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Interview with Heinz Lowenstam

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HEINZ A. LOWENSTAM (1912-1993) INTERVIEWED BY Heidi Aspaturian June 21-August 2, 1988 ARCHIVES CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Pasadena, California Subject area Geology, geobiology Abstract Interview conducted in eight sessions in the summer of 1988 with Heinz A. Lowenstam, professor of paleoecology. Dr. Lowenstam was born in Germany and educated at the universities of Frankfurt and Munich. He emigrated to the United States in 1937 to continue his graduate studies in geology and paleontology at the University of Chicago, receiving the PhD there in 1939. After a stint at the Illinois State Museum, he joined the Chicago faculty in 1948, working with Harold C. Urey on paleotemperatures. He joined Caltech’s Geology Division in 1952 as a professor of paleoecology, pursuing research in a variety of fields. In 1962, he identified iron in chiton teeth, the first known instance of biomineralization, later found in such diverse creatures as bacteria, honeybees, and birds. In this interview, he recalls the difficulties he faced as a Jew in Nazi Germany, his graduate work in Palestine in the mid-1930s, his life as an émigré, his investigation of Silurian fossils in the Chicago area, and his interaction with such mentors and colleagues at Chicago as Urey, N. L. Bowen, Bailey Willis, Bryan Patterson, and Karl Schmidt. He discusses the evolution of the Geology Division at Caltech; its important move, under division chairman Robert P. Sharp, into geochemistry in the early 1950s; his work on the http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Lowenstam_H paleoecology of marine organisms; his recollections of Caltech colleagues, including Sam Epstein, Beno Gutenberg, Hugo Benioff, James Westphal, Max Delbruck, and George Rossman; and the changes that took place in the division over the decades since his arrival. Administrative information Access The interview is unrestricted. Copyright Copyright has been assigned to the California Institute of Technology © 1991, 2003. All requests for permission to publish or quote from the transcript must be submitted in writing to the University Archivist. Preferred citation Lowenstam, Heinz A. Interview by Heidi Aspaturian. Pasadena, California, June 21-August 2, 1988. Oral History Project, California Institute of Technology Archives. Retrieved [supply date of retrieval] from the World Wide Web: http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Lowenstam_H Contact information Archives, California Institute of Technology Mail Code 015A-74 Pasadena, CA 91125 Phone: (626)395-2704 Fax: (626)793-8756 Email: [email protected] Graphics and content © 2003 California Institute of Technology. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Lowenstam_H Lowenstam holds a Strombus shell in his aquarium room at Caltech, 1950s. Scanning electron micrograph of a single Scanning electron micrograph of a tunicate chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri) tooth (Herdmania momus) spicule composed of vaterite showing its magnetite outer coating. that Lowenstam studied in the 1970s and 1980s. All photos from the scientific archive of Heinz Lowenstam housed at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Steve Weiner). Used by permission. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Lowenstam_H CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT INTERVIEW WITH HEINZ A. LOWENSTAM BY HEIDI ASPATURIAN PASADENA, CALIFORNIA Caltech Archives, 1991 Copyright © 1991, 2003 by the California Institute of Technology http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Lowenstam_H Lowenstam–ii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTERVIEW WITH HEINZ A. LOWENSTAM Session 1 1-19 Birth and early years in Upper Silesia, then part of Germany. Early education and elementary school. Jewish cultural influences. Early interest in minerals and fossils. Memories of World War I; impact of postwar depression and inflation on family. Decision to pursue career in paleontology. Partitioning of Upper Silesia betwen Germany and Poland; family moves into German part. Rise of Nazis. First year in invertebrate paleontology program at University of Frankfurt; leaving Frankfurt for University of Munich. Trips to Mussolini’s Italy and Poland in early 1930s. Session 2 20-33 Enrollment in University of Munich, 1933: Professors F. Broili and E. Dacqué; Dacqué’s role as mentor and major influence. Atmosphere in Munich in the 1930s. Recollections of K. von Frisch. Academic life at Munich: traditional faculty disdain for students. Growing interest in paleoecology; attempt to transfer from Munich to Berlin fails. Politics in Munich in 1933. Impact of Nazis’ rise to power on Munich geology department. Deteriorating political and social situation for Jews in Upper Silesia. Step-grandfather hounded by Nazis to renounce his conversion