPLE IN NATURE The principle of geometric growth was not arbitrarily chosen. It is coherent with both the growth of a flower or a pine cone, and that of a fa r-off galaxy.

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 29 Sculpture from the arch on the northern side of the Chartres Sculpture at the main entrance to the Ca thedral of Chartres cathedral, depicting Genesis, with God creating the plants, portrays labor corresponding to the months of the year, animals, and Man. alternating with the signs of the Zodiac. cathedral movement, lies in the will to end the unj�st fe�dal ness, undertook to watch over his chattels of every kind. system. In an epoch where men were, in their vast majority, At the bottom were the peasants, by far the most numerous handled as though they were kine, the cathedral became the class. Most were serfs, that is, they were not freemen: they most visible, irrefutable statement of Man's creative power, of could not dispose of their own goods, could not petition the his divine spark. Suger's idea of doing away with "the divide Courts, could not move about freely. Their life depended on , between the human, and the Divine/ challenged the feudal their lord's grace and favor, whether marriage (impossible order. without permission), or inheritance. On death, all, or part, of In the Middle Ages, nations were a heteronomous scattering a serf's worldly goods reverted to the lord. The serfs were of counties, duchies, and shifting fiefdoms, While authority crushed under various forms of taxes and statute labor such as was splintered among countless autarchical plotlets. Over the corvee; the lot of so-called freemen was little better. In each such plotlet, a master enjoyed hereditary power on all short, the serf was a tool at his lord's beck and call. And, as things, and all beings. The sole unifying factor was the feudal one cannot serve two masters, serfs were strictly excluded order, which had society arranged into relatively hermetic and from religious orders. fixed orders of knights and noblemen, peasants and Clerics. The feudal order's champion, within the Church itself, was At the top of the pecking order were the latifundists, the Saint Bernard, himself offspring of a feudal lord. It was he who lords who fed off other men's work. Each such lord could introduced the knightly spirit into the Cistercian Order. As a scion order, compel, and punish, at will. He owned the means of of the military aristocracy, the feudal order was perfect in his eyes, production, the kine, the ground itself, and the men upon it. having been brought forth by God. (Not only did Saint Bernard His main activities were hunting and war, which brought him preach the Second Crusade from Vezelay in 1146; he undertook wealth, raked up by pillaging and ransom. Existence revolved to set up, as he put it, "a new knighthood, God's Knighthood"­ around the fortress and its lord's caprice; he, in his great good- the order of the Te mple. To Saint Bernard, once a knight had

30 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY agreed to renounce earthly delights, chivalry's other principles could stand as they were.} It never struck him as anything but nor­ mal that knights should hold sway over their fellow men, a rather free-and-easy interpretation of the heavenly hierarchy. As a religious community, the Abbey of Citeaux was the perfect embodiment of the feudal social order, divided, as it was, into two classes, the choir monks, and the converts. The choir monks were men of the class of lords, knights, and cler­ ics. They had book learning, and thus, although they did some manual labour, it was they who took part in the liturgical cel­ ebrations. The converts were taken from the lower ranks of the peasantry, rustics, meant to remain so. The two classes were clearly defined, and kept apart. Georges Duby, the historian and admirer of Saint Bernard, described the converts' universe as follows:

The converts were quartered off on their own; they had their own dormitory, their own refectory near the cellars, where they swallowed their pittance. Their quarters were isolated from those of the choir monks by windowless wa lls. They would thread down a blind narrow path to the Church, where they clustered, a silent, black and smelly group, more so than the celebrants united in prayer by their song. The converts were inferiors. They were told, in the The "labyrinth" pattern carved in the floor of the Ca thedral at name of humility and charity, to delight in their condition, Chartres is 12.85 meters in circumference. and to be gratefu l for the coarse victuals they were fed on. Learned Ignorance) the following year, much of which is based One might add that the local population would, more often upon Thierry of Chartres's work. In many ways, De Docta than not, suffer from the establishment of a Cistercian Monastery, Ignorantia marks the beginning of modern science. The networks ' since, to respect the monks' need for isolation, entire villages of Nicholas of Cusa included individuals like Jacques Coeur, were cleared. Lastly, because man, ,according to Bernard, cannot who fo unded the modern nation state in France with Louis XI. do good, the best he can do is repent, in the hope that God will fo rgive his sins. Anything likely to distract man from that course The Path of Knowledge is to be discarded. For example, Bernard demanded such auster­ There is on the floor of the Chartres Cathedral a labyrinth, ity from his surroundings, that he forbad the decorating of the location of which is not haphazard. The distance between churches, or other monastic buildings, with sculpture or paint­ the labyrinth and the great portal, is the same as the height ing, and he also forbad stained glass windows, as, he claimed, between the great portal, and the Rose Window. The labyrinth "when one looks at them, one often neglects the usefulness of is of precisely the same size as the Rose Window; it is thus, proper meditation, and the discipline of religious seriousness." clearly, the projection of the Rose Window onto the floor. How revolutionary were Suger's concepts can be better Bearing in mind the principle of the Rose Window, as we understood against such a background. His primary role was described it above, one can imagine that the path the labyrinth to unify the country, by placing power back into the royal fo llows to its center, represents the path taken by our own domain. He brought into line many feudal lords, only rarely by thoughts. As you will note, there is but one path to the cen­ force. Finally, he promoted city-building, at the cathedral sites, ter-to call it a labyrinth, is in fact, misleading. But the path is and also set up new cities, free from feudal power. It was Suger long. It is the lengthiest possible, because it covers the circle's who created the city of Vaucresson, where 60 or so families entire surface. If you patiently tread the path, you will find were settled, protected by a Charter, which stated : yourself at times very near the aim, until the path winds off again. Does the same not apply to man's life? If we act with­ all those who wish to reside in a new city, named out betraying the voice of Reason, we will assuredly reach the Va ucresson, which we have built, shall receive one and­ center without hindrance. There is no shortcut. No cut-and­ a-quarter acres land, for twelve quit-rent deniers, free of dried solution will speed us to our haven. all taxes and humiliating charges. Philippe Messer is the Editorial Director of the French­ Here we find in embryo, the idea of a State responsible for the language Fusion magazine. He is also involved in a campaign common good, and idea which, along with the scientific and to secure ballot status in the French presidential election fo r technical knowledge we have spoken of, was not to vanish Jacques Cheminade, a collaborator of American statesman entirely. In 1439, at the Council of Florence, the foundations Lyndon H. LaRouche. His article first appeared in the were laid for the Renaissance; one of the Council's key figures, September-October 2000 issue of Fusion magazine, and was Nicholas of Cusa, wrote a work entitled De Docta Ignorantia (On translated into English by I

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 31 ANTI-GRAVITY: MYTH OR REALITYjP ART 2

The Paradoxes Of Moving Electricity

by Remi Saumont

Quantum theory can still not explain some elementary fa cts about the behavior of electrons in a wire or a condenser. The author, a retired senior researcher and expert in electronics, poses a fe w of the paradoxes involved.

udging by the amount of interest expressed, the subject of As a matter of fact, we still do not know what electric currents gravitation seems to concern the ed ucated public more really are, although we are so familiar with them. (They heat our J than the physicists themselves, who appear to have given houses, give us light, power our labor-saving devices in the up any hope of discovering facts which would lead to mastery home, transmit our information, communications, and enter­ of the subject. The physicists' attitude is shaped by the reduc­ tainment-and they also allow us to neglect our multiplication tionist doctrines prevailing in science today, which desire to tables, thanks to the calculator.) This ignorance does not just explain everything from laws of the infin itely small, such as in affect the average citizen. It is shared, lamentably, and in a most quantum mechanics. The last scientist of renown to resist this unexpected way, by many engineers and teachers in the field. incursion was Einstein, but unfortunately his geometrical the­ As an example, allow me to recall an experience I had. I ory of gravitation was only a phenonomenological description had posed at point blank range, to various scientists among my and did not lead to any application. friends, the pedestrian, but somewhat perverse question: In fact, humanity has gained control over nature through the "According to you, and without thinking about it, what is the application of electromagnetism, while the existence of "elec­ average translational speed of electrons constituting a contin­ trogravitation" has remained, until recent years, rather hypo­ uous current of 1 amp passing through a copper wire 1 mm thetical. However, a number of experimental facts now permit in diameter?" us to envisage its reality, and it would seem that the circulation Their answers were very instructive! Only one was correct of electric currents in condensed matter, under particular con­ to within an order of magnitude. The others fell between some ditions involving microscopic breaks in symmetry, can pro­ tens of centimeters to hundreds of meters per second. An elec­ duce genuine gravitational effects. tronics engineer, who knows his quantum electrodynamics to The propagation of electric effects differs greatly, depending perfection, and who is not at all ignorant of the Hall effect, or on the medium in which it takes place. Indeed, the flow of the behavior of Josephson junctions, answered as follows: "I electrons in the vacuum of a television picture tube, is nothing know it is very slow. In these conditions, it can hardly be more like the energy transported in the copper or aluminum wires of than 10 cm/second." an electric grid, not to speak of the flow of charges through the If such a speed of electron flux were possible, the only pos­ strap of a high-voltage Van de Graaf generator. sible result would be a meltdown of the wire.

32 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY of electro-kinetics by demonstrating the existence of numerous paradoxes and inadequacies, which mar this discipline. Although the application of quantum theories has brought great progress in microelectronics, through the development of transistors and integrated circuits, nonetheless it is still true that at the present time, this theory cannot solve many kinetic and electrodynamic problems, which occur on a more macro­ scopic scale, and which are, oddly enough, often passed over in silence in works on this topic.

A Very Short History of Electricity just as for many other disciplines, one must go back to the ancient Greeks to fi nd the first descriptions of electric phe­ nomena. The term "electricity" (vis electrica), was probably created by William Gilbert, physician to Queen Elizabeth and james I of England. It was derived from the Greek "elektron" called yellow amber, a substance which could be rubbed with a cloth or cat's fu r, which then would be able to attract small fragments of light materials, by a process which later came to be called electrostatic attraction. In fact, the science of elec­ tricity was built up slowly from simple observations of phe­ nomena of th is kind. It is actually not until the beginning of the 17th Century that the first machines which allowed for the production or storage at will of static electricity were constructed : the electrostatic machines of Otto von Guericke and Huyghens, as well as, later, Leyden jars (1 745), ancestors of modern condensers. These experiments and more and more precise measurements, above all thanks to Henry Cavendish and Charles Augustin "We still do not know what electric wrrents really are. " Here, Coulomb, allowed the science to go from the qualitative to the a replica of the first successful incandescent lamp, in vented quantitative. by Thomas Edison in 7 879. We had to wait however, for the discovery of the electric pile by Alessandro Volta, around 1800, to arrive at dynamic And what do we say about the editor of a large-circulation electricity; that is, a "stream" of electric "current" in a con­ French magazine popularizing science, whom I will not name ducting medium that could produce significant mechanical or out of the goodness of my heart? In answer to a reader's query chemical effects. We must also mention the famous experi­ about the flow of electrons in a circuit, he wrote in his ment of Oersted, which showed the action of electric current February 1991 issue: "Their velocity of displacement in cop­ on a magnetized compass needle, and marked the beginning per is on the order of meters per second ...." of what has been called "electrodynamics." Here you would get more than a meltdown. Considering the Progress was made more rapidly as the theoretical connection amount of energy being brought into play, an explosion, even was made between electricity and magnetism (this also being a deadly one, would have to result. (Below, readers not already known from the time of the Ancients), and that thanks to the in the know, will find the correct value for this velocity.) work of Georg Simon Ohm, and above all of Andre-Marie Th is article has been written in response to letters received Ampere, establishing the rigorous laws of this nascent discipline, commenting on my article on anti-gravity, which appeared in which would subsequently benefit by the work of Pierre Simon the May-june 2000 issue of the French-language magazine, de Laplace and Carl Friedrich Gauss on the theoretical plane, as Fusion [in English, in 27 st Century, Spring 2001 ]. There I well as by the experimental research of Michael Faraday. described the existence of a gravitational anomaly produced But the idea of electric current preceded the arrival on the by the passage of an electric current through a conducting scene of electrodynamics; it seems to go back to 1746, with wire. Va rious readers, appearing to not know the real condi­ Louis Guillame Le Monnier (1 71 7-1 799), author of the chap­ tions ofthe circulation of free electrons in metals, sent me mail ter "Electricite" in the French Encyclopedia. Le Monnier, in explaining that the results obtained are caused by an inertial fact, made the use of the first Leyden jars, to show that a metal effect, which would be caused, for example, by the mass of wire connecting the electrodes caused the bottle to discharge the electrons impacting where the wire is bent, or on the wire's in a very short period of time. This allowed him to assert that crystal lattice, but not taking into account that a metal is not a "electric matter" was circulating within the wire at a speed at mono-crystal but on the contrary, a mosaic of micro-crystals of least "30 times greater than that of sound." diverse orientation. So he had already made the the classic error of failing to dis­ Therefore, the aim of this article is to criticize these responses tinguish between the velocity of propagation of the shock or and, in so doing, to draw attention to the state of our knowledge disturbance, and the effective velocity of the charges.

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 33 The Leyden jar stored electricity at a tension, that is, a dif­ ference in potential, corresponding to a very large electromo­ Velocity of Electrons tive force (50,000 volts, for example), but because of its high internal electric resistance, it could not provide currents with I n a Conductor enough intensity (greater than some microamps) to produce When a continuous potential difference is applied to any significant mechanical or chemical effect. But this is not the two ends of a conducting wire (copper, for exam­ so for the Vo lta pile, which, for an electromotive force on the ple), the free electrons within the conductor are drawn order of just a volt per pile element, could produce a current towards the positive pole, resulting in the circulation of intensity on the order of an ampere or more, depending on the . a current of intensity i. The average velocity, of these size of the electrodes. v, electrons is by definition the distance travelled, a, divid­ The discovery of the electric pile was, therefore, a true rev­ ed by the time, t. The number of free electrons present olution, which made possible all the discoveries which fo l­ within different conducting bodies is known. For cop­ lowed. Electrical phenomena were no longer curiosities per, there is one free electron per atom, thus the num­ reserved for the ivory towers of physics, as were those of Abbe ber of these per cubic centimeter would be: jean Antoine Nollet, or for amusing the salon crowd. They took a growing place in the laboratories, in order to finally k = 8.5 1022. X flow into the major industrial applications from which our Let s be a right cross-section of the conductor. At the modern civilization currently benefits. end of time t, the free electrons contained in the volume The electricity of the voltaic pile, was not only capable of s.a will have traversed this section. The number of free producing mechanical effects, it was also able to produce electrons contained in this volume is: chemical reactions, as shown by Humphry Davy, who, in 1812, discovered sodium and potassium by electrolysis. And k·s·a = k·s·v·t. by a study of electrolysis, jans jacob Berzelius established the The charge, e, of the electron is 1.59 10-19 basis for an electrochemical theory of matter, showing that any X coulombs, and the total charge, Q, of the electrons chemical combination is the union of an electro-positive- and which will have traversed the cross-section s is: an electro-negative constituent. k·s·v·t·e. Thus, we are back again at the dualist conception of elec­ tricity of Charles Francois du Fay who, at the beginning of the By definition, the intensity, i, of a continuous current 1700s, distinguished "vitreous" electricity, from "resinous" is the number of coulombs which flow per second: i electricity. We now know that there are electric charges called Q/t "positive" and others called "negative," and that the charges of Therefore k·s . v . t . e i . t, the same sign repel each other, while those of the opposite sign attract. However, at that time, this interpretation was still and v = i/k·s·e. very sketchy. In terms of current density:

j = i/s .

So we have: v = j / k . e . Knowing the numerical values of the terms of the sec­ ond member, it is easy to see that for the usual values of

i (a current intensity on the order of 1 ampere) and s (a cross-section of the copper wire on the order of a square millimeter), the average velocity of flow of elec­ trons is on the order of a tenth of a millimeter per sec­ ond. This calculation is inspired by the one given in the Revue genera Ie d'electronique, March 1961, p. 47. It provides us with an order of magnitude, without taking into account such quantum effects as flow from the application of Felix Bloch's theory. It is nonetheless true, that for a conductor made of industrial copper, the number of crystalline faults will be such (Drude's theo­ ry) that one can consider the value obtained as being very close to reality. On the other hand, admittedly, the electric distur­ bance which the current produces, is propagated, like all electromagnetic effects, at the speed of light.

The author in his laboratory.

34 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY It was really not until the discovery of the electron and of differently charged particles, that these notions took on some flesh and bones. The discovery of the electron was a textbook case, because it is impossible to attribute the merit of this to only one, or even to a number of researchers. It was, in reali­ ty, the collective work and long painstaking efforts by numer­ ous scientists in many different places. It was above all the study of electric discharges in rarefied gases, conducted by Michael Faraday, pursued by Julius Plucker, and then by Robert Wilhelm Bunsen and Robert Kirchhoff. Subsequently, there was the discovery, in 1886, of the "canal rays" [rays of positive charge] by Eugen Goldstein. Finally, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, using the best possible vacuum obtain­ able, discovered "cathode rays"; his work was subsequently taken up by Jean Perrin and then by Joseph John Thomson. At the end of the 19th Century, two interpretations of these "cathode rays" were counterposed : On the one side, Goldstein, Hertz, and Lenard, considered them-based on the rectilinear propagation of the rays, which could be captured by photo­ graphic plates-to be a form of luminous, short-wavelength radiation. On the other side, were William Crookes, Jean Perrin, and J.J. Thomson, who, after having verified that the FIgure 1 rays were curved by a magnetic field, took them to be a stream RAMSDEN ELECTROSTATIC GENERATOR of negatively charged particles. It is evidently this latter inter­ jesse Ramsden (1735- 1 800) constructed his frictional pretation which has prevailed, above all because of a theoreti­ electrostatic machine in 7768. It produces electricity by cal study by Hendrick Antoon Lorentz, which predicted the the continuoLis rubbing of pads on a glass disk. It pro­ existence of these charged particles in accordance with James vides very high voltages but low intensity of current. Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory describing an electric and a magnetic field. George J. Stoney gave them the name electron, at first thought of as elementary electric quantities better, by the medium in which it occurs. without any inertial mass. (1) Emission in a Vacuum: In a vacuum, electric current It is the totality of all this basic work, which, after manifold consists of a flux of charged particles, generally electrons, developments, led physicists to assume that an electric current emitted, for example, by a hot cathode (Richardson's law of consists of the displacement of a collection of electrified cor­ emission), accelerated by an electrostatic field, and moving puscles-these could be negative ions, positive ions, or simply with a velocity that is a significant fraction of the velocity of electrons. The displacement could occur not only in a vacu­ light. The potential difference accelerating the charges, is in um, a gas, or a conductive liquid, but also within metals in the such a case some thousands or dozens of thousands of volts. solid state, in which case there is virtually no matter being This was the case for the cathode ray tubes used in the first transported other than the very slow translation of the free experiments, and also for the bundles of electrons in the tubes electrons within the crystal lattice. of oscilloscopes, or television picture tubes. Here, the energy Within metals, we are dealing with the transport of a very of the emission current is not so much a question of the the small mass of material, when the the tiny mass of the electrons number of particles involved (in general a very small number), and their extremely low velocity of transport is considered (see but their extremely high velocity. The trajectory of each parti­ Box, p. 34). cle can be likened to an [Ampere] current element, in such a The measurement of the ratio between the charge and the way that, by the fu ndamental laws of electrodynamics, there inertial mass of the electron (elm) was carried out for the first will be an attraction between the currents going in the same time by J.J. Thomson in 1897. The experiment established the direction, which counterbalances the effect of electrostatic scale of this relationship. A more precise measurement was repulsion between particles of the same sign. Thus we find made by Robert Andrews Millikan in 1908. By other means, ourselves looking at dynamic structures, that can be focussed the mass of the electron was easily determined to be 1/1 ,836 in a stable manner, in the form of very small diameter bundles. that of the hydrogen atom nucleus. (2) Transport of Surface Charges in a Vacuum or in Dry Air: Neither the electron nor other charged particles can be rig­ This occurs in the case of Ramsden electrostatic generators orously described outside the quantum framework. However, (Figure 1), Wimshurst generators (transport on insulated discs), to remain within the scope of this article, we will more often and today, with high-voltage generators of the Van de Graaf refer to the pre-quantum physics frame of reference. type (transport on insulated coils). In these cases as well, the number of charges is very low, but the transport velocity is also Different Ty pes of Electric Current low (some meters per second), so that the energies put into play On the macroscopic level, one can describe the diffe rent are likewise very slight. Electric generators of this type, for types of electric current either by the way it is produced, or example, allow us to bring a very small number of charges to a

