462 BULLETIN AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY processes and the geology of the sea floor, and for the NEWS AND NOTES stimulus he has given through his own research and special efforts to the advance of scientific oceanography throughout the world. The medal was presented during the Academy's 100th Annual Meeting. American Geophysical Union Presents Awards Dr. Revelle returned to academic life in February of The American Geophysical Union presented three this year after an eighteen-month leave to serve as science awards at the annual Honors Meeting, held in the Great advisor to the Secretary of the Interior. On his return, Hall, National Academy of Sciences, on 18 April 1963. in addition to his post as director of Scripps Institution The twenty-fifth award of the William Bowie Medal of Oceanography at Lajolla, he assumed new duties as was made to Merle Anthony Tuve, director of the De- University Dean of Research at the University of Cali- partment of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution. fornia. During his long association with Scripps Insti- This award is made "for unselfish cooperation in research" tution (from Ph.D. degree in 1936 to director since 1950) by a scientist who must be outstanding for his con- Dr. Revelle has seen it become the largest oceanographic tributions to fundamental geophysics and must be consid- center in the world. In recent years he has also served ered worthy of distinction in this country and abroad. as the director of the Lajolla campus of the University of Among Dr. Tuve's many distinguished contributions to California and dean of its School of Science and geophysics are his early work on particle physics for Engineering. studies of the atomic nucleus, leadership in the develop- Among his research achievements is the development, ment of the proximity fuse and the creation and direction with Sir Edward Bullard and Dr. Arthur Maxwell, of of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory during methods to measure the flow of heat from the Earth's the war years. His present activities include field meas- interior out through the floor of the ocean. This work in urements of the Earth's crust in various parts of the the early 1950's, during the oceanographic expeditions United States; studies of the geophysical properties of which he led to the Central and South Pacific, has opened the altiplano of Bolivia, Chile and Peru; development of up new paths to fundamental understanding of the origin image tubes for large telescopes; studies of the extensive of the Earth and the geological history of the ocean hydrogen gas clouds in our galaxy and in nearby extra- basins. galactic nebulae by radio astronomy techniques using The measurements by Revelle and his colleagues provide large parabolic reflectors. He is chairman of the strong supporting evidence that Earth began as a cool Geophysics Research Board. rather than a hot body, and that the heat now escaping The recipient of the John Adam Fleming Award was through land surfaces and oceans results from natural James A. Van Allen, professor of physics and head of radioactivity in the solid-rock mantle beneath the Earth's the Department of Physics and Astronomy, State Uni- crust. It is believed that, over geological intervals, this versity of Iowa. The Fleming award is given primarily heat flow has been responsible for the movements of the for "original research illuminating fundamental aspects of mantle that determine the shapes of continents and ocean geomagnetism, atmospheric electricity, aeronomy, and basins and produce the deep trenches observed on the other closely related branches of science." Dr. Van Allen ocean floor. is well known for his discovery of the high-altitude radia- tion belts which bear his name. The James B. Macelwane Award is given by the American Geophysical Union in recognition of outstand- ing contributions to the geophysical sciences by a young scientist. The principal purpose of the award is to inspire young scientists in the pursuit of excellence in the geo- physical sciences. The second presentation of this award was made to Alexander J. Dessler, head of the Space Sciences Department, Rice University. Dr. Dessler be- came active in the field of space physics, first at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, then at the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies, before joining the staff at Rice University. Agassiz Medal Awarded to Roger Revelle The National Academy of Sciences announced in April the award of its Agassiz Medal for outstanding achieve- ment in oceanography to Dr. Roger Revelle of the University of California. Dr. Revelle, who is the 30th Agassiz medalist since the award was established in 1911, was cited for signifi- cant contributions to the understanding of oceanic Dr. Roger Revelle. 1963 Agassiz medalist. Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/04/21 05:48 AM UTC VOL. 44, No. 7, JULY 1963 463 Dr. Revelle's early oceanographic research involved The Agassiz Medal was established in 1911 by Sir the analysis of deep-sea cores, the measurement of bot- John Murray, eminent British oceanographer, to honor tom currents, and studies of the physical and chemical his late friend, Alexander Agassiz, a leading American processes in sea water. In 1946 he organized the ocea- deep-sea investigator, member of the Academy, and son nographic expedition associated with the atomic bomb of Louis Agassiz, who was one of the Academy's charter test at Bikini to measure the diffusion of radioactive members. Sir John specified that the gold medal should waters and their effect on marine organisms. be awarded "for original contribution in the science of Most recently he has studied the exchange of carbon oceanography to scientific men in any part of the world." dioxide between the ocean and the atmosphere, a major contributing factor along with the consumption of fossil International Research Effort in Meteorology fuel to the "greenhouse" effect through which the atmos- phere traps and stores heat from the sun. Dr. Earl G. Droessler, Program Director for Atmos- Special credit has been given to Dr. Revelle for stimu- pheric Sciences of the National Science Foundation, lating recent progress toward international cooperation in visited India between the 24th and 28th of March. exploration of the seas through his work as president of The National Science Foundation has central re- the Scientific Committee on Oceanographic Research sponsibility to support the large and varied national (SCOR) of the International Council of Scientific meteorological contributions to the International Indian Unions, as president of the first International Ocea- Ocean Expedition. This is done through grants to three nographic Congress held at the United Nations in 1959, U. S. universities (Hawaii, Michigan, Washington), and and as a member of the U. S. Commission to the to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the UNESCO Office of Oceanography and of the Inter- U. S. Weather Bureau. Thus Dr. Droessler's chief governmental Oceanographic Commission. purpose was to inspect the focus of this activity, the His part in the encouragement of basic science in this International Meteorological Center, located at the Colaba country includes service on committees and panels ad- Observatory on the southern tip of the Bombay Penin- visory to the National Academy of Sciences, the National sula. At the IMC, which is operated by the Indian Science Foundation, the President's Science Advisory Meteorological Department, five U. S. scientists are co- Committee, and the Office of Naval Research. operating closely with their Indian colleagues, in col- Dr. Revelle was elected to membership in the National lecting, processing and conducting research on meteoro- Academy of Sciences in 1957. He is also a member of logical observations made over the Indian Ocean and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Amer- surrounding regions. The research, which is chiefly ican Philosophical Society, and the American Meteoro- directed toward understanding the region's large-scale logical Society. In 1954 he received the Albatross Medal atmospheric circulation and its component parts, is based of the Swedish Royal Society of Science and Letters for on kinematic analyses of surface and standard pressure- his deep-sea research, and in 1957 an honorary doctorate level synoptic charts. The IMC is also the operating from Pomona College. base for other U. S. efforts in the Indian Ocean: in Mr. C. R. V. Raman, India Meteorological Department, is pointing out a feature of the atmospheric circulation to Dr. E. G. Droessler (right) and Dr. C. Ramage (center) at the International Meteorological Center headquarters, Colaba Observatory, Bombay. Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/04/21 05:48 AM UTC 464 BULLETIN AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY particular, the University of Michigan's ocean-atmosphere and especially to the technical report literature resulting exchange measurements and scientific reconaissances by from Government-sponsored research. Much of the the U. S. Weather Bureau's Research Flight Facility. progress made in expanding the Library's role as a Besides the IMC, Dr. Droessler also visited the national center for scientific and technical documentation Meteorological Office in Poona and India Meteorological stemmed from the liaison established with those Govern- Department headquarters in New Delhi, where he lec- ment agencies which, as administrators of vast scientific tured on meteorological research and on the role of the programs, are the greatest users and producers of all National Science Foundation, and its support for re- kinds of scientific information. search and graduate training in the atmospheric Mr. Sherrod received a B.S. in mathematics from sciences. Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa., in 1947. He then attended Pennsylvania State College, where he earned his Atomic Energy Commission Appoints New B.S. and M.S. in meteorology and remained as instructor Chief of Information Services and and research meteorologist until 1952. Systems Branch In his new position with the Atomic Energy Commis- sion Mr.