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Carl-Gustaf Rossby: National Severe Storms Laboratory, a Study in Mentorship Norman, Oklahoma

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Carl-Gustaf Rossby: National Severe Storms Laboratory, a Study in Mentorship Norman, Oklahoma John M Lewis Carl-Gustaf Rossby: National Severe Storms Laboratory, A Study in Mentorship Norman, Oklahoma Abstract Meteorologist Carl-Gustaf Rossby is examined as a mentor. In order to evaluate him, the mentor-protege concept is discussed with the benefit of existing literature on the subject and key examples from the recent history of science. In addition to standard source material, oral histories and letters of reminiscence from approxi- mately 25 former students and associates have been used. The study indicates that Rossby expected an unusually high migh' degree of independence on the part of his proteges, but that he was HiGH exceptional in his ability to engage the proteges on an intellectual basis—to scientifically excite them on issues of importance to him. Once they were entrained, however, Rossby was not inclined to follow their work closely. He surrounded himself with a cadre of exceptional teachers who complemented his own heuristic style, and he further used his influence to establish a steady stream of first-rate visitors to the institutes. In this environment that bristled with ideas and discourse, the proteges thrived. A list of Rossby's proteges and the titles of their doctoral dissertations are also included. 1. Motivation for the study WEATHERMAN \ CARl-GUSTAF ROSSBY The process by which science is passed from one : UNIVERSITY or oKUtttflMMA \ generation to the next is a subject that has always LIBRARY I fascinated me. When I entered graduate school with the intention of preparing myself to be a research FIG. 1. A portrait of Carl-Gustaf Rossby superimposed on a scientist, I now realize that I was extremely ignorant of weather map that appeared on the cover of Time magazine, 17 the training that lay in store. I envisioned a continuation December 1956. The editor received three letters from weatherwise of classroom instruction coupled with the more chal- readers who spotted inconsistencies on the map (14 January 1957 issue). lenging job of digesting material from the seminars. The step or jump from these pragmatic tasks to "research" was, however, nebulous at best. Fortu- Because of his charismatic nature and involvement in nately, I came under the influence of a professor who international affairs, he appeared in a feature article entrained me into his scientific thought process, helped and on the cover of Time magazine shortly before his identify my strengths and weaknesses, and encour- death (see Fig. 1). aged me to become a contributing member of his There are several reasons why I have concentrated research group. This scientific socialization is an es- on Rossby. Although I did not know him personally, I sential, if not the most fundamental, component in the was stimulated by the "Rossby" stories I heard from progress of science. It is part of the more complex professors and older graduate students at the Univer- process called "mentorship." sity of Chicago in the early 1960s—the bits and pieces The subject of this study is Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby of information I gathered on Rossby made me desir- (1898-1957), a renowned meteorologist who founded ous of more. From an objective viewpoint, such a study research programs at the Massachusetts Institute of benefits from the large body of written information Technology, University of Chicago, and Stockholm about Rossby in the public domain. Furthermore, his University between the late 1920s and the early 1950s. scientific descendants are just now completing their careers and they are still available to provide a direct ©1992 American Meteorological Society link with Rossby's approach to mentorship. Bulletin American Meteorological Society 1425 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/11/21 02:13 PM UTC I will use oral histories from Rossby's progeny and undercutting, envy, smothering, and oppressive con- associates to complement the traditional source mate- trol on the part of the mentor, and for greedy demand- rials. I've tried to avoid the subtle pitfalls and traps that ing, clinging admiration, self-denying gratitude, and lurk about in the acquisition of oral history. I have done arrogant ingratitude on the part of the recipient." this by following the guide of David DeVorkin, curator Kanigel (1986) has admirably captured interactions of for the history of astronomy at the Smithsonian Institu- this type between mentors and proteges in the new tion (DeVorkin 1990). and rapidly advancing field of neuropharmacology. Although sociologist Harriet Zuckerman limited her study to the scientific elite, she identified key ingredi- 2. Mentorship ents associated with successful mentorship experi- ences (Zuckerman 1977). She emphasized that it is a. Idealized mentor-protege concept not knowledge or skills that proteges acquire from their The word mentor has its linguistic origin in Greek masters so much as a "style of thinking." It is problem mythology. In Homer's Odyssey, the valiant and clever finding as much as problem solving. In his tribute