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 35 high potential, but in such a way that the current also is very The same is not true for currents circulating within con­ weak. Thus, the intensity of the current produced by such a densed matter, and, in particular, within metals. In that case, generator is limited by the need to collect together a great num­ the number of the charges that come into play (for metals, the ber of charges of the same sign, which repel each other, and yet number of free electrons) is incomparably higher. For highly can only sit on the surface of the body that carries them, all of conductive metals, it can greatly exceed '1 020 per cc. (that is to which clearly places a considerable limit on their number. say, one free electron per atom), because the char'ge of these In these first two cases, the only law to be applied is / = electrons, is electrically neutral ized by the opposing charge of Q/T, in which / is the intensity of the current, Q the quantity the ionized atom from which it was liberated, so that the of electricity (a function of the flux of a number of elementary whole conductor remains globally neutral, no matter the num­ charges in motion, across a given cross-section), and T, time. ber of charge-carrying electrons. Unlike in the previous case, On the other hand, Ohm's law (/ = E/R) is not applicable, here the notion of electrical conductivity, relative to the num­ because the intensity of the current does not depend in any ber of moving charges, takes its importance. This is why in this way an the electric conductivity of the medium of circulation. case we talk about a conduction current to which Ohm's law is applicable: the intensity of current (I) circulating in a con­ ductor is directly proportional to the difference in potential applied to its extrem ities (V) and inversely proportional to its Behavior of Electrons in electrical resistance (R). A Conductor 'Traversedi by 3. Conduction Currents: Hence, what we are dealing with is a current which "circulates" in media called "conductors," An Alternating Current which, by looking at their opposite, permit us to define other media, called "insulators." The theory of electrical conduction In light of what we presented in Box 1 (p. 34), we in metals and in crystalline media is the outcome of the work become aware that in the case of an alternating current, of a small number of researchers: mainly Paul Karl Ludwig it is difficult to speak of a "current." It's more a question Drude, Ludwig Lorenz, and, above all, Felix Bloch, with col­ of an oscillation of an ensemble of free electrons, lateral help from, for example, Arnold Sommerfeld. around a configuration of average eq uilibrium. What is Since the end of the 19th Century (Drude's work goes back to the speed and above all the amplitude of this oscillating 1900), the theory of electrical conductivity in solid bodies has motion? For example, let us think about it in terms of been based on the idea that electricity was transported by current density: charged particles. The problem was, to find the number of these charged particles, and the nature of the barTiers to their displace­ j = i/s . ment by physical-chemical structures and their impurities. The "current" being alternated at frequency f, the radi­ At the beginning of the century, Drude imagined that a metal an frequency, w, is given by was composed of almost immobile, heavy ions, and of electrons, which were displaced at random by collisions with these ions. If w = 2n ·f. an external electric field is imposed, the electrons are accelerat­ If the instantaneous density is: ed, between collisions, in the opposite direction of the imposed

J = Jmax'cos w·t, field (Coulomb's law), and the average speed of the totality of these electrons ceases to be zero (but remains always very low) and, given the calculations of Box 1, the instantaneous in such a way, that as a totality, they become subjected to the velocity of the electrons could be written: imposed field. The density of the current so generated is obtained v = Jmax cos w t/k ·e. by multiplying this speed, by the number of electrons per unit A barely more complicated calculation wou ld give a volume, and by the electron's charge e. It is thus proportional to value for the amplitude of motion: the field, and this permits us to find Ohm's law. This is clearly an overly simplified interpretation, which does A Jmax/ k·e ·W, fi not adequately take into account certain experimental facts, for A = Jell/ k·e·w. example, the variation of resistance as a function of tempera­

For avalue ofJ = 5 amps/m m2, we would have: ture. We had to wait 20 years for Felix Bloch (Nobel Prize,

A = O.0833/f mm. 1952), to make a fundamental contribution while he was study­ ing this question in the light of nascent quantum mechanics. It

For f = 50 Hz, the amplitude of oscillation of the elec­ seemed that it was necessary to distinguish between certain trons will be 0.001 66 mm. It is thus on the order of a groups of free electrons, and that within an ionic lattice of def­ micron. inite symmetry, there exist so-called "Brillouin" zones; that is,

For f = 1 MHz, it is clearly 20,000 times smaller; that energy zones that govern electron position. These ideas are is, it wou ld be less than 1 angstrom. Thus we are not most important with respect to semi-conductors. dealing with a current that changes direction, but rather, One of the most curious consequences of Bloch's work a vibration of an ensemble of electrons with an ampli­ relates to his fa ilure to abandon the notion of collision tude comparable to that of the vibration of ions in a between free electrons and metallic ions. In fact, Bloch crystalline network showed that in a perfect crystal lattice, electrons must move without resistance. Thus, the mean free path is not limited by

36 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY close to each other at will. Once a source of tension was con­ nected to them, a constant potential difference, V, was estab­ lished between the electrodes as they were brought closer together. The field, on the order of V/d, where d is the distance between the electrodes, in fact grows in such a way, that by Coulomb's law, the number of charges on the electrodes grows in proportion. Thus, there is more electricity on the electrodes, even though they were subjected to the same potential differ­ ence. That is where the phenomenon of condensation of elec­ tricity is located. Because it was charged by a continuous cur­ rent, the condenser conserved its charge, and the properties of its dielectric is such, that the medium thus treated, has induced surplus charges on the surface of the electrodes in question, negative on one side, and positive on the other. The condenser therefore behaves as a generator of an elec­ tric current where the electromotive force is the difference of potential existing between the electrodes. Then all we have to

do is reconnect the electrodes with each other with C\ con­ ducting wire, and, by the fundamental law of electro-kinetics, Figure 2 which says that current has the same jntensity at every point of FRANKLIN'S SEPARABLE LEYDEN JAR a closed circuit, a current will circulate not only in the exter­ To study how the charge is stored in a Leyden jar; nal circuit, but also, and with the same intensity, inside the Franklin created one that could be taken apart. The condenser considered as a generator, that is, within its dielec­ assembled bottle is charged, then taken apart, and the tric. But this is an insulator of very great resistivity! two metallic parts (A and B) are grounded. When it is If the capacity of the condenser is high (some hundreds of put back together again, it is seen that the bottle still microfarads, for example, easily realizable today), and if the conserves its charge, and therefore that its energy was external electrical resistance is weak, it is then possible to stored within the glass (C), which serves as a dielectric. obtain, for a sign ificant fraction of a second, a current of some hundreds of amperes, which necessarily also passes through the dielectric. the collisions of the electrons with the ions properly speaking, This confronts us with a remarkable paradox. Yet, we cannot but by their interactions with impurities, and most of all by the deny that there must be the equivalent of a current passing number of faults in a metal's crystal lattice, which often turn through the dielectric, because, in such a case, an elementary out to be mosaics of micro-crystals with various orientations, calculation shows that the internal electrical resistance of a rather than mono-crystals. Here we meet an astonishing result, condenser considered as a generator, is very small-even less which is, unfortunately, not well known. Yves Rocard, for than that of an electrodynamic generator of the same dimen­ example, in his otherwise excellent book on electricity pub­ sion, with copper wire circuits. Thus, by the artifice of the lished in 1951 by Masson, does not even mention it. condenser's charge, a good insulator was temporarily trans­ Hence it remains one of the apparent paradoxes concerning formed into an active medium, continuously renewing the electricity. There are many others, in particular when it comes electric charge of the electrodes, by we know not what kind to the behavior of dielectrics, and therefore of condensers. of mechanism. The Displacement Current in Dielectrics: During the Various theories have been proposed to explain this, after 4. charging or discharging of a condenser made of dielectric Maxwell's explanation for a vacuum, defining by calculation material, significant displacements of the elementary charges an "electrical displacement" vector, such that: are produced, which can be considered as like electric cur­ rents. This interpretation, however, does not hold if the dielec­ tric is a vacuum. There is a long-forgotten experiment which describes where e is the specific inductance, and E the field. dielectrics: that of the collapsible Leyden jar (Figure 2). It If the dielectric is a vacuum, it is evident that the displace­ shows the primordial role which the dielectric plays in a con­ ment current would be: denser, for it is within this dielectric that the stored energy of the apparatus is located. 1= _1_ � dt It is likewise a shame that the apparatuses for demonstrating 41t the properties of these condensers, such as, for example, which does not correspond to any motion of charges. Hence, . Volta's condenser electroscope, have been abandoned. What it would be necessary to conclude that the properties of space was defined at the time was an important property of electric­ have been changed, for there exists, in particular, a transitory ity, the phenomenon called condensation (whence the term magnetic field, because the displacement current must be condenser), whose existence was demonstrated with an appa­ considered as equivalent to a conduction current. ratus that had movable electrodes, which could be brought One thus finds oneself in the embarrassing position of hav-

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 37 Figure 3 THE BARLOW WHEEL In a Faraday disk, a current is generated by rota ting a metallic disk between the poles of a magnet. The current is dra wn from the � I disk by two contact brushes, one located at the center of the disk and one at the cir­ cumference. The Barlow wheel is a Faraday disk where the external contact brush is

di current element replaced by a bath of mercury. It thus shows L-;;:=t.:t:;:jr:{-:==�t:=::::::. = the mechanical linkage between the elec­ df = elementary electromagnetic ---.. forces tron curent and the metal in which it circu­ i lates. B indicates the direction of the mag­ netic fl ux, and i indicates current flow.

ing an electric current without any displacement of charges. which must interact. If the macroscopic laws of electrody­ We will not take up here the theory of what are, or what are namics are applicable to them, this interaction must take the not, dielectric materials; the entire issue of this magazine form of an attraction, limited only by the electrostatic repul­ would not be enough space to exhaust all the implications of sion between charges of the same sign belonging to different this paradox. It remains very real today. microcurrents, and that in a manner comparable to what hap­ Yet other problems in electrodynamics still remain unre­ pens to a fl ux of electrons in a vacuum. The problem is to solved. We will mention just a few. know if such a mechanism has a reciprocal action upon the One major problem is the one of the mechanical relation­ ionized matter of the conductor, in a way that can be meas­ ship existing among a fl ux of charges, the electric current cir­ ured experimentally on a macroscopic scale. culating in a conductor, and the material this conductor is In fact, this problem was in part resolved by the observation made of. In other words, by what kind of mechanical action, of the "pinch effect" by the Americans, affecting liquid metal is the motion that is imposed upon the current by electric conductors, as described by Carl Hering in regard to the errat­ induction (corresponding to Laplace's law), transmitted to the ic fu nctioning of electric resistance furnaces. I have analyzed substance that allows the current to exist-that is, the conduc­ this phenomenon in the French-language Fusion, March-April tor? Frankly, we hardly know a thing about it. 1995, in an article on Ampere's longitudinal force [in English, If we are to believe Bloch's theory, such a mechanical cou­ "The Battle Over the Laws of Electrodynamics," 21st Century, pling does not occur, thanks to the presence of impurities, and Spring 1997, pp. 53-60] . above all, because of faults in the metallic lattice which makes Therefore, attraction between microcurrents can be translat­ up the conductor (if this is so, it becomes hard to see what ed to the level of the whole conductor; the same is true regard­ would happen if this conductor were a perfect monocrystal). ing the Ampere longitudinal force acting between successive In fact, various experiments show that the electromotive current elements. When you pass a very intense current (on the action, in the case of industrial metals, seems to be applied to order of hundreds of thousands of amperes, in some few mil­ the conductor itself, such as in the Barlow wheel (Figure 3). liseconds) through a conductor whose cross-section is on the Other experiments, on the other hand, show a certain order of 1 square millimeter, this section breaks into longitudi­ mechanical decoupling between the current and the material nal fragments, which are produced before any thermally relat­ carrying it. For example, the experiment of To llman and ed phenomena could manifest themselves. So, here we have Stewart. A drum with many helices is put into rapid rotational the famous meter-per-second cited in the introduction, with the motion around its axis; then the rotation is abruptly stopped. A difference here being, that we are talking about a pulse which transitory electrical tension appears at the edges, which would does not last more than one ten-thousandth of a second. indicate the circulation of a fl ux of free electrons, carried These are extreme conditions, which bring into play forces along by inertia. of a considerable intensity. I have shown that forces of this kind, but significantly weak­ What Do We Know? er, could be created for currents on the order of some amperes, It would seem that even if we have satisfactory knowledge in order to carry out their precise measurement. And, as I indi­ of the global interaction between currents, we know a lot less cated in the article in the French-language Fusion in May-June about the phenomena taking place within the conductor itself, 2000 ["Anti-Gravity: Myth or Reality," 21st Century, Spring where that current is circulating. 2001 , pp. 27-39], these experiments have also brought me to A macroscopic electric current circulating within a con­ conceive of the existence of a gravitational effect of electric ducting wire, might be considered as made up of a very large currents. number of parallel microcurrents, going in the same direction, To llman and Stewart's experiment could lead to the posing of

38 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY condenser-a transitory modification of the properties of space, and thus an authentic electrogravitic effect. The paradoxical behavior of the dielectric of condensers, has interested a number of physicists and engineers-for example, Ducretet, Helmholtz, and Lorentz, especially towards the end of the 19th Century. Most of them, however, . and probably the more serious ones, hit their heads against the brick wall,of experimental difficl,l lties that were too great, with ' respeq.!!? apparent d�grClvitation by dielectric discs charged to a very high tension by electrostatic machines, and they aban­ doned all research on the gravitational effects of the electrici­ ty-being much constrained, as well, by ruling scientific dogma. , And then again, was it not asserted that an electric genera­ tor-receiver apparatus, placed on the platform of a balance, does not show 'any change in weight when the circuit is

closed? Even the passage througtJ 9. circuit of very intense cur­ rents, of several thousands of ampere?, does not bring about any variation in the measurable weight, if all requisite precau­ tions, are taken to eliminate errors of measurement.

Yet, the problem of the action of ,<1 Cl![rent within a con­ , denser's . dielectric remains, and a number . of investigators , , I have pursued some more. Qr less well-directed work, tending ,'� " , . '- �" I • to show that the charge of a condenser modifies its weight. I• " Curiously, the efforts of such "sharp-shooters". have focussed on very high voltages, using only very weak currents, the Figure which provokes peculiarly annoying artifacts caused by pure­ 4 ACYCLICAL HOMOPOLAR GENERATOR ly electrostatic effects being brought into play. It seems how­ The homopolar generator works on the same principle ever, that even in otherwise bad conditions, an authentic grav­ as the Farada y disk. In this type, brushes come into con­ itational effect is manifest, which would doubtless be more tact with a rotating cylindrical magnet at b) and b2. It is evident, if they utilized more intense currents. used to produce very intense currents which can reach It seems therefore, that electrogravitation-if there is such a 700, 000 amps, because unlike the classical (continuous thing-would not be manifested in the conditions of axial current) generator, it does not need a commutator. On symmetry which are made by "closed" circuits. the other hand, its electromotive fo rce cannot exceed Only the rupture of this symmetry, such as in my experi­ some fe w volts. ments, or such as exists naturally in condensers, would allow us to show it exists, and to subject it to study. the problem of "the weight of electricity." Does the weight of a body increase when it is given an electric charge? Yves Rocard Remi Saumont is the former head of the biophysics labora­ gave a theoretical answer to this question. He showed by cal­ tory at INSERM, France's main medical research institute, in culation that in the case of a leaf of beaten gold, with a surface Pa ris. He has continued research work in physics, especially area of 1 square meter, weighing 1 gram and negatively . matters relating to the Ampere longitudinal fo rce, as an emer­ charged to the maximum possible, the increase in weight itus director of the lab. wou ld be on the order of 10-13 grams. Thus, quite small. This article appeared in the May-June 2000 issue of the The same thing is true for the purely kinetic energy of the French-language Fusion magazine, and was translated into conducting electrons circulating in a metal-this in response English by Richard Sanders. to the arguments of certain readers of my preceding article. Considering their very small mass, and above all their very Bibliography ______slow collective velocity, their flux for currents of some de Poncharra, 1940. Theorie electronique du courant electrique, Dunod. F. amperes could not play any purely mechanical role that could J. Granier, 1948. Les Dielectriques, Dunod. be detected by the usual means, scales or dynamometers. Rocard, 1951. Electricite, Massen. y. The gravitational perturbation that I observed, and which, for C.J.F. Bottcher, 1952. Theory of. Electric Polariza tion, Elsevier. currents on the order of 10 amps, reaches some milligrams, is Durand, 1953. Electrostatique et Magnetostatique, Masson. E. thus quite another phenomenon, which has nothing to do with R.H. Bube, 1988. Electrons in Solids, New Yor k: Academlc Press. the mechanisms described up to this point; my results occur in R. Saumont, 1995. "La force longitudinale d'ampere," Fusion, No. 55, March- April. . very particular conditions of dissymmetry of current circula­ A. Szames, 1998. L'effet Biefield Brown: histoire secrete de I'antigra vite, tion, of such a kind, that it is permissible to think that here we Boulogne:.Alexandre Szames. are dealing with--;in the same way as for the di�lectri!=s of a R. Saumont, 2000. "L'a tigravitation," Fusion, No. May·June. . n, 81,

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 39 NASA's Hyper-X

<{ UJ <{ Z Hypersonic Flight Ready for Takeoff

by Marsha Freeman

NASA 's new Hyper-X program combines aircraft and rocket technology to de velop a system that will carry more weight, at less cost, into space.

s early as the 1920s and the fi rst rocket experiments, What if technology could be developed to derive the oxy­ space pioneers were designing aircraft that would be gen needed for propulsion from the atmosphere, rather than equipped with rockets to fly through the atmosphere carrying it along in weighty tanks, the way a rocket does? If Ainto space, and return to the Earth like an airplane. In this way, engines could be developed that could extract oxygen from the airplane frame would use its wings for aerodynamic lift, the atmosphere and atta in hypersonic speeds, only a minimal and the rocket engine would allow it to travel fast enough to amount of rocket power would be needed to take the last step go into orbit. into space. To day's Space Shuttle is an approximation of this concept, Such a hybrid system would substantially reduce the weight using rockets to orbit the Earth, and its wings to aerodynami­ of a space vehicle, making it more efficient and economical. cally glide back. But, because its rockets launch it vertically, To day, for rocket-propelled vehicles, 88 percent of the take-off the Space Shuttle plows through the atmosphere on its way up, weight is propellant. To feed its main engines, the Space Shuttle fighting against it, rather than flying through it. carries 1.3 million pounds of liquid oxygen in its 15-story-tall

40 Fall 2001 21 sf CENTURY external tank, along with 223,000 pounds of liquid hydrogen experiments, Latvian engineer Fridrikh Tsander described an fuel. Rocket-powered vehicles have to be designed in stages to airplane with a "high-pressure" aviation engine, attached to a go into orbit, discarding excess weight when the fuel is rocket. At an altitude of 28 kilometers, he proposed, the avia­ exhausted, which is why the Shuttle drops its external tank. tion engine would be cut off and a rocket engine would take If the Shuttle could use the air in the atmosphere on its way over. to space, instead of carrying its oxygen and tank along with it, Inside the aircraft would be a smaller, winged spaceship that the vehicle could carry more than a million more pounds of would be launched into space, later to glide back to land. payload. Or, the vehicle could be much smaller, but able to With aviation still in its infancy, and airplanes that were made haul the same amount of cargo. out of wood, it would be decades before technology could If the space vehicle also took off horizontally, like an air­ catch up to this innovative design. Tsander died in 1933, a plane, rather than vertically, like a rocket, it could potentially decade before even the first rocket took fl ight. be "launched" from a runway at an airport, rather than from a In 1914, a young man born in Bohemia built his first model special space center, further cutting cost. Safety would be rocket plane, powered with a fireworks rocket. Eugen Sanger, greatly increased in this case, because the launch stage would who was nine years old at the time, went on to read the works be based on aviation, not rocket technology. If there were a of Hermann Oberth and other rocket scientists, and submitted problem with an engine, the plane could fly back to the run­ a doctoral thesis at the Technical High School in Vienna in way, rather than "drop out of the sky." 1928, on high-altitude rocket plane flights. The thesis was Every space agency in the world has been interested in lower­ rejected by his teacher, who advised that he would be an "old ing the cost of its access to space, because that cost determines man with a long beard before you succeed in obtaining your which activities can be carried out. If the cost of orbiting a pound doctorate." But this did not discourage the young enthusiast. of payload could be one, or, better, two orders of magnitude less The space plane designs of the 1920s followed an approach than what it is today (about $5,000 per pound on the Shuttle), of starting with a rocket engine and building an airplane this would open space to scientific institutions, industry, and around it. Sanger realized that this idea was obvious, but even tourists. The cost reduction would ripple through every unworkable; that the airplane and propulsion design had to be space activity, from launching satellites, to establishing manned integrated, to optimize the performance of each. settlements on the Moon, enabling whole new missions. During the 1930s, Sanger carried out rocket motor experi­ The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ments at Vienna University, but, according to German­ is embarked on the Hyper-X program to develop and test the American science writer Willy Ley, he "felt certain then-and revolutionary technologies that can make the dream of "fly­ future development, has, of course, borne him out-that the ing" into space a reality. Under development is a scramjet practical problems of larger motors would certainly be solv­ engine that can take a vehicle to hypersonic speeds, that is, able." Sanger, therefore, left rocket experiments to others, and higher than Mach 5, using the oxygen in the atmosphere. concentrated on the next step-of marrying the new rocket (Mach 1 equals the speed of sound, about 760 miles per hour technology to the airplane. at sea level). If the scramjet engine could bring the vehicle to To Sanger, the logical progression from air to space was a speed of Mach 18, only a modest amount of rocket power through a series of ever-more-capable rocket-powered planes, would be needed to get it to the orbital speed of Mach 25. each of which could fly faster and higher than its predecessor. Hyper-X will be the first flight test of a super­ sonic ramjet, or scramjet engine, and will lay the basis for designing tomorrow's vehicles, that can fly into space. There have been numerous starts to this space plane project, over the past 50 years. What is needed now, is a crash program com­ mitment to overcoming the very real obstacles in fundamental physical principles-such as hypersonic fluid flow and aerodynamics-and the associated engineering challenges in mate­ rials, structures, combustion, and the like. This will require the mobilization of a near-mori­ bund aerospace and aeronautics industry, to rebu i Id basic research and development resources, enabling the breakthroughs for hypersonic flight.