to Judaism and divorce his Jewish wife (Lowenstam’s maternal grandmother); grandparents commit suicide. Decision to write his PhD thesis on geology of Palestine. Dacqué’s advice to write thesis on geology of a particular area. Meets future (first) wife. Recollections of friends and colleagues who left Germany in 1933 and 1934. Session 3 34-53 Departure for Palestine in 1935. Association with Hebrew University. Thesis project on geology of E. Nazareth mountains. Life in a Bedouin camp; learns Bedouin Arabic. Meets Palestine Museum director E. L. Sukenik. Lowenstam’s coin collection. Contacts with landed Arab class. Impressions of British colonial officials in Palestine. Ordered confined to Jerusalem by British. Joins Jewish underground army, the Haganah. Recollections of Jewish settlers: their relations with Arabs; animosity between the two groups. Local concerns over prospect of war and its impact on Middle East. Encounters exiled emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, on the bus. Recollections of Jewish Jerusalem. Decides not to settle permanently in Palestine. Association with French and other anthropologists and archaeologists. Return to Munich 1936. Preparations for emigration to Chicago: Gestapo confiscations of belongings prior to departure. Obtains visa to enter U.S. and exemption from German military service. Leaves Germany with wife in 1937 for London, bound for U.S. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Lowenstam_H Lowenstam–iii Session 4 54-63 Paleontology as a discipline in Germany in the mid-thirties. Arrival in Chicago in 1937. Admission to University of Chicago PhD program based on letter of recommendation from Broili and Dacqué. Petrologist N. L. Bowen interests Lowenstam in study of basaltic rocks. Disagreement with B. Willis over geology of Dead Sea area. Continental drift theory not accepted in U.S. Intellectual and social climate at University of Chicago compared to Munich. Discovery that financing for trip to Palestine had come from oil companies. Short-term geologic/mineralogic project for Pure Oil Company, shortly before receiving doctorate in 1939. Efforts to find university job prove futile. Accepts position as curator with Illinois State Museum. Session 5 64-83 Early work as curator at Illinois State Museum. Research into Silurian fossil deposits in Chicago area. Differences in European and American approaches to paleontology. Recollections of Chicago colleagues B. Patterson, D. Davis, R. Zangerl, and K. Schmidt. Recollections of early years in Rochester, Illinois. Status as “enemy alien.” Arrested as “spy” while doing field work near Chicago. Enemy alien status lifted in 1943; gains American citizenship. Attempts to enlist. Discovery that ancient coral reefs harbor petroleum deposits and of primeval coral reef under Chicago area associated with immense Silurian epoch archipelago. Turns down offers from oil companies in favor of continuing paleoecological work. Discovers that oil companies are spying on his work and stealing his coral reef maps. Final attempt to enlist in 1943 and recruitment to interpret aerial photos of German industrial zones for the air force. More recollections of Rochester. Wife’s successful career as country doctor. Invitation to join H. Urey’s group at University of Chicago as research associate in biogeochemistry (1948). Chicago’s leadership in new field of geochemistry in postwar period. University’s intellectually stimulating environment: E. Fermi, W. Libby, L. Szilard. Recollections of and relationship with Urey. Work on fossil reefs continues. Session 6 84-99 Teaching at University of Chicago. Decision to come to Caltech in 1952; initial reluctance to accept Caltech offer. Arrives on campus at height of Caltech’s “raid” on promising young geochemists nationwide. Brief recollections of early colleagues B. Gutenberg, H. Benioff, G. G. Simpson, C. Stock. Place of paleontology in Caltech’s geology program. First-of-its-kind study to assess impact of hydrostatic pressure on evolution and adaptation of marine organisms. Takes one of Caltech’s first sabbaticals—to Scandinavia—to do research on deep-sea life; continues this research in Caroline Islands in collaboration with J. Westphal. Westphal designs the world’s first high-pressure aquarium capable of operating as an open system. Encounters—and wagers—with oceanographer J. Cousteau. Geology division chairman R. Sharp’s early, enthusiastic support; his positive impact on entire division. Further recollections of B. Gutenberg and H. Benioff. With H. Brown, develops http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Lowenstam_H Lowenstam–iv and team-teaches Caltech’s first course in geobiology. Colleagues’ mixed reaction to placing so much emphasis on biology in a geology course. Caltech’s pioneering role in establishing geochemistry. Relationship between geology and other academic divisions on campus. Efforts to recruit
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