to warrior Odysseus goes to the Trojan War and leaves Niels Bohr, James Franck (1963) focuses on this transmission process when he says, "What Bohrtaught them, by example and discussion, was the ability, for which he provided the model, to think problems through ... key ingredients associated to the end.... The word 'teach' cannot really be used with successful mentorship it here, since character traits cannot really be taught; but their importance can be pointed out, thereby awaken- isn't knowledge or skills that proteges ing them in those people in whom they are, as it were, acquire from their masters so much dormant." as a "style of thinking." It is problem This ability to help the protege realize his or her finding as much as problem solving. dream and to identify the dormant talent is expressed eloquently by one of history's greatest teachers, Socrates. In Plato's dialogue, Theaetetus, Socrates discusses mentorship in the company of an older his house, family, and slaves in the care of "Mentor, mathematics teacher (Theodorus) and a teenage stu- comrade in arms of the prince, Odysseus, an old man dent (Theaetetus). Since Socrates' mother, now." This companion acts as a guardian and tutor for Phaenarete, was a midwife, it was natural for him to Odysseus' young son Telemachus. As a result of this express his ideas in terms of this profession: guardianship and training, the word mentor has gen- erally been used to make reference to any friendly My art of midwifery...is that my patients are men...and my advisor (World Book 1961). concern is...with the soul that is in travail of birth. And the highest point of my art is the power to prove by every test In its broader context, mentorship has inspired a whether the offspring of a young man's thought is a false host of researchers and writers to explore the subject. phantom or instinct with life and truth.... The many admirable The work of Hermann Hesse is especially notable, truths they bring to birth have been discovered by themselves with Demian and Magister Ludi as prime examples from within. But the delivery is heaven's work and mine. (Hesse 1965,1970). The protagonists in these novels, Emil Sinclair and Joseph Knecht, respectively, find b. Guideposts from the recent history of science morally strong, culturally elevated masters who help Niels Bohr (French and Kennedy 1985; Aaserud them escape from the confines of western materialism 1990) and Louis Agassiz (Cooper 1917; Lurie 1960) that Hesse found so repugnant. were scientists who exemplified success in mentorship. Yale psychologist Daniel Levinson and his collabo- Perfection in such a complicated task, however, is rators (Levinson et al. 1970) made an exhaustive rarely if ever achieved in view of the innumerable investigation into the mentorship process that relied variables that appear in the mentor-protege equation. on a series of case studies over a 10-yr period. They Aaserud (1990) clearly indicated that Bohr found it highlighted the role of a mentor in supporting and difficult to express his physics reasoning in the form of facilitating the "Realization of the Dream." The mentor a polished monologue and needed human sounding "fosters the young adult's development by believing in boards to work out his intellectual problems. Most him, sharing the youthful Dream and giving it his helpers regarded that role with hindsight to be one of blessing." They go on to say that, "like all love relation- life's greatest experiences. Victor Weisskopf, how- ships, the course of the mentor relationship is rarely ever, is quoted in this same book, "The experience smooth.... There is plenty of room for exploitation, was not always positive and had the effect of extin- 1426 Vol. 73, No. 9, September 1992 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/11/21 02:13 PM UTC guishing some of the younger physicists as indepen- a. His scientific background and approach to research dent thinkers." Zuckerman (1977) convincingly argues that the Outstanding mentors such as Bohr and Agassiz are mentor-protege chain (called "master/apprentice" in typically inspirational in the public lecture or the more her book) is germane to the progress of science. One intimate classroom. Their styles can be markedly of the most spectacular chains in the history of science different, as in the case of the slow, halting discourse is the one associated with the nineteenth-century of Bohr or the eloquent and smooth delivery of Agassiz. German chemist, Justus von Liebig. Zuckerman dis- The inspiration, however, is generally independent of cusses the development of this chain, and Holmes style and comes from the enthusiasm and excitement (1989) elaborates further. Because of the scholarly generated by the teacher, with due emphasis on work that has traced scientific progress via mentorship aesthetics and the logical foundations of the subject. chains, it is both informative and appropriate to briefly Richard Feynman, late professor of physics at the trace Rossby's scientific genealogy.1 In Bergeron's California Institute of Technology, epitomized the great reminiscence (Bergeron 1959) it becomes clear that teacher in his roles both as a lecturer and as a textbook Rossby's mentor was Vilhelm Bjerknes, the venerable writer.
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