Rockets on Airplanes The first proposal for a spaceplane consisted of merely physically joining the two technolo­ Marsha Freeman gies of rocket propulsion and winged flight. In This model of Ts ander's 7920s winged rocket plane is displayed in the 1923, at the dawn of serious rocket engine Ts ander Museum in Riga, Latvia.

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 41 Through successive approximations, the technologies would be developed and the design matured, leading to airplanes in space. -----� �·�- -- - · I · · In 1933, when serious rocket I · I · · engine development work was under · · way in Germany, Sanger published his book, Rocket Flight Te chnique, in which he presented the design of a rocket plane that could travel for more OX YGEN FUEL TANK T than an hour at an average speed of OXYGEN FUEL TANK 1,600 miles per hour, with an engine burn time of 20 minutes. He called the vehicle the Silver Bird . WEIGHT : 22,OOOLBS. In the introduction, Sanger wrote: 'EMPTY I , , "In particular, that type of rocket flight , , I shall be treated which takes place in , 1------I the upper layers of the stratosphere 91.8' with such velocity that the inertial 1oE1oE;.------:J forces due to the curvature of the flight Figure 1 path contribute essentially to the lift. SCHEMATIC DRAWING OF SANGER'S ANTIPODAL BOMBER This type of rocket fl ight is the next Eugen Sanger's antipoda l bomber was designed to tra vel halfway around the basic development step beyond the world and land at an airport. tropospheric flight, accomplished dur­ Source: Willy Ley, 1953 ing the last 30 years, and it is the prel­ ude to space fl ight, the greatest tech- nical problem of our time." and carry 80 metric tons, including fuel, a pilot, and 660 Sanger submitted the proposal for development of his Silver pounds of bombs. A two-mile-Iong straight take-off track on Bird to the Austrian Ministry of Defense in 1933. As Robert the ground would be used, with the plane seated on a rocket Goddard was told by the military establishment in the United sled. The rocket would operate for 11 seconds to accelerate States, and Hermann Oberth was told in Germany, so Sanger the plane to a speed of 1,640 feet per second, producing was told by the Austrian Ministry that rockets would not work. enough lift for take-off. The plane's rocket stage would then be Tw o years later, the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, estab­ ignited, and accelerate it to a speed of 3.73 miles per second. lished a rocket research center in Trauen, Germany, in com­ Sanger calculated that this vehicle would be able to travel petition with the German Army rocket research program, later more than 14,000 miles before it landed, going halfway at PeenemOnde, to investigate rocket motors. Sanger was invit­ around the world (or to its antipode), and could set down at an ed to join. In 1938, Sanger and mathematician Irene Bredt airport. The propulsion period would be about five minutes, (later to become his wife) created a steel model of Sanger's and the total trip duration, two and a half hours. Silver Bird, and applied for a patent. The war ended before such a design could even be con­ During World War II, Sanger and Bredt worked on a 400-page sidered. report titled, "A Rocket Drive for Long-Range Bombers." This concept, based on the earlier Silver Bird, would orbit the Earth Rocket Planes Begin to Fly using a single-stage vehicle, at a maximum altitude of 186 miles, After the end of World War II, and the demonstration of the carrying four tons of payload. A ground-based, liquid-fuelled reality of rocket technology by the team under the leadership rocket sled would be used to accelerate the space plane to a of Wernher von Braun at PeenemOnde, America's National speed of 1 ,640 feet per second, to provide the lift for take-off. Advisory Committee on Aeronautics and the U.S. Air Force Sanger knew that if the rocket plane were launched verti­ embarked on a program to test a rocket-propelled hypersonic cally, like a rocket, or steeply into the dense layers of the space plane. This was a path parallel to the pure rocket devel­ atmosphere too quickly, it would ricochet when its engine opment program, proceeding under the U.S. Army and von were stopped, dropping back to a denser layer, bouncing off it Braun, which was also designed to put man into space. to an upper thinner layer, and repeating this ro ller-coaster tra­ The purpose of the X-plane program was to develop the jectory as it lost altitude. He realized that such a sinusoidal, or technologies and test the flight regimes in the atmosphere, that "skip" path, would increase the range of the plane, and this led would be required for manned, orbital rocket plane vehicles. to his concept of the antipodal bomber-Figure 1. (This con­ On Oct. 14, 1947, Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager, sitting in his cept is being used today for flights to Mars, where the drag in X-1 rocket plane, was taken aloft by a B-29 airplane to an alti­ the atmosphere "aerobrakes" the spacecraft over a series of tude of 37,000 feet. The X-1 was released from the plane, and orbits, until it lands.) ignited its rockets. It was the first aircraft to exceed Mach 1, the The single-stage plane Sanger designed is 92 feet long, with speed of sound. That, and the subsequent fl ights of the X vehi­ a wing span of 50 feet. It would weigh 20 metric tons empty, cles, provided scientists and engineers with their first test data

42 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY were concentrating on their race to the Moon. "There is, therefore, at the moment, a unique, but short-lived opportunity for Europe, with its great intellectual and material resources, to become active in a sector of spaceflight in which the major space powers have not yet achieved an insuperable lead," he said. But, in postwar Germany, rocket, space, and military tech­ nologies could not be pursued, and, at the time, there was no European-wide space organization to carry through on such a proposal. In 1961 , working at the German aircraft giant Junkers, and then at Dornier, Sanger began a study of space transportation systems, which was completed in DASA 1964. Similar to the Dornberger-Ehricke design, he A model of the Sanger-Bredt rocket spaceplan, the Silver Bird. proposed a two-stage design for a one-man spacecraft for either antipodal flights, or a transport plane, to a on the aerodynamics of supersonic fl ight, the stabil ity of a vehi­ 186-mile orbit. Both the booster vehicle and the space vehi- cle in that flight regime, and other information that would be cle, which would ride piggyback, would be manned and crucial 25 years later in the design of the Space Shuttle. The recoverable. The initial lift would be provided by a horizontal speed record for manned rocket plane vehicles was set by the catapult, or track, with a pair of rockets. Sanger thought that X-1 5 at Mach 6.7, during its 199th flight in 1968. such a vehicle could be realized within 15 years. While the initial testing of supersonic vehicles was under way, It would be another 20 years before Europe, or at least ideas abounded on how to apply what was sure to be the next Germany, would take up Sanger's challenge, but Sanger did not revolution in flight. In 1949, working at the California Institute of live to guide that effort. He died on Jan. 23, 1964, of a heart Tec hnology, Dr. Ts ien Hsue-shen, who would later lead the attack, while lecturing at the Technical University in Berlin. Chinese space program, designed a suborbital rocket plane to travel from Los Angeles to New York. Rocket burnout would take On the Other Side of the Curtain place after 150 seconds, at an altitude of 100 miles, and the The United States and Europe were not the only places plane would glide for 10,000 miles in about one hour. where hypersonic rocket planes were being designed. In an Similarly, while working for Bell Aircraft, which built the article in Executive Intelligence Review magazine in May X-1 , former Peenemunde rocketeers Wa lter Dornberger and 1996, Russian space engineer Oleg Sokolov reported on pre­ Krafft Ehricke designed an intercontinental passenger transport viously secret Soviet aerospace plane projects, dating back to consisting of two winged airplanes, both stages boosted by the 1960s. Similar to the situation in the United States, the rocket engines. One hundred thirty seconds after launch, the Soviet space program was focussed on using rocket technolo­ stages would separate. The manned booster would be flown gy, such as the Soyuz, borrowed from intercontinental ballistic back to a landing site, and the smaller second stage, with its missiles. This was the quickest-and at the time the cheap­ passengers, would continue on its journey. The plane could be est-way to achieve Earth orbit. able to cross the Atlantic in 75 minutes, reaching a maximum But the Soviet aviation industry was pursuing the "Spiral" velocity of 8,560 miles per hour. project, initiated in 1965, building on 1950s design experi­ With the Dyna Soar (Dynamic Ascent and Soaring Flight), or ence that had been carried out as the counterpart to the U.S. X-20 program, which began in 1958, the Air Force planned to Dyna Soar program. Spiral was to include a hypersonic air­ continue development of hypersonic planes faster than the X- plane-booster, an orbital plane, and an additional booster to 15. But the technical challenges were severe, requiring the take the plane into orbit. development of higher-temperature materials, the mastery of Spiral would have a total mass of 140 tons, and inject the fluid and aerodynamic properties of the upper layers of the orbiter, with a three-man crew aboard, into low-Earth orbit. atmosphere, and new propulsion systems. Politically, Dyna The orbiter could carry out two or three revolutions of the Soar was seen as unnecessary, because NASA was already Earth, and land at an airfield. The entire system would be developing a manned space program, to lead up to the lunar reusable. Although the Spiral program was shelved in 1969, landing. President John Kennedy had given NASA less than and abandoned in 1978, the Russians carried out flight tests of nine years to land a man on the Moon. Ball istic rocket flight a scale model of the orbital plane in order to study aerody­ was seen as the solution with the lowest risk, and the only way namic braking, thermal properties, and landing. Tests contin­ such a timetable could be met. The Dyna Soar program was ued into the 1970s with a variety of analogue vehicles, until cancelled in 1963. the work was shifted to support the development of the Soviet As the United States decided to develop ballistic rocket space shuttle, the Buran. vehicles for manned space flight, Sanger saw a window of Interest in hypersonic flight reawakened in the mid-1 980s, opportunity for Europe to exert technological leadership in the with the focus on using already existing hardware and existing space field, by development of the advanced and efficient knowledge. The new design, designated the Multi-Purpose space plane he had been designing for 30 years. In 1962, Aviation Space System (MAKS), used the Ukrainian conven­ Sanger pointed out that the United States and the Soviet Union tional super-heavy cargo aircraft Mria as an air carrier. The

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 43 orbiter would be dropped from the airplane at a designated fuelled by liquid hydrogen, which would obtain speeds up to altitude and then use its rocket engines to enter orbit. As polit­ Mach 7. At that point, the second, smaller space plane would ical and economic chaos engulfed the former Soviet Union, separate, and ignite its rocket engine to obtain orbit. and the Buran shuttle was mothballed because of lack of Today's jet aircraft, commercial and military, use turbojet funds, the MAKS concept went through various iterations, but engines that compress the air in the atmosphere, combine it never came to fruition. with fuel, burn the mixture, and expand the combustion prod­ However, Russia and the former Soviet republics today have ucts to produce forward thrust. But these engines are limited some of the world's finest expertise, not only in rocket plane to speeds of about Mach 3. Above that speed, the turbine design, but also in hands-on experience in designing and testing blades used to compress the air, overheat. Unlike turbojets, some of the most advanced engines for the future. That expert­ ramjets have no moving parts. ise is ready to be re-engaged in an aerospace plane project. In ramjets, the air is channelled into the engine through an . intake duct pointing in the direction of fl ight. It req·uires no The 1980s Sanger II moving parts, because the air is compressed by the forward In 1984, President Ronald Reagan committed the United speed of the aircraft itself. The air enters a combustion cham­ States to help develop a space station in low-Earth orbit, and ber where it is slowed down as it is rammed into the chamber. he invited international partners to join the project. This ini­ As it slows, the pressure increases and the gas expands. Even tiative opened up the possibil ity of new missions for relatively without combustion, the air is heated to 1,1 OO°C for flights at small manned spacecraft that could be used to deliver crew a speed of Mach 5. members, and service the permanent space facility. In addi­ Ramjets had been under development for nearly 40 years. In tion, the 1986 Challenger explosion prompted nations 1946, Sanger went to France, to advise the government on involved in the station to have second thoughts about the pol­ rocket technology. While there, he carried out research and icy of relying solely on the Space Shuttle to take astronauts tests on ramjet engines towed by an airplane. into space. (Russia did not join the project until early 1990s.) The ramjet concept had been originally explained by Rene German aeronautics and space engineers resurrected the proj­ Lorin in 1913, and was patented in 1941 in Germany. ect fo r an aerospace plane, and honored the originator of the Preliminary tests were conducted in Germany between 1942 concept by naming it the Sanger II. The Sanger program, begun and 1944. In his 1965 book, Space Flight, Sanger pointed out in 1986, had the goal of developing hypersonic engine technol­ that rocket vehicles consume 60 percent of their propellants in ogy (above Mach 5), including a vehicle that would take off from altitudes less then 30 kilometers, in the densest part of the an airport, release a second, orbital vehicle to visit the space sta­ atmosphere, on their way to space. Tremendous savings could tion-or provide a ride to a transfer orbit for payloads, such as a be won by replacing rockets that carry along their oxygen, communications satellite, headed for geosynchronous orbit, with turbojet and ramjet engines that use air from the atmos­ 24,000 miles above the Earth-and then fly back to land. phere, up to that altitude. The German program was designed to make use of avail­ Sanger explained that three different propulsion systems able, or near-term technology, by employing a two-stage con­ wou ld be needed in his spaceplane design. Because ramjets figuration. The first stage, a large booster plane, used a con­ are efficient only at about Mach 2 and above, conventional ventional jet turbine engine, and then switched to a ramjet, turbojet engines are needed for the first leg of the fl ight. And,

Krieger Publishing Company The Soviet "Spira l" aerospace plane, which included a hypersonic airplane booster and small orbital plane on top.

44 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY dropped, and only research on air-breath­ ing engines continued. The European Space Agency, contending with compet­ ing concepts from France and England, and in the end unwilling to fund any one of them, did not approve the program. Foolishly, Sanger II was cancelled in 1994.

From Ramjets to Scramjets In the mid-1 980s, the United States began the National Aerospace Plane program, dubbed the "Orient Express." It had been annou nced as a national ini­ tiative by President Reagan in his 1986 State of the Union address. The goal of NASP, or the X-30, was to demonstrate the feasibility of "sustained hypersonic cruise," in a most difficult single-stage- to-orbit configuration. This would mean University of Vienna that subsonic aircraft propulsion, and An artist's dra wing of the two-stage Sanger II, with its hypersonic ramjet first stage air-breathing hypersonic ramjet and and space plane. scramjet propulsion, would all be inte- grated into one vehicle. This had never because ramjets have been shown to operate effectively up to been attempted before. The program was to culminate in a a speed of about Mach 6, rockets would be needed for the last fu ll-scale flight-ready vehicle. The estimated cost was $10 to leg into space, reaching Mach 25. $15 billion. Sanger stated that the goal was to increase the payload It was known from previous tests that at six times the speed weight of a space vehicle to 15 to 20 percent of the total of sound, the combustion chamber in a ramjet engine weight, similar to that of a commercial airliner. Ballistic space becomes so hot that the combustion products needed for vehicles represent "a primitive, uneconomical, and unreliable thrust, decompose. At that point, a more advanced propulsion initial stage of the development program," he wrote. system is needed to take over. The Sanger II design included an air-breathing hypersonic Scramjets, or supersonic ramjets, were the invention of ramjet for the first stage, which could, by itself, be an inter­ Antonio Ferri, working at New Yo rk University in the late continental transport plane. Carrying 130 passengers, it would 1950s. In the United States, his work led to the 1960s have a range of 13,000 km, a 33-foot wingspan, and six ram­ Hypersonic Research Engine program at NASA's Langley jet engines, and it would reach a maximum speed of Mach 6.8 Research Center in Virginia. Unlike the ramjet, the air coming and a cruising speed of Mach 4.5. into the engine is not "rammed," to slow down, but stays at The smaller, second-stage rocket-powered plane could be supersonic speeds throughout the engine. This prevents the air designed for either a crew of two, or for cargo. The Horizontal flow from heating up, keeping it relatively cool. But, it reduces Upper Stage (Horus) was the manned version, while the the time the air spends in the chamber to one-thousandth of a Cargus would carry up to 15,400 pounds of freight. second, or less. A very quick chemical reaction is required in Preliminary models of the ramjet engine were tested in wind the chamber, with hydrogen the most effective candidate. It tunnels at a speed of Mach 4.7. was well known that this would be a challenging technology As a result of both technical and financial difficulties, the to understand and engineer. Sanger II project, entirely funded by the German government As the National Aerospace Plane program proceeded, it and industry, W<;lS stretched out; the first, technology-develop­ became clear that the technical challenges in developing a ment phase extended from 1992 to 1995. This challenging hypersonic scramjet engine-which had to be flight tested, phase required the development of air-breathing propulsion, because no wind tunnel exists that can test anything higher advances in aerothermodynamics, propulsion integration with than Mach 8-were greater, and much more expensive, than an airframe, and new materials and structures. It was estimat­ originally calculated. The program also ran into political prob­ ed that the last phase, a flight-ready vehicle, would cost $20 lems in Washington. With Defense Department budget cuts in billion. 1989, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney tried to cancel the X-30 From the beginning of the program, Germany made it clear program during his first week in office. The program linwed that international collaboration would be required to advance to along from year to year, tossed back and forth between the Air the second stage of building scale models for testing and, even­ Force and NASA, never receiving enough political support, or tually, a full-scale test vehicle. While partners for the program funding. were being sought, the German space budget was reduced 20 By 1993, it was clear that only (expensive) test flights could percent in 1993, other necessary parts of the program were accurately characterize the shock wave transition point for the

21st CENTURY Fall 2001 45 Figure 2 Propulsion-airframe integrated scramjet HYPERSONIC SCRAMJET ENGINE INTEGRATED INTO AN AIRFRAME As the hypersonic scramjet tra vels at Mach 7, the hypersonic flow of air encounters the fo rebody of the plane, creating shock waves. The shock waves compress the air flow, slowing the air down to about Mach 3, before it enters the engine. Fuel is injected into. the air flow in the com­ bustor, and thrust is produced as the combustion products expand and uel injection stages exit the rear of the aircraft. Inlet Isolator Combustor I Nozzle Source: NASA Langley Research Center

X-30; pravide test data an scramjet performance at high Mach program here, this prapasal shauld be implemented . numbers, priar to' manned X-30 flights; and avercame the lack When the Natianal Aeraspace Plane program was ended in af data to' suppart the claims that hypersanic ve hicle stabil ity 1994, it did nat diminish NASA's interest in campleting devel­ and cantrol were manageable. The program was behind apment af the technalagy. Within the next 10-20 years, the schedule and aver budget. Members af the technical cammu­ Space Shuttle fleet will reach the end af its praductive lifetime. nity fe lt that NASA and the Air Farce had bitten aff more than The challenge is nat anly to. replace the Shuttle, but also. to. they cauld ch ew, and that substantially mare research and radically reduce the cast af manned access to.space. In 1995, develapment was necessary befare develapment af test fl ight NASA began Hyper-X, a mare madest, $185 millian five-year vehicles cauld be entertained . technalagy develapment effort, starting from the progress While pragress was made in a number af areas, and scram­ made in the NASP (Natianal Aeraspace Plane) program. jet wind tunnel tests were successfully canducted, the pro­ gram was essentially ended in 1994. Althaugh it was intrigu­ Hyper-X: From Earth to Space ing to' propase flying fram New Ya rk to' Ta kya in ane haur, a The gaal af the Hyper-X program is to. design and test scram­ well-funded, langer-term R&D effart, with the stable palitical jet prapulsian systems in wind tunnels and integrated with a backing af Washingtan palicymakers, was lacking. small-scale vehicle. If these are successful, a decisian will be A similar situatian existed in the Saviet Unian, where work made to. proceed with a fu ll-scale flight vehicle. Canceptual an hypersanic engines had been under way. There, an Nav. design wark began in 1995, and wind tunnel tests af engine 28, 1991, far the first time in histary, an air-breath ing ram­ madels fa ilawed early in 1996. Fifteen experimental aerody­ jet/scramjet engine was tested in flight. The engine, launched namic test pragrams, an 11 diffe rent madels, were tested during an a missile, ape rated far 20 secands, and atta ined a speed af more than 1,000 runs, to' validate a scramjet design. In 1977, Mach 8. A secand test taak place the next year, prepared by the Central Institute af Aviatian Matars, the Tu palev aircraft design bureau, and the famed Central Aero­ Hydrodynamics Institute (TsAG I). At a speed af Mach 6.6, the ramjet engine canverted to. a scram jet. Scale madels af patential airframe designs were tested in the wind tunnel at TsAGI, up to. speeds af Mach 20, far twa min­ utes. The resaurces have nat existed in Russia to. camplete the develapment that is passible an the ground, and then to. mave to. test-fl ight articles to. verify the revalutianary new propulsian technalagy. As early as 1993, Russian scientists propased that their exten­ sive, ground-based hypersanic test facilities be cambined with the American capabilities in fields such as camputatianal fl uid dynam­ Beyond a speed of Mach 8, where the ability to test in wind tunnels is lost, ics, in a jaint program to. develap hypersanic scientists use computational fluid dynamics to analyze air flow and shock fronts flight. Naw that NASA has initiated such a around hypersonic aircraft. These are diagrammed here with the Hyper-X.

46 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY Hyper-X Flight Trajectory Figure 3 SCHEMATIC OF r Hyper-X free flight HYPER-X FLIGHT TRAJECTORY During a flight test of 100,000 ··· Descent the Hyper-X, or X-43, /; 1 a 8-52 fl ies to 40,000 i i L Energy maneuvers to Altitude, / I Scramjet engine feet, where it releases star t reduce speed/energy I! ft. I I the X-43, which is Hyper-X booster attached to a Pegasus / '- ; separation rocket. The rocket I ascends to 100,000 Ascent ... _ ... _.. Booster burn-out i feet, and the X-43 40,000 -t--_/ Experiment fl ies using its scramjet (Over water) completion engine after release Air launch from the Pegasus. Distance Source: NASA

NASA chose MicroCraft, Inc. of Tu llahoma, Te nnessee, to devel­ compression for forward thrust and lift. At the temperature and op the X-43 test vehicle, in order to integrate the scramjet engine speed limit beyond which rotating turbines become operable, with an airframe. Three vehicles have been built, each approxi­ ramjets, with no moving parts, can accelerate a plane to up to mately 12 feet long, with a wing span of about 5 feet. six times the speed of sound. In order to test the scramjet engine, the X-43 is carried aloft Beyond the reach of the ramjet, where air and combustion attached to a Pegasus rocket booster, under the wing of a B- temperatures extend beyond the limits of today's heat-resistant 52. At a speed of Mach 7, when the B-52 reaches a height of materials, and combustion becomes inefficient, supersonic about 40,000 feet, the Pegasus, carrying the X-43, is released ramjets, operating at cooler temperatures, can bring a plane to from the plane. At an altitude of 100,000 feet, the X-43 is then the edge of space. released from the Pegasus, and turns on its engine for 10-plus Up to now, scramjet engines have been tested in the United seconds. In its unpowered, six-minute glide phase, it is to per­ States only in wind tunnels. Because of the complexity and fo rm a number of curves to slow itself down aerodynami­ nonlinear character of hypersonic aerodynamics, only in situ "5" cally, and finally ditch in the Pacific Ocean. tests will prove any particular design. The Hyper-X program The three X-43 aircraft, although appearing identical, will will be the first to take the step to integrate advanced air­ be engineered with slight differences to simulate variable air breathing engines with an airframe. inlet scramjet geometry, which changes with Mach number. Considering all of the theoretical and experimental work that Tw o vehicles were designed to fly at Mach 7, and the last at has been done, particularly in the former Soviet Union and in Mach 10, or 7,200 miles per hour. Europe, NASA's Hyper-X program would certainly benefit from The first such flight test took place on June 2, 2001 . But after an international effort. separation from the B-52, the Pegasus rocket booster went out Nearly 80 years after the first rocket plane concept, and more of control S to 8 seconds after igniting, and range safety offi­ than 50 years since research began on revolutionary air-breath­ cers ordered the rocket, with the attached X-43, to self­ ing engines, it is time to open the age of hypersonic flight! destruct. While NASA is investigating the cause of the test fa il­ ure, the schedule for the next two test flights, which were sup­ Marsha Freeman is an Associate Editor of 21 st Century. Her posed to proceed at six-month intervals, has been put on hold. most recent book, Challenges of Human Space Exploration, The second phase of the Hyper-X program will use a slightly was published by Springer Praxis in early 2001. larger X-43 vehicle, for follow-on tests in the Mach 5 through References______Mach 7 regime. These tests will actually be more difficult than Gunter Beyes, 1987. "Eugen Sanger: Astronautical Pioneer and Tr ailblazer," tests at Mach 7 or 10, because they will take place in the tran­ (Feb. 27). EIR sition region between supersonic and hypersonic speeds, during Krafft Ehricke, 1960. Principles of Guided Missile Design (Princeton, N.J.: Van which the engine will have to make the transition from a ramjet Nostrand Company). Marsha Freeman, 1998. "The Contributions of Fridrikh Ts ander: A Memoir," to the scramjet. That program will be centered around a hydro­ presented at the 49th International Astronautical Congress, Sept. 28-0ct. 2, carbon-fuelled scramjet, which is being developed by the Air 1998, Melbourne, Australia. Force Research Laboratory. The project, led by NASA's Marshall Russell J. Hannigan, 1994. Spaceflig ht in the Era of Aero-Space Planes Space Flight Center, is planned to start in October 2001 . (Malibu, Fla.: Krieger Publishing Co.). Willy Ley, 1953. Rockets, Missiles, and Space Tra vel (New Yo rk: The Viking Each mode of air transportation has a regime in which it Press). operates most efficiently. To day's turbojet engines are Ron Miller, 1993. The Dream Machines (Malibu, Fla.: Krieger Publishing Co.). designed to operate at relatively slow speeds, in the densest Eugen Sanger, 1965. Space Flig ht (New York: MCGraW-Hili). part of the atmosphere, using mechanical means to provide air Oleg A. Sokolov, 1996. "By Aerospace Plane into Space and Back," (May 17). EIR

21 st CENTURY Fall 2001 47 NUCLEAR REPORT

The Significant Health Benefits Of Nuclear Radiation by Jerry M. Cuttler, D.5e.

any of the negative images of greatly affect our quality of life. Nuclear covered radioactivity in 1896. Since then, Mnuclear energy, especially those technologies can provide realistic reme­ a tremendous amount of research has developed since the 1979 Three Mile dies, but fear about exposures to any been carried out on the effects and after­ Island accident, relate to perceptions of human-made radiation greatly con­ effects of ionizing radiations, and many adverse health effects, specifically the strains their application. very important applications have been possibility of inducing cancer and genet­ We in the nuclear community make found. Harmful health effects following ic damage, from any exposure to ioniz­ arguments about relative risks, but peo­ large exposures were identified, almost ing radiation.1 The irony is that we are ple make their own judgments about the immediately, and rad iological protection continuously exposed to radiation from acceptability of various risks, regardless advice was issued and updated, as more natural sources. of our comparisons. It would be possible accurate information became available. Do exposures from human-made to gradually change public notions about The early recommendations were con­ sources really significantly increase the nuclear technology if, instead of trivial cerned with avoiding burns and delayed normal incidence of cancers and birth risks, a different, more positive picture of effects from intense short-term radiation. defects? What about the beneficial radiation's significant beneficial health This involved defining a safe limit for health effects from low doses we've effects could be communicated. The exposures (for example, rvO.2 rads per day been hearing about? The answers to problem is strong resistance from influ­ in 1934 and 0.3 rads per week in 1951) these questions are important because ential scientists in recognizing the real based on the concept of a threshold. (See humanity now faces severe environmen­ benefits and discounting insignificant box, p. 49.) By 1955, this threshold con­ tal, energy and medical issues, which risks. This has led to a raging controver­ cept was rejected by the International sy over the past decade, and pressures Commission on Radiological Protection from many scientific organizations to (lCRP), which adopted instead a concept Or. Cuttler, a nuclear engineer, works change regulatory policy. of cancer and genetic risks, kept small as a consultant in Ontario, Canada. He The facts, as I will show, are quite compared with other hazards in life. is a past president of the Canadian clear. When the controversy will be "Since no radiation level higher than Nuclear Society. This article was adapt­ resolved is unclear. natural background can be regarded as ed from a speech he gave at the An­ Radiation Carcinogenesis and lNT absolutely 'safe,' the problem is to nual Conference of the Canadian The German physicist Wi lhelm choose a practical level that, in the light Nuclear Society in To ronto, June 2001. Rontgen discovered X-rays in 1895, and of present knowledge, involves negligi­ [email protected] the French physicist Henri Becquerel dis- ble risk."2 This change in philosophy

48 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY NUCLEAR REPORT was brought about by new biological Radiation dose (Gy) information-epidemiological evidence 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 of excess cancer malignancies among o " radiologists and indications of excess -10 leukemia cases in the survivors of the �Q) � Excess cancer fatalities u 0.78 x 1� per millirem whole body = atomic bombings at Hiroshima and �"2- 20 / 0.39 per 500 rem 0 ,9 = Nagasaki-"stochastic effects," whose (ij 1ii (based on Hiroshima/Nagasaki data) - 30 probability of occurrence, not the sever­ ]! � '" 0 ",e. ity, was assumed to be proportional to -40 2l 0 the size of the dose.2 Jj� This is the origin of the linear no­ 1 � -50 threshold or LNT model of radiation car­ !I=�� � Q) Q) 60 cinogenesis. It derives from the hypoth­ £e:. - (ij esis that a single impact of ionizing radi­ Q) -70 I ation on a cell causes an alteration, -80 which could develop into a mutation, 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1,000 which could eventually become the first Radiation dose (rad) cancer cell in a tumor, which then could cause death. The likelihood of this trans­ Figure 1 formation, from a normal cell to organ­ THE LINEAR DOSE-RESPONSE MODEL ism death, is assumed to be proportion­ FOR RADIATION-INDUCED CANCER al to the radiation dose. The linear dose response model fo r calculating the risk of death from cancer Statistically significant data on excess as a result of radiation dose, takes the known cancer death rate from high cancer deaths, which follow exposures doses, and extrapolates it down to "zero" dose (upper left of graph). Th is is to high radiation doses, are fitted by a done despite the fa ct that there are no data showing increased cancer risk at straight line, which is then extended the lower dose region. down to zero dose. This straight line Source: Cuttler (Ref. 22) goes through the entire lower-dose region where there was no statistically significant human data. this average dose is multiplied by the determine what radiation does to living The LNT model for an acute (short­ slope of the LNT line to predict the things. Thousands of these studies term) exposure is shown in Figure 1. increase in the normal fraction of these revealed a variety of beneficial health This model is generally used to calcu­ people who will die from cancer, effects after exposures to low doses. late the excess number of cancer fatal­ instead of from a different cause. (In Many people actually began to consume ities following exposure to ' 8 low dose Canada, this is approximately 28 per­ small amounts of a radium solution, sold from a (human-made) source of rad ia­ cent.) The incremental exposure in bottles as an elixir, until the practice tion. A risk reduction factor, in the received by a person from a human­ was stopped after several well-publi­ range from 2 to 10, may be applied to made source is multiplied by this factor cized cases of radium poisoning caused the integrated dose of a chronic (long­ to determine his/her increased risk of by overconsumption. term) exposure at a low dose rate. dying from cancer. Epidemiology on the famous radium The increase in the average dose Non-linear Effects and dial painters by R.D. Evans identified a (above natural background radiation) Non-scientific Influences maximum body burden of radium (0.1 received by the population from the It is fascinating to review the early Ci), including a 10 to 100 safety factor, human-made source is evaluated, and investigations that were carried out to and a threshold (lifetime) skeletal dose (approximately 1,000 cGy), below which no long-term excess cancers or How Radiation Is Measured other adverse effects appeared.3, 4 Why was the very large amount of sci­ Radiation "dose," or "exposure," is a measure of energy absorbed per unit of entific information on beneficial effects mass. There are two sets of units used, the older units having been renamed. and on thresholds for adverse effects For equivalent tissue damage from different types of radiation, the rem was ignored when the LNT model was for­ defined as "rad equivalent man"-or rad times a quality factor. For gamma and beta mulated, and ignored again when more radiation, the quality factor for most significant energies is 1, so "rad" and "rem" research was carried out? are taken as equal in these cases. For alpha rays and neutrons, the quality factor To understand the answer, we have to is greater, indicating that there is more damage from the same absorbed energy. consider the social and political envi­ New unit Old unit Equivalent used here ronment at the time when the new radi­ 1 gray (Gy) = 100 rad = 100 cGy (centi-gray) ation protection recommendations were 1 sievert (Sv),= 100 rem = 100 cSv (centi-sievert) fo rmulated. Scientists were agonizing over their roles in the development and

NUCLEAR REPORT 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 49 actual use of atomic bombs in war. The 10'0 creation of large stockpiles of more �109 powerfu l nuclear weapons in several Free radicals countries raised enormous moral issues >. Ratio of metabolic DNA damage to radiation DNA '" 108 Reactive damage from low level background radiation � oxygen species and fears about their potential use. Qi 0.1 cGy/year is in parentheses at boHom. Scientists realized they could not put � j c �10' "the genie back in the bottle," so they Q) 106 Secondary > reaction began to campaign against further A­ Q) products To tal "$ ..... alterations bomb development, testing, and pro­ Qi j .. . DNA u DNA r----""" duction, and for nuclear disarmament. " 104 a Concerns began to be expressed about :::. >. "0 potential, long-term adverse health 0 .0 102 �lQZ effects fo llowing exposures to very small c E'" Persistent amounts of radioactive fa llout. Until that ..... alterations :::J . DNA :r: time, the information about beneficial ---,. �1 100 health effects and thresholds had not r- Mutations (�2 X 108) (�107) ...... (�107) been rigorously scientific. I Antioxidants: Enzymes Apoptosis, necrosis, Over the past 50 years, however, GSH, SOD, Catalase, Cell cycle control Differentiation many research programs were carried Peroxidase, etc. Immune response out to study the incidence of adverse Figure 2 biological effects, measured at high BIOLOGICAL MODEL OF DNA DAMAGE-CONTROL SYSTEM doses and extrapolated linearly to zero AT 0.1 cGy/YEAR NORMAL RADIATION dose. During the past 30 years, many Low doses of radiation stimulate many cellular functions, including oxidation observations of beneficial health effects damage prevention, enzymatic repair, and immunological and apoptotic were either ignored or suppressed.s removal of DNA damage. Atomic Bomb Survivors Source: Pollycove and Feinendegen (Ref. 11) The principal scientific evidence that supports the LNT model is the 1950- 2020 Life Span Study of cancer mortali­ within 2.5 km of the bombs.8 asked recently indicated they would ty among the Hiroshima-Nagasaki sur­ Based on the many concerns expect that in excess of 20 to 50 percent vivors. The two A-bombs dropped in expressed over the past 50 years about of the survivors would have died! August 1945 killed between 150,000 the risk of fatal cancers from nuclear So, let us examine the recent data in and 200,000 of a total population of radiation, how many of the A-bomb sur­ Ta ble 1.8 It is very surprising to note only

429,000 people.6, 7 The Life Span Study vivors would we expect to have died 334 excess deaths, 40 years after the sample of 86,572 people contains from cancer, in excess of the normal event, among this very large group! roughly half of the survivors who were incidence of cancer? Several people I Now, 36,459 people were far enough away to have received no significant radiation exposure, so we might consid­

A·BOMB SURVIVORS' OBSERVED AND EXPECTED DEATHS er the fraction 334 .;.- 50,113 = 0.7 '" FROM SOLID CANCERS (1950-1 990) percent, or 334 .;.- 7,578 = 4.4 percent as the attributable risk. But the authors of Dose Dose Number of Observed Expected Excess Statistical this Life Span Study prefer the ratio [334 (Sv) (rem) Subjects Deaths Background Deaths Uncertain!!,- (1 ) (2) (1) (1) (2) - (-42») ';'-(7,578 - 3,01 3) = 8 percent. Of [ - (2») � + this group, 56 percent were alive in 0 0 36.459 3,01 3 3,055 -42 78 1991, and 38,092 had died. So we 0.005-0.1 0.5-10 32,849 2,795 2,710 85 74 could conclude that "'1 percent of them 0. 1-0.2 10-20 5,467 504 486 18 31 died from radiation-induced cancer. 0.2-0.5 20-50 6,308 632 555 77 34 Survivors under 20 years of age at the 0.5-0.10 50-100 3,202 336 263 73 24 time of bombing constitute 40 percent of 1.0-2.0 100-200 1,608 215 131 84 19 the population, but a much smaller frac­ >2.0 >200 679 83 44 39 11 tion of the deaths, because cancers gen­ erally occur late in life. The final results Totals: 86, 572 7,578 7,244 334 will depend strongly on what happens to Among the atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there have these survivors as they enter their can­ been only 334 deaths fro m cancer in excess of the normal incidence of cer-prone years after age 50. cancer in the population. Also, there are no significant excess deaths below a Those over 50 at the time of bombing dose of 1 Sv (100 rem). did not live long enough to show evi­ Source: Pierce et al. (Ref. My rough assessment-J.C. dence of radiation-induced cancer, 8) • because of the "'20 year latency period.

50 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY NUCLEAR REPORT Leukemia was the first malignancy to group of normal cells being recruited by functioning of a vital organ, leading to appear. By 1985 almost all the radiation­ some agent into becoming cancer cells. illness and then death. induced leukemias to be observed were Human tumors often become apparent The incidence of cancer increases recorded; the number of excess deaths only after they have grown to a size of exponentially with age, compatible with determined is 87. 10 billion to 100 billion cells, in a per­ multistep, time-dependent tumor progres­ Nuclear scientist Ralph Lapp states son of 10 trillion to 100 trillion cells (cell sion. For example, in the United States, there were approximately 300,000 sur­ weight is about 10-9 g). the annual death rate from colon cancer vivors in 1950 when the Life Span Study Cancer is generally a disease of old rises from 14 to 83 to 400 per million, as was undertaken. He estimates that in people, because it usually takes a long people age from 40, to 60, to 80 years­ 2020, about 800 will have died from A­ time to accumulate the multiple muta­ a factor of ""6 and ""30. The risk increas­ bomb radiation, or about 0.3 percent of tions required to accelerate cell growth es approximately as the fifth power of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki population. and disable growth suppression. To elapsed time (Reference 10, p. 157). Because one of every four survivors (or become a fatal tumor, a normal cell What causes formation of abnormal 75,000) will die of cancer, one in a hun­ must undergo many changes-a long, cells or acceleration of the process lead­ dred of these deaths will be caused by complex series of successive changes in ing to cancer? Many factors and car­ the A-bomb radiation.6 its behavior. Several decades must pass cinogens have been identified: genetics, A rough assessment of the statistical from the initiation of the tumor to its diet, chemicals, biological agents, ioniz­ uncertainties (standard deviations) of ultimate detection in the clinic. ing rad iation, and so on. More are dis­ the excess deaths in the table, indicates The most disquieting fact about carci­ covered every week, and the I ist appears that they are quite large, below doses of nomas is that they do not respect territo­ endless. But recent research has 0.5 Sv (50 rem). And there is controver­ rial boundaries. They grow locally and, revealed an immensely high rate of cell sy over the Life Span Study rejection of eventually progressing further, shed damage that is caused by normal meta­ the T650 type of dosimetry in favor of small clumps of progeny cells able to bolic activity as a result of attack by OS86 dosimetry, which underestimates start new colonies-so-called metas­ reactive oxygen species.ll the neutron contribution and leads to a tases-in other organs. These progeny Stimulation of Defenses much higher risk estimate. This suggests cells travel through blood or lymph to Living organisms have many defenses, there are no significant excess deaths lodge at distant sites. both within and outside the cell, to pre­ below a dose of 1 Sv (100 rem). Cancer cells evolve into a large num­ vent, repair, and remove cell damage.ll There is also no mention of important ber of diverse cells with new traits that These defenses can limit cell proliferation confounding factors for cancer inci­ allow them to grow more rapidly, com­ by signalling growth-factor rationing and dence, such as the widespread, severe pete more effectively with normal cells, growth-suppressor genes, and by other malnutrition, the pollution caused by and evade defenses. Tu mor cell popula­ means. In addition to removing cells with the A-bomb blasts/fires; the psychologi­ tions sooner or later exceed the ability of persistent DNA damage, the immune sys­ cal stress from burns, sickness, and loss the host to nourish them. Often, long tem also plays an important role fighting of fam ily members, friends, and homes; before that, tumors will compromise the certain types of cancers, especially if the the loss of medical care, and so on. Thus, the LNT model is not supported 200 In vivo by any statistically significant evidence.9 It should also be noted that there was no 180 Qi' Qi' detectable increase in the incidence of � 160 "''" 120 C C mutations in the children or grandchil­ Q) Q) � 140 u dren of the A-bomb survivors. Q) Q; 100 -;c. 120 S Q) The Nature of Cancer

NUCLEAR REPORT 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 51 immune system becomes stimulated.11-t) 10'0 ,- �109 Severe psychological stress, leading to depression and despair, adversely affects ,., Free radicals Ratio of metabolic DNA damage to radiation DNA «S I- Reactive the defenses, creating hormonal imbal­ lOB damage from low level background radiation :g oxygen species cGy/year is in parentheses at bottom. ance and suppressing immune activity, Qi I � I allowing faster cancer progression.14 As c: 10' Q) 106 Secondary �9.3 X > \- reaction organisms age and mutations accumu­ Q) prodU!'S To tal late, their defense mechanisms become � .... alterations DNA Qi(J ..,.. weaker and less effective in preventing " 104 DNA 0 new cancers and controlling the many :::. cancers that have already started. For a ,., "0 0 �86 long, healthy life, it is very important to .0 102 c: «S maintain and enhance the performance E .... Persistent alterations ::J DNA of our natural defenses. J: -.....,.. �0.8 It was mentioned earlier that a large 100 I- .... Mutations (�2 107) (�106) . (�106) number of investigations were carried X -""'1 I out over the past century into the effects Antioxidants: GSH, SOD, Enzymes Apoptosis, necrosis, Catalase, Peroxidase, etc. Cell cycle control Differentiation Immune of radiation on many different biological 107 percent response 107 percent organisms, including plants. Many of Figure these studies revealed significant benefi­ 4 POTENTIAL EFFECT OF 1 cGy/YEAR BACKGROUND RADIATION cial hea.lth effects after exposures to low ON RATE OF DNA MUTAT ION radiation doses. There is overwhelming Low-level radiation can decrease the gene mutation rate, thus decreasing mor­ evidence of this phenomenon,'5-20 and a tality in general, and cancer mortality. model of the effect of ionizing radiation Source: Pollycove and Feinendegen (Ref. 11) on living organisms has been provided by Pollycove and Feinendegen.11 Recent studies show that low doses of radiation stimulate many cellular func­ tions, including oxidation damage pre­ lOr 3x/week x 5 weeks = 150r Figure 5 vention, enzymatic repair, and immuno­ 15r 2x/week x 5 weeks = 150r SCHEMATIC OF logic and apoptotic removal of DNA LOW-DOSE damage (Figure 2). Acute, large doses IRRADIATION (more than 50 cGy) impair these func­ THERAPY tions, causing adverse health effects. But Low dose irradiation chronic low doses, such as a 10-fold or therapy can be total body even 100-fold increase in background (TBI) or half body irradia­ radiation, stimulate prevention and tion (HBI). Possible thera­ repair of DNA damage and the immune pies are fo r 150 admin­ system (Figure 3), which decreases the r, istered over five weeks, gene mutation rate (Figure 4), leading to either three times a week the beneficial effects of decreased mor­ at 10 or twice a week at tality in general and decreased cancer r, 15 r. mortality specifically. Therapeutic stimulation of these

Figure 6 SUPPRESSION OF CANCER IN UPPER NASAL CAVITY BY HALF-BODY LDI THERAPY Research with mice, rats, and human beings has shown that low-dose body irradiation stimulates the immune system and prevents and removes cancer metastases, as shown here. Note the shrinkage of the tumor (see arrow) from August 1, 1991 (a t left) to September 24, 1991 (right). Source: Ta kai et al. (Ref. 21)

52 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY NUCLEAR REPORT Radiation dose (Gy) 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 100 0 o

Hormesis dose-response data -10 (stimulation of biological defense mechanisms) -1 0 "iii '13 'a5 c Q)c 0 co -20 � -20 :; 0a. .. a. -'. '0 -30 :; Expected incidence of fatal cancer Radium dial -30 Q) E in Canada (1 in 4, or 25%) /" painter data '"0> Linear dose-response model (ij (chronic alpha CQ) I ex1ension to "zero" dose � dose) Q) -40 (1990 BEIR Report) -40 Eo 1 U :t:Q) Q) £ -50 -50 "iii IQ)

-60 -60

-70 L___ -L ____ �____ �__ � ______L___ � --��----�--��--L-----�--��--�----�--� -70 0.1 100 10,000 Radiation dose (rad) Figure 7 THE LINEAR MODEL WITH RADIATION DOSE ON A LOGARITHMIC SCALE The beneficial effects of low-dose radiation can be seen in the hatched area above the dashed line, which marks the expected incidence of fa tal cancers in Canada. Source: Cuttler (Ref. 22)

defenses by low dose body irradiation plotted data from nine provinces (Figure 8) A recent study of hyperthyroidism (Figure 5) prevents and removes cancer show a surprising decrease in risk at low treatment using radioiodine (at an aver­ metastases in mice, rats and humans · doses (34 percent and 1 6 percent at the dose age total dose of about 300 MBq, (Figure 6).21 The cell damage caused by points of about 15 cGy and about 25 cGy).24 50,000 cGy to the thyroid and 28 cGy the low dose radiation is insignificant compared to the metabolic oxida­ Deaths per 2,000 10,000 tive DNA damage pre­ Breast cancer million person-years Figure 8 deaths per 8,000 vented, repai red, and 106 person-years Nova Scotia CANADIAN BREAST CANCER 50 mGy/Exp. removed by the stimu­ 6,000 STUDY, AFTER FLUOROSCOPY ... A-P . . lated defenses, leading 1,600 . Nova Scotia EXAMINATIONS FOR TUBERCULOSIS R R/Gy 2 94 4,000 . . . . to overall beneficial ...... A Ca nadian study looked at breast can­ / . f effects (Figure 7).22 / / + ..·tOther Dose cer mortality rates of women who had .-. provinces (Gy) Many medical studies / / fluoroscopic examinations for tuberculo­ , have been carried out to 1,200 / sis, between 7930 and 7952. The data determine the cancer risk , from nine provinces show a surprising , , , after diagnostic and thera- , Other provinces decrease in cancer fo r women who peutic treatments involv­ / 2mGy/Exp. P-A received low doses (34 percent and 76 800 / ing radiation, and there percent at the dose points of approxi­ are very su rprisi ng resuIts. mately 75 and 25 centi-gray). The data The Canadian breast can­ R. R/Gy = 1.25 show a reduction of 10,000 cancers in 1 Standard deviation ±1 cer study, published in 400 million women who were actually 1989, compares breast exposed to 15 centi-gray, instead of the cancer mortality with linear conclusion that there would be radiation dose, after fluo­ 900 excess cancers expected at that Breast dose (Gy) roscopic examinations ______� __� __ � __ � __ __� dose. O L- � L- for tuberculosis, between o 0.25 0.5 0.75 1.0 1.25 1.5 1.75 Source: Webster (Ref. 24) 1930 and 1952.23 The

NUCLEAR REPORT 21 st CENTURY Fall 2001 53 • suppression of cancer through enhancement of the immune systems

• suppression of cancei' and radio­ adaptive response by activation of DNA repair and cell killing. Therapeutic Applications One of these japanese scieritists, K. Sakamoto, pmvided total-body low­ d!=>se irradiation (LDI) therapy (using 6 MV X-rays) in conjunction with local, high-dose palliative radiation treatment to a patient with advanced ovaria'n can­ cer, after surgery. The LDI therapy, 15 fractionated doses of 10 cGy over a five­ week period, achieved total elimination of the cancer metastases. This success led to a program of LDI Courtesy of the Denver Metro Convention and Visitor's Bureau therapy for approximately 150 non­ Residents of Denver typically get more background ra diation, because of its higher Hodgkin's lymphoma patients, including altitude, than those who live in low-lying areas. The evidence indicates that there many intermediate and high-grade are health benefits from this radiation. cases. This LDI therapy was given to patients who had previously received whole body) revealed a sign ificantly effects,1 8 including these: localized high-dose radiation and

lower cancer incidence and a lower • rejuvenation of cells (increase of chemotherapy, and did not get better. cancer mortality.25 SOD and cell membrane permeability) Sakamoto found that the LDI enhanced

japanese scientists, in fourteen univer­ • moderation of psychological stress their immune systems and other defens­ sities and two research institutes, have through stimulation of key enzymes es, thereby achieving many cures,

been studying the beneficial effects of • suppression of and therapy for adult which have lasted more than 10 years. low radiation doses for 20 years, and diseases, such as diabetes and hyperten­ Figure 9 shows that the recurrence-free they have found remarkable bio-positive sion survival rate of non-Hodgkin'S lymphoma patients was increased by this therapy from about 50 percent to about 84 per­ cent.26 Despite these excellent survival 100 -;;;J �----, rates, this controversial program ended \, . .... ______recently when Dr. Sakamoto retired . . c'-,. L..-8_4_° Ic_o 84°_IC'0 Similar effectiveness of the LDI thera­ ... \...... py for non-Hodgkin'S lymphoma had . � ...... � 1,· L, . ... l been noted at the Harvard Medical � 65% ""'\.\._.. .J?,?"I� ...... School in the 1970s, and more recently 50 ...... in France.27 This success has led to the co> .� With total·body or recent approval of a proposal for a clin­ :J half-body low-dose ical trial of LDI therapy in Europe.2ft (/) irradiation A comprehensive review of this appli­ Without low-dose cation of low dose radiation therapy irradiation indicates that significant therapeutic o benefits can be expected.29 Never­ o 5 10 theless, oncologists seem to be very Years reluctant to use, or even consider, this therapy. For example, I note the current Figure 9 experiences of an American patient who SURVIVAL RATES OF NON-HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA PATIENTS WITH has been req uesting LDI therapy for a AND WITHOUT TOTAL- OR HALF-BODY LOW-DOSE IRRADIATION rare form of lymphoma (blood cancer). These are the 9-year survival data reported by Sakamoto et al. of 23 low-dose Only one oncologist, at the johns radiation patients and 94 control patients with similar histological tumor Hopkins Medical Institute, was willing grades. The survival rate of the low-dose radiation patients is 84 percent, com­ to provide this therapy. The patient's pared with 50 percent survival of the control patients. The 12-year survival improvement observed after this treat­ rate of the low-dose patients remains at 84 percent. ment has been comparable to that Source: Sakamoto et al. (Ref. 26) achieved with chemotherapy, but with no symptomatic adverse side effects.3D

54 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY NUCLEAR REPORT Chernobyl and UNSCEAR 2000 prepare the 20-page summary and 10 radiation; for example, 0.4 mSv (0.04 April 26, 2001 was the 15th anniver­ annexes of technical details.32 This rem) from medical diagnostics; 0.1 mSv sary of the tragic Chernobyl accident, an report is the most credible information (0.01 rem) from A-bomb tests in the accident that set off immediate, very on this subject, and was written by an 1960s; 0.05 mSv (5 millirem) from the strong reactions of fear and outrage independent, non-nuclear organization. Chernobyl accident; and less than 0.01 throughout the world. Many people The UNSCEAR report compares the mSv (1 millirem) from nuclear electricity. expected that the radioactivity released radiation dose that an average person Because radiation from natural or human­ at Chernobyl would cause millions of receives from all types of natural and made sources affects living cells in the cancer deaths and the birth of abnormal human-made sources. It estimates the same way, we should not expect the babies. The reality, however, is totally health effects of this radiation, including health effects to be any different for those different. those caused by the Chernobyl accident. who receive the same dose from either The reality was documented in the The average natural radiation dose is source, in the short-term or the long-term. 1,220-page UNSCEAR 2000 Report: 2.4 mSv (0.24 rem) per year, but the Now, on Chernobyl: Of the 134 Sources and Effects of Ionizing report presents data (Figure 10) indicat­ Chernobyl employees who developed Radiation, that was released in June ing that ambient radiation levels are symptoms of acute radiation disease, 28 200031 and tabled in September 2000 at many tens and hundreds times higher in died from radiation sickness and two the United Nations General Assembly. some geographical regions where many died as a result of fire and fa lling (UNSCEAR is the United Nations people live. No adverse health effects objects-all the others with the symp­ Scientific Committee on the Effects of related to radiation were ever observed toms of acute radiation disease recov­ Atomic Radiation.) It took the 146 com­ among populations exposed to such ered. Many emergency workers came to mittee members and staff from 21 coun­ high natural doses. the station to remove radioactive debris, tries, six years to collect and study the Human-made radiation sources expose so as to allow the staff to continue oper­ facts in 5,400 documents, in order to the average person annually to much less ating the other three reactors. No

Dose per year mSv Rem 50 5 \. Guarapari beach, Brazil: up to 790 mSv To more than 700 mSv Ramsar, Iran: up to 700 mSv mSv t t t Rem Southwest France: up to 88 mSv 1.0 0.1(\ Lower end of natural \ background radiation c: 40 4 \ .2 \ 1ii \ '6 0.8 0.08 \ f!! "C Keral Beach, India: up to 35 mSv \ c: \ ::> Global average \ e individual whole body � \ 3 radiation dose per year \ � 30 0.6 0.06 \ .0 \ \ \ Araxa, Brazil: up to 25 mSv Medical \ �d iagno_s_tiC_S \ 0.4 .;;;... _-t 0.04 \ 20 2 \ \ Sweden: up to 18 mSv \ \ 0.2 0.02 \ \ \ 10 \ U.S. Rocky Mountain states: 6-12 mSv \ o \ Evacuated land near Chernobyl: 6 mSv "':::::::="""ilIIIoo_..J.__ O--. \ U.S. Capitol building and Grand Central Station, NYC: 5 mSv 1940 \ Year \ World average 2.4mSv \ San Francisco, U.S. Gulf slales, 0.8-1.2 mSv -0 o Figure 10 COMPARISON OF NATURAL AND HUMAN-MADE RADIATION, AV ERAGE ANNUAL DOSE (1940-2000) The average natural background radiation dose is 2.4mSv (0.24 rem) per year, but in many areas, the radiation levels are much higher, because of the altitude or mineral deposits in the soil. The human-made radiation dose to individuals per year is much smaller-for example, only 0.4 mSv (0.04 rem) from medical diagnostics. . Source: Rockwell (Ref.39); some data are adapted from Zbigniew Jaworowski's paper at the International Conference on Radiation, Te heran, Iran, Oct. 18-20, 2000, based on UNSCEAR figures

NUCLEAR REPORT 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 55 increases above the normal incidences of cancers or leukemias for the popula­ tion as a whole were observed among these 381,000 clean-up workers. The authorities moved 116,000 people from their homes in 1986, and 220,000 more later, in order to avert a lifetime (70-year) dose of more than 350 mSv (which is double the world's natural average background radiation), even though many people live very healthy lives in areas that are much more radioactive. Careful health screening of all the peo­ ple in the Chernobyl area began in 1986. Nothing like this thorough health program had existed before in the area. So far, this has identified a total of about 1,800 thy­ roid cancers. Before the accident, the inci­ dence of thyroid cancers noticed in chil­ dren was rvO.2 per 100,000 in Belarus and Ukraine; no data are available from The fo ur 7,OOO-MW nuclear reactors at Chernobyl. Unit 4 is the damaged reactor. Russia. The maximum incidence rates registered in 1987 to 1998 were as fol­ Cancer Institute carried out a 14-year Commission on Radiation Protection lows: Belarus 17.9, Ukraine 4.9 and study of thyroid cancers fo und all over (ICRP) have convinced many people that Russia 26.6 per 100,000 children. the United States, in the 30-year period radiation is harmful in any amount. The Does this mean that these cancers after the 100 A-bomb tests in Nevada, in regulatory authorities, and many research were caused by the accident? Normally, the 1950s and early 1960s. The 1997 scientists, continue to ignore statistically it takes 10 or more years for cancers to report compared the number in each significant evidence that contradicts this develop, if radiation is the cause, but area with the amount of radiation, and linear no-threshold view of radiation. half of these thyroid cases were found did not find any evidence to associate They simply ignore both the evidence sooner than that (in Russia, for instance, thyroid cancer to this radiation.35-36 that shows there are no adverse effects in the second year after the accident, So, it seems that the 1,800 "excess" from high levels of natural radiation in there were 9.1 cases per 100,000). thyroid cancers, in the Chernobyl many regions, and the evidence that low Also, the number of these thyroid can­ screening, were not caused by radiation. doses of radiation received by nuclear cers is lower in areas of higher dose! The UNSCEAR report concludes that workers and medical patients (including Could they be occult (small, stable) thy­ no increases in cancer incidence or cancer patients) provide significant over­ roid cancers? These happen naturally, mortality have been observed that could all beneficial health effects. and rarely cause medical problems.33 be attributed to ionizing radiation; that The ethics of the International Ty pically, there are many thousands of the risk of leukemia does not appear to Commission on Radiation Protection's such thyroid cancers in a population of be elevated, even for the clean-up work­ behavior is being questioned and debat­ 100,000. The number varies according ers; and that there is no evidence of ed in the scientific community,37, 38 but to geographic location, and depends on other non-malignant disorders that are there is enormous bureaucratic resist­ many different factors. related to radiation. ance to any change that would disturb In the United States, there are 13,000 There were many psychological reac­ the billions of dollars of research money such cancers per 100,000 people (and tions to the accident, the UNSCEAR and clean-up fu nding flowing as a result 24,000 thyroid cancers per 100,000 in report states, but these were caused by of the linear no-threshold myth.40 Hawaii). Is it therefore valid to conclude fear of the rad iation, not the actual radi­ Most damaging is the publ ic fear that that there was an increase in thyroid ation. In other words, there is no need this myth perpetuates, making it difficult cancer incidence after the Chernobyl for anyone to live in fear of serious for many scientists to present the real accident, when there was no equivalent health consequences from the evidence of the beneficial effects of low­ screening before the accident? Chernobyl accident. For the most part level radiation that have been observed In a report of the U.S. National people were exposed to radiation levels on humans and other living things. It is, Council on Radiation Protection on thy­ comparable to, or only a few times therefore, not surprising that the very roid cancer,34 we have the remarkable higher than, the average natural back­ important UNSCEAR 2000 Report statement that, "available human data on ground level. received very little publicity. low dose 1-1 31 [lodine-1 31 J exposures Policies and Myths So, the myths about cancer and have not shown 1-1 31 to be carci nogen ic Policies and myths that were created abnormal babies will continue, as scien­ in the human thyroid." The National half a century ago by the International tists carry out more and more politically

56 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY NUCLEAR REPORT correct and politically funded research and the Biology of Cancer (New Yo rk: Scientific Protection and Measurements, Lecture No. 16, American Library, W.H. Freeman Co.) p. 25. April 1992 (Bethesda, Md.: NCRPM), Fig. 12, on the response of cells and mice to & 11. M. Pollycove and L.E. Feinendegen, 2000. p. 35. radiation. "Cellular and organism dose-response: 25. J.A. Franklyn, P. Maisonneuve, M. Sheppard, The linear no-threshold myth blocks biopositive (health benefit) effects," in J. Betteridge, and P. Boyle, 1999. "Cancer inci­ Proceedings of International Symposium on dence and mortality after radioiodine treatment efforts to supply reliable, environmental­ Health Benefits of Low-Dose Radiation-The for hyperthyroidism: A population-based cohort ly friendly nu�lear energy, to power the Science and Medical Applications, study," The Lancet, Vol. 353 (June 19), pp world economies. It also blocks the Washington, D.C., Nov. 15, 2000 (Needham, 2111-2115. Mass.: Radiation, Science, and Health). 26. K. Sakamoto, M. Myogin, Y. Hosoi, Y. Ogawa, widespread use of low-dose radiation http://cnts.wpi.edu/RSH/Docs/Pollycove2000 K. Nemoto, Ta kai, Y. Kakuto, S. Yamada, Y. therapy to cure or control cancer' and Symp_on_Med_Ben.htm and M. Watabe, 1997. "Fundamental and clin­ other diseases. In the name of "protec­ 12. �.E.J. Mitchel and D.R. Boreham, 2000. ical studies on cancer control with total or "Radiation protection in the world of modern upper half body irradiation," Jp n. Soc. Th er. tion," it is actually causing harm. J. radiobiology: A time for a new approach," in Pro­ Radial. Oncol. , Vol. 9, pp. 161-175. How long will it be before concerns ceedings of 10th International Congress of the 27. P. M. Richaud, P. Soubeyran, H. Eghbali, B. about energy supplies and cancer death Intemational Radiation Protection Association, Chacon, G. Marit, A. Broustet, B. Hoerni, 1998. Hiroshima, Japan, May 2000, Plenary Session 1. rates V:-ill cause people to pay attention "Place of low-dose total body irradiation in the http://cnts.wpi.edu/RSH/DocsIlRPAl O/Mitchel. treatment of localized follicular non-Hodgkin's to the actual scientific results, discount html lymphoma: Results of a pilot stUdy," Int. J. the myths, and take action to reap the 13. L. Somp,ayrac, 1999. How the immune sys tem Radial. Oncol. Bioi. Phys., Vol. 40, pp. 387-390. works (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Science Inc.). great societal benefits? 28. J.H. Meerwaldt and P. Richaud, 1999. "A 14. 0.C. Simonton, S. MattheWS-Simonton, and phase III randomized study on low-dose total Acknowledgements J.L. Creighton, 1978. Getting well again (New body irradiation and involved field radiotherapy I am gratefu l to Dr. Myron Pollycove, of York: Bantam Books). in patients with localized, stage I and II, low the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 15. T. D. Luckey, 1980. Hormesis with ionizing grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma," A proposal u.s. radiation (Boca Raton, Fla. CRC Press). by EORTC Lymphoma Cooperative Group, 83, and the University of California, San Avenue Emmanuel Mounier, Bte 11, B-1200 16. T. D. Luckey, 1991 . Radiation hormesis, (Boca Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 13. Francisco, fo r his comprehensive review Raton, Fla. CRC Press). 29. A. Safwat, 2000. ''The role of low-dose total of this paper. Also, Dr. Zbigniew 17. United Nations Scientific Committee on the body irradiation in treatment of non-Hodgkin's Effects of Atomic Radiation, 1994. Adaptive Jaworowski, of the Central Laboratory for lymphoma: A new look at an old method," responses to radiation in cells and organisms, Radiological Protection in Wa rsaw, and Radiother. and Oncol., Vol. 56, No. 1, pp. 1-8. Spurces and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, Representative of Poland to UNSCEAR, UNSCEA R 1994 Report to the General 30. J.M. Cuttler, M. Pollycove, and J.S. Welsh, 2000. "Application of low doses of radiation for provided valuable' clarifications on the Assembly, with Scientific Annexes. Annex B. curing cancer," Canadian Nuclear Society 18. S. Hattori, 1998. "The research on the health UNSCEAR 2000 Report and important Bulletin, Vol. 21 , No. 2, pp. 45-46 (Aug.). http:// effects of low-level radiation in Japan," in cnts.wpi.edu/RSH/Docs/cuttler_et_al.htm information on thyroid cancer studies Proceedings of 11th Pacific Basin Nuclear applicable to the Chernobyl accident. Conference, Banff, Alberta (Canadian Nuclear 31 . United Nations, 2000. "UNSCEAR Focuses on Society). Chemobyl Accident in General Assembly Report," Press Release No: UNISIUNSCEARll (June 6). References ______19. E.J. Calabrese and L.A. Baldwin, 1999. http://www.un.org/halchernobyl/unscear.htm 1. S.R. Weart, 1988. Nuclear Fear-A History of Radiation hormesis: origins, history, scientific Sources and Effects of Images, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard foundations (Amherst, Mass.: University of 32. UNSCEAR, 2000. University Press). Massachusetts, School of Public Health). Ionizing Radiation, Th e UNSCEAR 2000 Re­ http://www.belleonline.com/home82.html port-Summary, http://www.cns-snc.ca/branch­ 2. RH. Clarke, 2001. "Progress towards new rec­ es/Toronto/radiation/UNSCEAR2000Report.rtf ommendations from the Intemational Commis­ 20. Makinodan and S.J. James, 1990. "T cell T. sion on Radiological Protection," Nuclear potentiation by low dose ionizing radiation: 33. M. Moosa, E.L. Mazzaferri, 1997. "Occult Thyroid Energy, Vol. 40, No. 1 (February), pp. 37-45 Possible mechanisms," Health Physics Vol. Carcinoma," Cancer Joumal, Vol. 10, No. 4 (July­ (Joumal of the B.ritish.NlJclear Energy Society). 59, No. 1, pp. 29-34. Aug.). http://www.fr.embnet.org/agoraljour­ nals/cancer/articles/1 0-4/moos. htm 3. R.p. Evans, 1974. "Radium in man," Health 21. Y. Ta kai, S. Ya miida, K. Nemoto, Ogawa, Y. . Y. Physics, Vol. 27, pp. 497-510. Kakutou, A. Hosi, and K. Sakamoto, 1992. 34. National Council on Radiation Protection 1985. Induction of Thyroid Cancer by Ionizing 4. RE. Rowland, 1994. Radium in humans: A "Anti-tumor effect of low dose total (or half) body irradiation and changes in the functional Radiation, NCRP Report No. 80, Chapter 4, review of U.S. studies, Argonne National "Human Experience after Exposure to lodine- Laboratory, DOE Report ANUER-3, UC-408. subset of periphe(al blood lymphocy1es in non­ Hodgkin's lymphoma patients after TBI (HBI), 131." 5. M. Pollycove, L.E. Feinengegerj, i999. Low DOlle Irradiation and Biological Defense 35. R.A. Brown, 1997. Bomb Fallout and Thyroid "M,olecular biology, epidemiology, ' and the M.echanisms," Kyoto, July 12-16, 1992, in Cancer: Statistical Sheep in Real Wolves ' Clothing. demise' of the linear no-th'reshold (LNT) Excerpta Medica, Eds. Sugahara, L.A. http://www.srv.neV-russblthyroid/index.html hypothesis." C.R ACad Sci Paris, Scienc.es de T. Sagan, and T. Aoyama (Amsterdam: Elsevier 36. National Cancer Institute, 1997. "NCI la vie (Life Sciences), Vol. 332, pp. 197-204, Science Publishers), pp. 113-11.6. Editions Elsevier, ISSN 0764-4469 Releases Results of Nationwide Study of J.M. Cuttler, 2000. "Resolving the controversy Radioactive Fallout from Nuclear Tests," Press My life with radiation­ 22. 6. R.E. Lapp, 1995. · over beneficial effects of ionizing radiation," in Release, Aug. 1 (Bethesda, Md.: NCI). http:// Hiroshima plus fifty years, (Madison, Wisc.: Proceedings of World Council of Nuclear rex.nci.nih.govIlNTRFCE_GIFS/MASSMED_ Cognito Books), p. 67. Work,ers (WONUC) Symposium on the Effects INTR_DOC.htm 7. S. Kondo, 1993. Health effects of low-level of Low and Ve ry Low Doses of Ionizing 37. Jaworowski, 1999. "Radiation risk and Z. .raqiation, (Madison, Wisc.: Medical Physics Radiation on Human Health, Versailles, Fra nce, ethics," Phys. To day, (Sept.), pp. 24-29 Publishing), p. 4. June 17-18, 1999 (Amsterdam: Elsevier 38. "Radiation risk and ethics: Health hazards, 8. D.A. Pierce, Y. Shimizu, p.L. Preston, Science Publishers) pp. 463-471, AECL-12046. tyI. prevention costs and radiophobia," Letters 'in Vaeth, and K. Mabuchi, 1996. "Studies of the 23. A.B. Miller, G.R. Howe, G.J. Sherman , J.P. Physics To day, April 2000, p. 11 and May 2000, mor'talityof at.omic bomb survivors." Report 12, Lindsay, M.J. Yaffe, P. J. Dinner, H.A. Risch, and p. ll. Part Cancer: 1950-1990: in Radiation D.L. Preston, 1989. "Mortality from breast can­ 'f. 39. Rockwell, 2000. Personal. communication,. Research, Vol. 146, pp. 1-27. cer after irradiation during fluoroscopic exami­ T.Dec. 5. 9. National Council on Radiation Protection and nation in patients being treated for tuberculosis," 40. J. Muckerheide, 2000. "It's Time to Te ll the Measure,ment, 1995. Principles 'and applica­ N. Eng/. J. Med., Vol. 321 , pp. 1285-1289. Truth About the Health Benefits of Low-Dose tion of collective dose in radiation protection, 24. E.H. Webster, 1992. "Dose and risk in diag­ Radiation," 21st Century, (Winter), pp. 44-55. NCf3PR,epor t No. 121 (Bethesda, Md.), p. 45. nostic radiology: how big? how little?" http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/arti­ 10. H. Varmus and R.A. We.inberg, 1993. Genes Lauriston S. Ta ylor Lectures in Radiation cles/nuclear.html

,NUCLEAR REPORT 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 57 ANCIENT DISCOVERY

Ancient Navigators Could Have Measured Longitude! by Rick Sanders

round the year 232 B.C, Captain on more experiments, using the fu ll ARata and Navigator Maui set out instrument. with a flotilla of ships from Egypt in an The torquetum's value, as an ana­ attempt to circumnavigate the Earth.' logue calculator, must have been On the night of August 6-7, 2001 , immense, because, once a planet or between the hours of 11 PM and 3 AM, the Moon are not on the meridian, all th is writer, and fellow amateur "straight lines" become curves-so astronomer Bert Cooper, proved in prin­ that calculations are' difficult, even ciple that Captain Rata and Navigator with a modern calculator. However, Maui could have known and charted the 23.S-degree plane on the torque­ their location, by longitude, most of the tum allows one to directly read the time during that voyage. longitude and latitude of a planet or The Maui expedition was under the the Moon, relative to the ecliptic, with­ guidance of Eratosthenes, the great sci­ out calculation. These data would be entist who was also the chief librarian of invaluable for predicting eclipses and the library at Alexandria. Could this voy­ occultations of various stars or planets age have demonstrated Eratosthenes' by the Moon. theorem that the world was round, and The Inspiration for the Experiment measured approximately 24,500 miles The inspiration for this experiment in circumference? One of the naviga­ was twofold. On display at the 1992 From America B.C., Barry Fell (New Yo rk: © tional instruments which Maui had with Simon Schuster, 1976), 118 Columbus Quincentennial exhibit in & p. him was a strange looking "calculator" Washington, D.C, was a period torque­ that he called a tanawa; such an instru­ Drawing by Maui of his tanawa or cal­ tum. However, there was no description ment was known, in 1492, as a torque­ culator, fo und in the Caves of the of how it was used, or what it was used tum. Na vigators, Sosorra, Irian jaya (West for, and no one seemed to be able to Intrigued by a photograph of the cave New Guinea). give any explanation. I left that question drawing of that tanawa in Irian Jaya, fallow for a while, but then, thanks to a western New Guinea, I speculated that To test the hypotheses, we built a series of articles in 21st Century,' I Maui must have been looking at the wooden torquetum and used a simpli­ found that navigator Maui had a torque­ ecliptic to measure "lunar distance," in fied version of it to measure the change tum with him 2,200 years ago. order to find his longitude. Maui's in angular distance between the Moon Epigrapher Barry Fell's decipherments tanawa was of such importance, that he and the star Altair, in the constellation of the Maui-Rata expedition, including drew it on the cave wall with the Aquila (the Eagle). This success proves inscriptions found in Chile and Pitcairn inscription, deciphered in the 1970s by official dogma wrong, and proves that, Island, indicated that the fleet had epigrapher Barry Fell: "The Earth is tilt­ in principle, Navigator Maui, during his reached the New Wo rld in 232 B.C A ed. Therefore, the signs of half of the voyage could have used tables brought sketch of the torquetum was found in ecliptic watch over the south, the other from Alexandria, drawn up by the "Cave of the Navigators" in Irian (half) rise in the ascendant. This is the Eratosthenes or his collaborators, com­ Jaya (photographed by a German eth­ calculator of Maui." pared those lunar distances with the nologist Josef Roder in 1937); and from Eratosthenes had just measured the distances that he measured, and come this, Dr. Sentiel Rommel, a U.S. marine circumference of the Earth, and the cir­ up with a good estimate of his longi­ biologist, built Fell a model of this cumference of a sphere is the same in all tude. tanawa (see graphic, p. 66, and 21st directions. We know that Maui was It is important to note that we are not Century Spring 1999, p. 77). thinking about this, because his cave claiming here that we know everything This was intriguing! What was this drawings also include a proof of about the torquetum. We simplified our "tanawa" for? Why the 23.S-degree Eratosthenes' experiment to measure the device for the proof-of-principle experi­ plane, characteristic of the torquetum? It. Earth's circumference. ment, but we will carry out and report could only mean that Maui was looking

58 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY ANCIENT DISCOVERY at the ecliptic, the Moon, and the plan­ look at a star (like Polaris), as is done for longitude] ... by the eclipses and ets, the "wandering stars." finding latitude. The textbooks say that conjunctions of the Moon with the Of the two torquetums surviving in to determine longitude from shipboard, planets; and I have lost many nights of the world, one belonged to Nicholas of requires a chronometer, or a special sex­ sleep in reconciling my calculations Cusa, and the other to Regiomontanus, tant mounted with a telescope; or a tel­ with the precepts of those sages who both of whom were involved in calen­ escope capable of detecting the occulta­ have devised the manuals and written dar reform, including setting the date tion of the moons of Jupiter-technolo­ of the movements, conjunctions, of Easter, which, along with some gies that were not perfected until the aspects, and ecl ipses of the two lumi­ other religious festivals, is dated by the 18th Century. naries and of the wandering stars, such interaction of the lunar and solar cal­ You cannot tell longitude from the as the wise King Don Alfonso in his endars. stars alone, because their daily motion is Tables, Johannes Regiomontanus in his But what could Maui have been purely apparent, caused by the rotation Almanac, and Blanchinus, and the doing? Trying to determine longitude? of the Earth. At 8 PM (solar apparent Rabbi Zacuto in his almanac, which is The very thought was heretical. To take time), any star, seen from anywhere, perpetual; and these were composed in things out of the realm of speculation, whether Ferrara, Paris, or Cairo, will different meridians: King Don Alfonso's the only solution was to build a torque­ have the same azimuth as it does in book in the meridian of To ledo, and tum, and see if longitude could be deter­ Washington, D.C., Chicago, Sioux Falls, Johannes Regiomontanus's in that of mined by using sightings of the Moon, S.D., Seattle, or anywhere else. The Ferrara, and the other two in that of with simple backyard equipment; if this Moon shares in this apparent motion to Salamanca."2 succeeded, then Navigator Maui could the west, but it also has its own inde­ The best "clock" to use for reference, have also succeeded. pendent, real motion. is the stars. I n the rough Iy 27.3 solar Finding Longitude Look at what Amerigo Vespucci, him­ days of a lunar orbit, the Moon moves Longitude is hard to find. The ancients self at the frontiers of post-Dark-Ages a full 360 degrees around the sky, used eclipses for determining longitude, navigational astronomy, said of this in returning to its old position among the but these are too infrequent to be of 1502, in Letter IV: stars. This is 13 degrees per day, or just much use for navigation. You can't just ft ••• I maintain that I learned [my over 0.5 degree per hour. So, while the

Figure 1 PROBABLE ROUTE OF THE EGYPTIAN VOYAGE IN 232 B.C. Deciphered rock and cave inscriptions from the Pacific islands, western New Guinea, and Santiago, Chile, tell of an Egyptian flotilla that set sail around 232 B.C., during the reign of Ptolemy III, on a mission to circumnavigate the globe. The six ships sailed under the direction of Captain Rata and Navigator Maui, a friend of the astronomer Eratosthenes (ca. 275- 194 B.C.), who headed the fa mous library at Alexandria. Maui's inscriptions, as deciphered in the 1970s by epigra­ pher Barry Fell, indicated that this was a proof-of-principle voyage, to demonstrate Era tosthenes' theorem that the world was round, and approximately 24,500 miles in circumference.

ANCIENT DISCOVERY 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 A brass model of Maui's tanawa, con­ structed by Dr. Sentiel Rommel. The base (A) in the plane of the observer's horizon, is oriented so that the axis of symmetry is parallel to the meridian. (8) is the equatorial plane. (C)is the ecliptic plane (viewed from one side B in Maui's drawing, hence appearing as a line).

Drawing by Matt Makowski in The Ep igraphic Society Occasional Publications, Vol. No. 9 Feb. 1975 32, 2 ,

The author, using an equatorial sundial to establish a north-south line.

rotation of the Earth causes the stars Our Observations and the Moon to appear to move from Our observational experiment east to west across the night sky, the showed that a simplified torquetum Did You Miss Moon, because of its own orbit around could do it. In the time that Altair had the Earth, fights back against this appar­ moved 41 .8 degrees west along the ent motion, and seems to move east­ equatorial plane, the Moon had moved TheRa ta-Maui ward (or retrograde) by about 0.5 only 40.25 degrees, a difference of 1.55 degree per hour. In other words, the degrees. Because the Moon should ret­ Story? Moon "moves" west only 11.5 degrees rograde about 0.5 degree/hour, the cal­ per hour. culated regression would equal 1.39 Thus, if a known star is in a given degrees. This error of less than 1/6th (or Back Issues of position on the celestial sphere (meas­ 0.1 66) of a degree is well within our ured by azimuth and right ascension), a instrument limitations, which can be 21st CENTURY table could be drawn up at a given read only to 0.25 of a degree. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY location for each night, showing how distant the Moon appears to be from Notes ______that star. 1. For the story of the Rata-Maui Expedition, see are available at "The Decipherment and Discovery of a Voyage For example: If a ship sailed west out to America in 232 B.C.," by Marjorie Mazel $5 each postpaid of a port, and its new longitude were Hecht, 21st Century. Winter 1998-1 999, p. 62; "Indian Inscriptions from the Cordilleras in Chile" ($8 foreign). now 15 degrees west (one hour) of that found by Karl Stolp in 1885, 21st Century. port, and those on the ship could see the Winter 1998-1 999, p. 66; "On Eratosthenes, Moon and the reference star, the Moon Maui's Voyage of Discovery, and Reviving the Send check or money order Principle of Discovery To day," by Lyndon H. : would appear to be 0.5 degree east of U.S currency only 1 LaRouche, Jr., 21st Century, Spring 1999, p. 24; where the table would show it to be for "Eratosthenes' Instruments Guided Maui's 3rd the port of departure. There is nothing Century B.C. Voyage," by Marjorie Mazel Hecht, 21st Century. Spring 1999, p. 74; and "Maui's 21st Century, here that navigator Maui in 232 B.C. Ta nawa: A To rquetum of 232 B.C.," by Sentiel Box 16285, could not have known. The only ques­ Rommel, Ph.D., 21st Century. Spring 1999, p. P.O. 75. tion would be whether his instruments Washington, D.C. 2004 1 2. Cited in Letters From A New World, 1992. Ed. could measure an angular difference on Luciano Formisano (New York: Marsilio the order of 0.5 degree. PubliShers), pp. 38-39.

60 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY ANCIENT DISCOVERY Building and Using Maui's Ta nawa by Bertram Cooper

hese photos show the assembly of a Tprimitive wooden torquetum (a model of Maui's tanawa), in preparation for celestial observations. Obviously, the torquetum was photographed during daylight hours, but a primary use of the instrument would be for stellar and plan­ etary observations, and measurements of the Moon's motion. The instrument's "lower unit" is raised up, from its horizontal frame to the angle of the co-latitude of the observer (90 degrees minus latitude), such that the polar axis of the hour circle will be par­ allel with the polar axis for the rotation of the Earth. SKETCH OF A The direction of the polar axis can be PROTOTYPE OF established by first laying out a good THE TORQUETUM south line at the planned point of obser­ This sketch was the vation, so as to provide a local "anchor" draft design fo r the from which to measure time across the torquetum shown in sky. the photos, with a Polar north can be determined over 74-inch hour circle. the course of a 12-hour or longer night, to a high degree of precision, by locat-

The circle that measures ecliptic latitude, that What Is a To rquetum? is, the number of degrees above or below the ecliptic of the Moon or the planets. It is The torquetum, an analogue properly calibrated when it reads "zero" every computer, can tell us, without day at noon, when sighting the Sun. long and tedious calculation, A half-circle and plumb-bob at any time of the night when attached to the sighting planets or the Moon are visi­ arm, which gives the ble, what their angular dis­ elevation of a star or planet tance is from the Sun, or from above the horizon. the first point of Aries, and/o r from some bright star in their vicinity. It can also tell us how �>-I1��r"'- Sighting arm, with sights for "shooting" a planet, much they are above or below Equatorial plane, points to the ---I star, the Moon, or the Sun. the ecliptic. celestial equator, by tilting it from This would give us a fa irly the horizontal by an angle equal to the co-latitude. The 14" circle quick way to construct an on it is divided up into hours, for � Ecliptic plane, also known almanac, with enough data to sidereal time or right ascension as the 23.5-degree wedge, predict at least lunar eclipses, (when necessary, these readings set parallel to the plane of as well as occultations of can easily be converted into the ecliptic. The 12" circle on degrees, since this plane is divided up into bright stars or planets by the 24 hours, giving ecliptic 1 hour = 15 degrees). Moon-the which dramatic Base, in the plane of the longitude, where the position events ought to confirm the observer's horizon, of the Sun is the sidereal oriented so that the axis of time at noon for that day. longitude readings obtained symmetry is on the north­ by using the torquetum to south meridian. measure lunar distance. Source: Adapted from Sentiel Rommel. "Maui's Ta nawa: A Torquetum of 232 B.C .. " 21st Century, Spring 1999, -Rick Sanders p. 75.

ANCIENT DISCOVERY 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 61 �S · �f;· � - "' l

_ _ . · -· ·· t · . �-j�:q.

01 A POSSIBLE METHOD OF SIGHTING ing the eastern and western elongation This is a study fo r a possible method of sighting. Ea ch reading would consist of any bright circumpolar star, and then of a "set" of two readings on a measuring star or planet, and two readings on splitting the difference. This can be the Moon, one on the tra iling edge and one on the leading edge, resulting in supplemented with daytime observa­ an average at the center. It was fo und to be more accurate to align the edge of tions of the Sun at noon, if you can find the Moon aga inst the crosshair, ra ther than trying to guess exactly where the noon. center of the Moon was fo r each shot. Figuring that a minute of time passes Given the present location of the ver­ between each alignment, the fo ur shots would then be averaged, to compute nal equinox, the north star is not true the angular separation of the Moon at the required moment of first action. north, but is within three quarters of a Note that a sequence of fo ur shots, paced evenly at about one minute per degree of polar north. Sights can be shot, which is a natural and adequately unhurried pace, sLich as Maui might made to accurately shoot astronomical have used, minimizes the error. This sequence is (7) one on the reference north, and to establish a true north-south stal; (2) one on the trailing edge of the Moon, (3) one on the leading edge of line for the setup. the Moon, and (4) one again on the reference star, which, when reduced, Here (Photo 1), the sights are insta lled produces the instantaneous angle at the tabulated trigger event. for a polar sighting and alignment, by a On his voyages, Maui would have probably carried with him tables groove cut into the endplate of the prepared by Era tosthenes in Alexandria, and using those as a reference point, lower unit. It must be noted that Maui he would make his own tables, based on his fi ndings of local longitudes. was travelling approximately 2,200 -Bert Cooper years ago, and our present pole star was, at that time, farther from the posi­ tion of the celestial pole. However, This setup is one in which the sights a separate work table. The notched Maui would have fo und true astronom­ would be used at night for a polar align­ crosspiece in the yoke will ultimately ical north to be somewhere near the ment of the frame. Unlike the arrange­ support the sights. In the middle, a 23.5- midpoint between Beta Ursa Minoris, ment for daytime use, here the degree wedge was made to imitate the and Polaris. crosshairs are put as a front sight, and inclination of the Earth's axis relative to Another view of the setup (photo 2), the rear sight is a 1/4 " diameter hole, the plane of the solar system. This circle shows the frame of the instrument, par­ like the peep sight on a rifle. must be set daily for the Sun's position allel to the Earth's axis, and parallel to The yoke with its wooden bearings on the ecliptic. an instrument circle to be placed on the now awaits assembly. It is awkward to The Equatorial Circle frame, which will give the right ascen­ set up the circles and bearings with the The 14-inch equatorial circle (Photo sion along the celestial equator. instrument in place, so this was done at 3) takes a fa ir amount of time to con-

62 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY ANCIENT DISCOVERY been installed on the instrument's polar axis, the 23.S-degree wedge is installed, with its main bearing (photo 4). Ta lc is provided here too, so that the wedge, with yoke and sights installed, will turn smoothly qn the fixed wooden bearing and hour circle. Any jerky movement of the sights against the hour circle will prohibit accurate readings of the stars later on. The main bearing, which controls ten­ sion in the rotation of the sighting bar against the equatorial circle, is con­ trolled by a compression of matted material such as horsehair; we used the underlining for a rug. A keeper bar is inserted to hold things in place tem­ porarily. The bearing for the yoke and 03 sighting bar is then installed into the upper plate of the 23.S-degree wedge, minute lines at S-degrees each; each of with its keeper bar. these is then divided into fifths, to pro­ The Annual Circle 02 duce five 1-degree lines (4 minutes). A 12-inch annual circle, marking Each degree is then divided into degrees longitude from the vernal equi­ struct, and easily competes with truing­ halves, producing one-half degree nox, is ther:! mounted, on the upper up bearings in terms of patience and the lines. bearing, along with the sighting bar yoke extended concentration required for It is extremely important that the (photos 5 and 6). This is held in firm success. It is constructed with compass instrument move smoothly. We do not compression by paper wedges. There is and dividers, first dividing the circle into know what substance Maui used, but we no need for smooth motion on this bear­ sixths, producing six 60-degree lines; used talcum powder to lubricate the ing, as it is set only once for each day or and then dividing each sixth by one­ movement of the circle with its adjoin­ evening, and does not change during an half, and then one-half again, producing ing surface, the bottom of the 23.5- observation session. twenty-four 1S-degree (or one-hour) degree wedge of obliquity. Dried clay The vertical circle, marked off to 1/2 lines. from a river bed would work just as a degree, is then installed, which, when Using dividers, each hour is then well. mounted on the annual circle, will give divided into thirds, producing three 20 After the 14-inch equatorial circle has a direct reading (without calculation) of

04 05 06

ANCIENT DISCOVERY 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 63 07 08 09

This completes the assembly of the becoming the rear sight. A surveyor's instrument, which is now ready for technique proved usefu l: When sighting, mounting into its lower unit, as shown in keep both eyes open and the mind Photo 9. It may seem that we are ready focussed and concentrated on Iy upon to mount the sighting bar and its sights; the celestial object-not upon the sight but fi rst, we have to provide tension for or the crosshair. compression on the "horsehair" of the A sighting on the Sun is then collimat­ main bearing, for smooth motion of the ed by two separate motions (Photo 12). hour circle. For a right-handed person, the vertical A lower plate, with crossbar and motion of the sighting bar is controlled compression wedges is provided, to put by the right hand, and is moved up and the 14-inch equatorial circle in mild down only as required. compression, removing as much play as The horizontal motion of the instru­ possible between it and the lower plate ment is controlled by the turning bar, of the 23.S-degree wedge, while still at held in the left hand, which is braced by the same time providing smooth the cross. Under no circumstances motion. should torque be applied to the sighting Then, the sighting bar with sights is bar. When crosshairs are visible and in mounted (Photo 10). focus, the image of the Sun can be cap­ Various sighting systems were investi­ tured easily to an accuracy of a quarter gated. The best results so far, for daytime of a degree, or a minute of time, or less 10 solar observations, were a front sight (photo 11). consisting of a 1/4-inch hole in a piece Photo 13 shows a view of the east the celestial latitude of the planets and of hardboard. The middle "sight" is a side of the torquetum. The longitudinal the Moon, above or below the ecliptic crosshair, which is used for alignment of position of the Sun along the ecliptic · (Photo 7). When mounted directly on the Sun's image. This crosshair consists affects the adjustment of the entire the hour circle, without the wedge of of two threads, which are glued in place. instrument. obliquity, this circle will give a direct The rear "sight" is a sheet of paper, Proof of Principle reading of the declination of celestial which catches the image of the Sun For our first "proof-of-principle" objects, above or below the celestial (through the aperture of the 1/4-inch experimental observations of the motion equator. front sight) with the crosshair superim­ of the Moon, in order to determine lon­ Then the index mark for the declina­ posed (photo 11). gitude on Earth, our measurements were tion circle-a piece of thread, held in For nighttime observations, there are done with a "stripped down" torquetulll, place with glue-is installed; and the only two sights used: with the cross­ without the 23 .S-degree wedge index mark for the 12" annual circle is hairs becoming the front sight, and the installed. This minimal torquetulll had installed (Photo 8). hardboard with the quarter inch hole only the 14" equatorial circle, pointing

64 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY ANCIENT DISCOVERY 11 12 13

to the celestial equator, which directly With our torquetum assembled, we "slowing down" of the Sun, will force us measured a sidereal angle along the can now start gathering a wealth of data, to reflect on the fact that the solar system celestial sphere, known as lunar dis­ particularly the declination of the Sun at does not allow itself to be forced into tance. noon, and the equation of time (by con­ arbitrary circles with uniform motions. A view from the east (Photo 14) shows trasting our digital watches with the For example, why do the equations the completed torquetum, equipped Sun's arrival on the south line every day). of time make two peaks and two val­ with solar sights, in a setup ready for the The notorious equation of time, caused leys during the course of the year (see record ing of observations. by the apparent "speeding up" and table), while declination has only one peak and one valley during the year? Why are the equations of time not zero at the equinoxes? Why are the number of days between the seasons not equal?

EQUATIONS OF TIME Here are the equations of time, in minutes, for certain singular events, taken from the almanac data for longitude zero for years 1990 and 1991 : March 21, +7.24 equinox April 16, 0.00 May 14, +3.71 peak June 14, 0.00 June 22, -1 .90 solstice July 25, -6.50 valley Sept. 02, 0.00 Sept. 24, +7.90 equinox Nov. 03, + 16.42 peak Dec. 22, + 1 .50 solstice Dec. 26, 0.00 Feb. 11, -1 4.24 valley Source: Prepared from data in the Astronomical Almanac of 1990 and 1991 14

ANCIENT DISCOVERY 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 65 ENVIRONMENT

Hot Air Over Wind Energy by Greg Murphy

ear-bankrupt farmers are being u.s. N sold a bill of goods by the Department of Energy about how they should rent (or lease) their land to be used as "wind farms," where "high tech" windmill turbines will allegedly make them money by selling electricity to the power grid. In fact, the only way wind power can make money, is with huge government subsidies, tax breaks, and phony accounting. Here's what the wind-power wind­ bags are doing, and why it won't work: The push for "alternative energy sources" goes back to the post-John F. Kennedy paradigm shift, when the anti­ industrial elites decided to shift America from an agro-industrial economy to a post-industrial service society. The wide­ scale promotion of anti-technology ecologism-and fears about the most efficient available energy source, nuclear power-were part of that game plan. This insanity mush­ roomed during Jimmy Carter's Ad­ ministration, and has been getting worse ever since. To increase the use and development of wind energy and other renewable Still not profitable, even with subsidies and efficiency improvements. Here, a sources, the Clinton Administration windfarm near Livermore, Ca lif. modified its proposed Federal util ity restructuring legislation, mandating an the first 10 years of their operation. This Phony Cost Accounting increase in the percentage of electricity Production Tax Credit will expire on The truth that the wind energy wind­ produced by renewable sources from 2 Dec. 31, 2001 , and the American Wind bags don't want to tell the public, is the percent today, to 7.5 percent by the year Energy Association is currently lobbying real cost of production of wind power! 2010. (Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.), has Congress to extend the tax credit for at They claim it is now about 3 to 6 cents proposed to increase the percentage of least five more years. per kilowatt hour-not quite competi­ electricity produced by wind to 20 per­ Several states are pushing for legisla­ tive with other sources, but in the ball­ cent.) tion, known as Renewable Portfo lio park. In truth, even with government In 1999, Energy Secretary Bill Standards (RPS), which mandates that a subsidies, tax breaks, and phony Richardson announced the Wind certain percentage of electrical power accounting, the cost is many times this Powering America Initiative, which set come from so-called renewable sources, claim. the goal of producing 80,000 megawatts like wind power, and that these wind In the 1980s, the cost of generating of electricity from wind power by the percentages increase year after year. wind power was about 38 cents per year 2020. Some of the states are giving tax incen­ kwh, according to the November 1998 To help make wind power more com­ tives or rebates for the purchase of small Renewable Energy Pol icy Program petitive, the Federal government pro­ wind turbines, as in the case of report, titled "Expanding Wind Energy: vides a 1.S-cents per kilowatt-hour California, which currently offers a tax Can Americans Afford It?" There have (kwh) Production Tax Credit for all elec­ rebate of up to 50 percent of the pur­ been improvements in efficiency of tricity generated by new wind plants for chase price of the wind turbine. wind turbines, which were the result of

66 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY ENVIRONMENT materials and design research in the to the transmission grid. aerospace industry. However, these Windmill power will never be com­ improvements have been nowhere near petitive with more modern forms of enough to drop the wind generation cost energy production. For one thing, the to the level being claimed. The 3 to 6 same improvements in technology that cents per kwh claimed by the industry might make the wind turbine more effi­ for wind power is not a true cost, but an cient would also improve the efficiency accounting fiction, called a levelized of turbines turned by coal, oil, gas, and cost. nuclear. But, even if technological Te chnically, the levelized cost of ener­ improvement could miraculously make gy, is the cost in current dollars of all fuel, the cost of wind power competitive with capital, and operating and maintenance modern forms such as nuclear, would expenses during the lifetime of the power we want it? plant, divided by the estimated output in Wind Fails Energy Density Test kilowatt-hours over the lifetime of the The fact is that there is a more impor­ power plant. In the case of a wind farm, tant factor than cost-in-the-small to be James "Scotty" Doohan there is no cost for fuel, but the wind tur­ considered in evaluating an energy of "Star Trek" ' bine is dependent on nature to provide source. If you look at the overall $34.95 No. America $44.95 the necessary wind. The problem with demands for electrical energy and indus­ Foreign considering the levelized cost in the case trial process heat in a growing industrial "Everyone interested our energy of wind energy, is that this cost is figured economy, wind energy could never in future should see it." -JeaneManning. aulhor of on the assumption of a constant maxi­ begin to provide even a tiny percentage rgy mum wind for a given area. of what is needed. J'hi!Coming Ene Revoll�tiotl In other words, levelized cost assumes First, you must look at the concentra­

a constant wind, every day for 20 to 30 tion of energy per area of work, which is Cold Fusion Technology, Inc. years! There is no place on the Earth that shown as watts per square centimeter, P.O. Box 2816 - TF Concord, 03302-2816 the wind blows at a constant maximum and as power output in kwh per square NH average speed all the time. kilometer of land area. Next, you look at Ph: 603-228-4516 Fx: 603-224-5975 Further, these calculations are dishon­ what levels of energy flux density will fos­ http://www. infi n ite-energy.com est about the maintenance cost of wind ter the increase of the population density. turbines, keeping them unrealistically The energy density of wind is intrinsical­ low. They figure for a wind farm, which ly too low to maintain the population at might consist of 100 to 250 windmills, a current levels, and will lead to population Space, Time, and Matter maintenance crew of three men and a decrease over time-which is exactly And the Falsity of Einstein's truck. They also assume a yearly repair what the Malthusian environmentalist cost at a ridiculously low total of about movement wants to accomplish. Theory of Relativity $750 a year. In order for all mankind to progress, by Kamen George Kamenov .-""""",,,.m�--I In reality, wind turbines have consid­ we have to develop sources of energy With superb clar- erable down time for repairs and clean­ with higher flux density, and develop the ity and undeniable ing. One recent study found that flying technology that can make use of these logic, the author insects-such as bees, locusts, gnats, sources. explores the sub­ and butterfl ies-cut the efficiency of tur­ ject and philoso­ bines by as much as 25 percent. A version of this article appeared in phy of space, time, Thousands of insects fly into the turbine The New Federalist weekly newspaper. and matter, and blades and die, forming a ragged crust gives proof after on the blades leading edge. Even a mil­ proof of the falsity Are you looking fo r of Einstein's theory limeter of this crust generates drag that extraordinary translator? of relativity. Explains can ruin the turbine's efficiency. an You just fo und him! the nature of elec­ Another consideration is the power tricity, magnetism, translator transmission cost. Even if, after the 1.5 Richard Sanders, electronmagnetism, and gravity. cents Federal subsidy, windmills could I translate ideas, not just words! Discloses the substance of the electron More than years experience sell electricity at 6 cents per kwh, the 15 and the non-reality of the photon. This power still has to move along the trans­ translating scientific material. is a down-to-Earth, highly readable, mission grid to the consumer. Because 1-540-668-71 41 phone 1-540-668-71 43 fax provocative, and electrifying work. [email protected] wind power is an intermittent power HYPER LINK mail to: source, rates for access to the transmis­ Translate from: Dutch, French, German, Available for order at bookstores, on Italian, and Spanish; also Anglo-Saxon the web, or call: sion grid are higher. To counter this, the and Middle English 1-800-882-3273 American Wind Energy Association is Translate into: (American) English aper a , pp., $12.95 lobbying for what they call "fair access" P b ck 166

ENVIRONMENT 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 67 BOOKS

The Meaning of Dolly by Colin M. Lowry

The Second Creation: Dolly and the any damaged tissue or cell type from a Age of Biological Control person's own cells. Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell, and Colin Tudge Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University The Road to Dolly Press, 2000 The question of when and how the Paperback, 333 pp., $16.95 cells of an embryo start to lose their totipotency has puzzled biologists fo r he cloning of the now-famous ewe more than a century. The authors review T Dolly, reported in 1997 by Ian some of the important experimental mile­ Wilmut, Keith Campbell, and a team of stones in embryology of the 20th century, scientists from Scotland, has overthrown starting with the first documented cloning many dogmas in science and hinted at the of an animal by Hans Driesch. Just after possibilities to come from this technology. 1900, Driesch separated the cells from In this book, Drs. Wi lmut and Campbell sea urchin embryos at the two- and four­ tell the story of their research, with the cell stages. Each of the cells grew into an intention of introducing nonspecialists to entirely new animal, showing that the the intricacies of embryonic develop­ embryonic cells retained totipotency, at ment, genetic engineering, and the histor­ least at this stage. ical development of ideas in biology. In the 1930s, Hans Spemann provided Neither of these two scientists started the first experiment that demonstrated his research with the cloning of mammals the principle that factors in the cyto­ as the goal. In fact, cloning was used plasm may hold the key to totipotency. merely as a more efficient way to geneti­ would never become a ruthless dictator, Spemann tied a loop around a single­ cally engineer animals. The driving force as the cloned person would develop and cell salamander embryo, such that one behind their work was to find a way to grow in an entirely different set of cir­ side contained the nucleus, and the produce therapeutically useful human cumstances, and would become a differ­ other only cytoplasm. However, the iso­ proteins in agricultural animals, such as ent individual. Cloning cannot replicate lated nucleus continues to divide. blood clotting factors to treat hemophilia, individuals as such, it can only create After four rounds of division, Spemann or enzymes to treat cystic fibrosis. DNA clones. allowed a single nucleus to migrate back Human cloning was, and still is, Perhaps the most exciting thing to hap­ into ·the other cytoplasmic chamber by something both these scientists are pen from the cloning research was that it loosening the loop. Once returned to this opposed to, and their discussion of what shattered several dogmas in biology, cytoplasm, the nucleus from the 16-cell a genomic clone is, and is not, will like­ most important, the old ru le that differ­ ly burst the illusions of many people entiation of a cell was like going down a whose knowledge on the subject comes dead-end street, with no chance of ever from the popular press. regaining the potential to develop into The genetic determinist view, which any cell type in the body. Dolly, cloned derives from the legacy of Nazi eugen­ from the nucleus of an adult cell in cul­ ics, is ridiculed through the authors' dis­ ture, proves that the genome of a differ­ cussion of what makes an individual entiated cell can be "reprogrammed" to actually an individual. Wilmut and produce an entire new individual, restor­ Campbell cloned four lambs from the ing the totipotency of the cell. same DNA, and according to the genet­ This has profound implications for the ic determinist view, all these lambs study of genetic regu lation and the should be the same. But, they are all dif­ debate on stem cell research. Because ferent in size, weight, demeanor, and we know it is possible to regain totipo­ behavior! It is the environment during tency, if we can discover how the envi­ the development of an animal that is the ronment of the oocyte activates the most important, not the genes. genome, we may be able to direct devel­ Much media hype surrounded the opment in cells toward specific cell possibil ity of human cloning, with fears types, or toward stem cells of pluripo­ The Second Creation of creating clones of Hitler. The authors tency. From this perspective, in the explain that even a clone of Hitler, future, it may be possible to reproduce Ian Wi lm ut with Dolly.

68 Fall 2001 21st CENTURY BOOKS stage reverted, and formed an entirely incorporated the genes new embryo. Spemann then proposed a one wanted to intro­ "fantastical" experiment in 1938, to duce, and create a new replace the nucleus of an oocyte with animal by nuclear trans­ one from a differentiated adult cell. He fer into an oocyte. The could not carry out theexperiment, how­ problem was that the ever, because the techniques required prevailing view in biolo­ did not exist at that time. gy before 1985, was that it was impossible to In 1951 , the transfer of a cell nucleus ��: ,".,..,:,..::>;�/ into an egg was successfully done using clone mammals by Udder cells placed frogs. The nuclei were removed from nuclear transfer. in culture frog embryos at the late blastula stage, Many scientists be­ when the frog embryo is a large ball of lieved this for two rea­ f several thousand cells. Thomas King and sons: The first, has to do DNA r e Robert Briggs did the experiments to with what is called e� investigate whether genes are actually genomic imprinting. The e � lost during development and differentia­ genes from the male and tion of cells, or just switched off. female parents carried � The results of the King and Briggs in the sperm and egg, Transfer of cell experiments produced embryos that sur­ are different in activity. vived to the tadpole stage. It seemed that Experiments in mam­ the genes were not lost, but that they malian zygotes (the fer­ Egg and cell fused may have been inactivated, some per­ tilized egg), in which the �li'�with �electric current haps permanently. By the early 1960s, zygote was artificially completely normal adult frogs had been given two sets of chro­ cloned by nuclear transfer from tadpole mosomes from the fe­ nuclei. However, understanding and male parent, and none Egg cultured (7days) Cells divide to form a blastocyst manipulating the egg of a mammal to from the male, or vice 'produce clones remained a mystery. versa, resulted in an tt14!l1 _- Amphibian eggs are thousands of embryo that wou ld be­ (--_-/-.-� ..../.... times larger than those of mammals, and come malformed and . ) • r amphibian eggs are also very tough; die in the late blastocyst ' \;I "--..\ '-- \ '.,,/i they can handle manipulation by exper­ stage. J \\\ C) imenters, because they are designed to The second reason for Egg transferred to Blackface surrogate mother Birth given to lamb (Dolly) grow and survive in an external aqueous the belief was that, after environment Working 'with mammals a short number of cell was much more delicate, and it was not divisions in most mam­ The Second Creation until 1985, that the first mammal was mals, the continued Schematic of the cloning procedure used fo r creating cloned by a nuclear transfer from' early growth of the embryo Dolly, embryo cells. requires the zygotic Ian Wilmut was trained in embryology genome to become activated and start one from a blastocyst cell that had and reproductive biology, and had been producing proteins. This timing varies already activated its zygotic genome. working at Roslin Institute since 1973. In among species, and the most studied The question remained whether it was 1982, the direction of his research shifted mammal at that time was the mouse, possible to use even older and more dif­ to genetic engineering of livestock, specif­ whose zygotic genome is quickly acti­ ferentiated cells as nuclear donors for ically sheep. Genetic engineering of mice, vated, just after the first cell division. cloning, which would facilitate a whole using the technique of microinjection of This means that there is very little time new way to genetically engineer ani­ DNA into the nuclei of embryonic stem for a genome introduced by nucle ar mals. It was becoming clear to Dr. cells, was being developed at this time, transfer to be correctly remodelled and Wilmut that the point in the cell cycle of and Dr. Wilmut first pursued this same activated. the donor cell had an important influ­ approach in sheep. The problem was, that In 1985, Steen Wil ladsen reported he ence on the success of the cloning. It embyronic stem cells from sheep could had su ccessfully cloned several sheep was at this point that Roslin Institute not be kept in culture in such a way that using nuclei transferred from 16-cell brought in Dr. Keith Campbell in 1991, would prevent them from differentiating. embryos into oocytes. This was a stun­ whose research had focussed on cell­ This rendered them unusable. ning achievement, and one that influ­ cycle regulation and cancer. It would be so much easier, he enced Ian Wil mut strongly. In 1989, Dr. Campbell's Insight thought, to use fetal or adult cell lines, Wilmut was part of the team at Roslin that Dr. Campbell provided what turned and use the more standard techniques cloned four lambs in a method much like out to be one of the key insights about for introducing DNA into cell cultures. that used by Willadsen. Thr ee donor the cell cycle, which contributed to the Then one could just select the cells that nuclei came from 1 6-cell embryos, and successful cloning of Dolly.

BOOKS 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 69 The cell cycle is how cells grow, done, or they repeat in a different way replicate their DNA, and ultimately what was covered in a previous sec­ divide in the process of mitosis. tion. This would have been hard to fol­ However, cells that differentiate drop low if I were not already familiar with out of this routine, and go into a state the work, and it would be easy to get known as GO, or quiescence, when lost in the details of the experiments, almost all RNA and protein synthesis is and miss the importance of many of the shut down. This quiescent state is a pre­ discoveries. requisite for the process of differentia­ The authors of the book contend that tion, and it may be that the genome in the cloning of Dolly and her successor, this state is more accessible to "repro­ Polly, may have more impact on biology gramming." in the 21 st Century than any other dis­ The procedure used in the cloning of covery of the 20th Century. This work Dolly put the cells in culture into this has now shown the way to producing in quiescent GO state, before their nuclei animals any human protein for which were removed. Actually, Dolly was not the genetic sequence is known, or per­ the first sheep cloned at Roslin by this haps even any tissue needed to repair method. In 1995, two sheep, Megan and damage in patients. HISTORY OF ROCKETRY Morag, were cloned from nuclei taken This ability is very important, because AND ASTRONAUTICS from embryonic fibroblast cells. Dolly therapeutic proteins are becoming more BOOK SERIES created more of a sensation, because difficult to purify from blood and serum, she was cloned from the nucleus taken as a result of the risks of HIV and the AMERICAN ASTRONA UTICA L from an adult udder cell. presence of other viruses in the popula­ SOCIETY HIS TORY SERIES Later in 1997, the first genetically tion. Genetically engineered cloned ani­ For a complete listing of these excellent engineered cloned sheep, Polly, was mals could rapidly produce all the ther­ volumes on the history of rocketry and astronautics, including brief descriptions born, but little attention was paid to this apeutic proteins medicine requires. in of each volume, tables of contents of event by the general press. Polly is per­ the very near future. most of the volumes and ordering infor­ haps the fullest expression of the work From the continued research on the mation, please visit the following pages Ian Wi lmut and Keith Campbell set out connection between genomic remodel­ in the book sections of our Web Site: to do. Polly carries the human genes for ling in the zygote, and the process of dif­ • hUp:llwww. univeit.coml blood clotting factor IX, which she ferentiation, we may gain the knowl­ Aasweb.html#AAS_HlSTORY_SERIES secretes in her milk. edge needed to direct the development • hup:llw ww. univeit.coml Despite the many dire predictions that of cells into any type we choose. This Aasweb.html#IAA_PROCEEDINGS_HI STORY_ASTRONAUTICS_ SYMPOSIA cloned animals would be defective, would give us the understanding needed Dolly is perfectly healthy, and has to re-grow a person's own tissue to • http://www. univeit.coml htmlHS/noniaahs.htm already had three lambs of her own. She repair damage, and may also lead to does, however, have one difference new insights into treating cancer. BOOKS ON MA RS found so far with her chromosomes. She There are dozens of ways the cloning These volumes provide a blueprint for has shorter telomeres than would a nor­ and genetic engineering of animals will manned missions to Mars and a contin­ mal sheep her age. (Telomeres are the benefit medicine. Perhaps animals with ued presence on the planetfs surface, including what technology is required, ends of the chromosomes that are used human tissue and immune marker genes and what kinds of precursor missions up each time the cell divides and the may be produced in the future that will and experiments are required. For more DNA is replicated.) Because she was be suitable for transplantation of organs information on the Mars books available, cloned from a cell that came from a six­ into human patients. There is a dire please visit the following page in the year-old ewe, you could think of her as shortage of available organs for trans­ book section of our Web Site: being a four-year-old sheep with a ten­ plant worldwide, and approximately • http://www.univelt.coml year-old's telomeres. So far, this has had 25,000 people die each year before a marspubs.htm I no effect on her health, but time will tell transplant organ becomes available. If you would like for us to send you more if it shortens her lifespan to any degree. Also, genetically engineered animals information, then please contact us as follows: A Valuable Account could be used as models of human dis­ Univelt, Inc., Box 28130, Reading this book as a biologist, I ease, and cures could be initially devel­ P. O. San Diego, CA 92198, USA found it to be a detailed and valuable oped and tested in animals. Te l.: (760) 746-4005; account of the developments leading This is an interesting book on an Fax.: (760) 746-3139 up to the cloning of Dolly. However, important topic, and if the reader has the E-mail: the organization of the book interferes patience to get through the disorganized 761 21 [email protected] with the flow of the story. Each author flow of the story, it is certainly worth­ Web Site: has written sections of the book, and while reading for those who want to www.univelt.com these · often jump around in the understand the changes in science and sequence of how and when things were medicine that Dolly has brought about.

70 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY BOOKS The Fraud of ptolemy-Ignored For Young Ptolemy's Geography: An Annotated Readers Translation of the Theoretical Chapters J. Lennart Berggren and Alexander Jones Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001 Boing-Boing the Bionic Cat and the Har9cover, 192 pp., $39.50 Jewel Thief Larry Hench L. Westerville, Ohio: The American Ceramic kept falling asleep trying to read this Society, 2001 I book, and then I figured out why. Hardcover, 68 pp., $17.00, Ages 7-11 Whatever valuable "information" might be in it, the entire thing is a fallacy of his is the second book about Boing­ composition, because it ignores the cru­ T Boing, a bionic cat created by a bio­ cial starting point of any work on engineering professor for his young Ptolemy: How did he get to be one of neighbor, who longed for a pet cat, but the world's most successful liars? Why was allergic to real ones. Boing-Boing did he do so? How did the rest of us get walks and purrs, but because of a pro­ bamboozled for a millennium and a half gramming error, he says "baing-baing," into believing such palpable lies? instead of miow. In this book, Professor One example: Ptolemy'S famous map George has programmed the cat's tail to from the 2nd Century AD. (Plate 2), by-passing the Ptolemaic fabric of lies, roar when pulled. shows the Indian Ocean landlocked; who went back to the ancients, and pro­ Boing-Boing and his owner, Daniel, hence Africa could not be circumnavi­ vided geographical documents to both visit the local Natural History Museum, gated. Yet, the ancients knew this to be the Portuguese and the Spanish; the for­ where Daniel accidentally leaves his cat fa lse. Hipparchus (2nd Century B.C.) mer chose to to "go east" by rounding sitting next to a lion, in a room full of talks about the Egyptian Pharaoh, Necho Africa, while Columbus chose to "go stuffed big cats of the jungle. During the Ii, who sent an expedition to circumnav­ east" by going west. night, Boing-Boing cleverly nabs a muse­ igate Africa, which did so successfully. The two authors of this book belong um burglar, who inadvertantly steps on And both the world map of Eratosthenes firmly in the same camp as Ptolemy: his tail while trying to sneak out. (3rd Century B.C.) and the map of Strabo they are camp fo llowers of Zeus, and The illustrations are charming, the (63 B.C.?), show Africa circumnavigable. sworn enemies of Prometheus. story is engaging, and I hope that there It was the Renaissance's To scanelli, -Rick Sanders will be more Baing-Baing books from the author. It's also time for the publish­ er, the American Ceramic Society, to get to work producing some bionic cats for sale, or at least some bionic cat kits.

Marie Curie: Courageous Pioneer in the Study of Radioactivity Beverley Birch Woodbridge, Conn.: Blackbirch Press, Inc., 2000

Hardcover, 64 pp. , $19.95, Ages 10-13

his substantial biography is part of a T"Giants of Science" series published by Blackbirch, and first published 10 years ago in England under the title of "Scientists Who Have Changed the Wo rld." It tells the story of Marie Curie well, presenting the personal history, the science, and the poli­ tics in a way that gives a sense of who Madame Curie was, and how she approached scientific problems. The author avoids tedious political correctness, and merely notes in the Afterword : "The development of nuclear Ptolemy'S map from the 2nd Century A.D., shows the Indian Ocean landlocked power may be the most controversial with no passage around Africa possible, ignoring what had been known about development to derive from Marie world geography fo r centuries before. Curie's original work. . .. To day, the

BOOKS 21st CENTURY Fall 2001 71 biggest challenge that remains is to creative individuals. As the author writes make the correct use of the technology about Edison, "He did not merely Books Received that Marie Curie inspired." change the world he was living in. His Unlike most children's "science" books inventions helped to bring a totally dif­ Lessons from the Living Cell: The Limits of Reductionism, Stephen Rothman. New York, today, this one is beautifully put together, ferent world into existence-the one we McGraw·HiII, 2001 . Paperback, 240 pp., $24.95 with many excellent and unusual photos. are living in today." Why Animal Experimentation Matters: The Use of Animals In Medical Research, Ellen Frankel Paul It does not have the characteristic dizzy­ Biography is an important way of and Jeffrey Paul, eds. New Brunswick, N.J.: ing composite illustrations that are geared transmitting culture and giving younger Transaction Publishers, 2001 . Hardcover, 224 pp., $49.95 to the presumed short attention span of generations a broader understanding of Mission Jupiter: The Spectacular Journey of the the young reader (or perhaps to the short history. It is difficult to reduce a scientif­ Galileo Space Probe, Daniel Fischer. New Yo rk: Copernicus Books, 2001. Hardcover, 317 pp., $32.00 attention span of the illustrator). ic life (or any public life, for that matter) Visions of Spaceflight: Images from the Ordway I would hope that young readers to 64 pages. In this €ase, there is a good Collection, Frederick I. Ordway III. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2001. Hardcover, 176 pp., $50 would be inspired to go on and read overview of his life, but I wish there had Junk Science Judo: Self Defense Against Health Scares Scams, Steven J. Milloy. Washington, about Curie in the lengthier biography been more scientific detail about & D.C.: Cato Institute, 2001. Hardcover, 218 pp., written by Marie's daughter Eve (which I Edison's discoveries, and some ideas $1 8.95 count as one of the most memorable from his notebooks about what he was The Age of Science: What Scientists Learned In books I've ever read). the Twe ntieth Century, Gerard Piel. New York: Basic thinking. Books, 2001 . Hardcover, 400 pp., $40 Another omission, is 'of the tremen­ Clouds In a Glass of Beer: Simple Experiments In Atmospheric Physics, Craig Bohren. Mineola, Thomas Edison: The World's Greatest dous political faction fight Edison was F. N.Y.: Dover Publications, Inc., 2001 (reprint from Inventor involved with, against the Wa ll Street 1987). Paperback, 195 pp., $11 .95 Anna Sproule financial interests, who put profits above The Complete Book of Holograms: How They Woodbridge, Conn.: Blackbirch Press, Inc. , Work and How to Make Them, Joseph E. Kasper 2000 the nation's general welfare. and Steven A. Feller. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Nevertheless, this nicely illustrated Publications, Inc., 2001 (reprint from 1987). Hardcover, 64 pp., $19.95, Ages 10-13 Paperback, 216 pp., $10.95 " book is bound to capture the imagi­ Revealing the Universe: The Making of the his introductory biography of nation of young readers, and inspire Chandra X-ray Observatory, Wallace Tucker and Karen Tucker. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University T Thomas Edison, another book in the at least some of them to fu rther Press, 2001 . Hardcover, 295 pp., $27.95 "Giants of Science" series, gives the investigate Edison and his experi­ Life Beyond Earth, Timothy Ferris, New York: Simon Schuster, 2001 , Hardcover, 222 pp., $40.00 reader a good sense of the power of sci­ ments. & ence and technology, and the role of -Marjorie Mazel Hecht

CHALLENGES OF HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION SPRINGER PRAXIS SERIES IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCE

by Marsha Freeman Associate Editor, 21st CenturyScience & Te chnology

The real story of the accomplishments of the United States and Russia aboard the Mir space station. Foreword by Dr. Michael DeBakey.

300 pages, illustrated SPECIAL �3 DISCOUNT FOR � 0 (list price $45) 21st Century readers

Mail check or money order (U.S. currency only) to: 21st Century Space Books P. o. Box 1951, Dept. T, Leesburg, VA 20177

72 Fall 2001 21 st CENTURY BOOKS