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Daedalus Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary

The 40th anniversary issue focuses on the connection between science and culture with contributions by Kingsley Professor of Fine Arts Emeritus James S. Ackerman, Mallinckrodt Professor of the History of Science and of Physics Peter Galison '77 and Mellon Professor of the Sciences and Pelligrino University Professor Emeritus E. O. Wilson.

The issue includes an essay by Holton titled "Einstein and the Cultural Roots of Modern Science," which explores the way Einstein's theories were shaped by the "cultural soil" of the 19th century. The essay is an extended version of Holton's 1997 Robert and Maurine Rothschild Distinguished Lecture in the History of Science, an annual lecture organized by the Department of History of Science.

Another essay co-authored by Herschbach and Bretislav Friedrich, senior research fellow in the department of chemistry and chemical biology, titled "Space Quantization: Otto Stern's Lucky Star," discusses the saga of the discovery of electron spin and its impact on modern chemistry.

Herschbach says he selected this story in part because it is unfamiliar even to the academic community. "I thought it was a story that was fresh," he says.

He says he also selected the story as a tribute to Holton and his scholarship on Albert Einstein. "Holton is one of the leading historians on Einstein," Herschbach says. "And Stern, some call him the first pupil of Einstein."

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Furthermore, Holton says Einstein's work reflects the all-inclusive aim of Daedalus.

According to Holton, much of Einstein's work in explaining natural phenomena were really attempted searches for a unifying principle.

Herschbach says Einstein made the "first great unification" in science when he linked electromagnetism and gravity through his general theory of relativity.

He adds that some scientists today still search for a single equation to connect the scientific phenomena of gravity to other natural phenomena.

Harvard Connection

Although Harvard professors authored six of the ten essays included in this anniversary issue, Holton says Daedalusis only connected to Harvard on a historical level. It was founded by Holton and originally housed in the Jefferson physics laboratories.

Holton says, "I tried to get away from the idea that this is a Harvard or MIT journal. The people who have contributed are from all over the world."

Indeed, former contributors have included past presidents such as Kennedy and Johnson and various Nobel Prize laureates, Holton says.

The Academy

In addition to Daedalus, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences commissions studies which lead to the publication of books and studies on a wide range of interdisciplinary issues such as environment and ecology, intellect and imagination and defense policy.

"What the Academy does is as broad as its membership," says Herschbach, who was elected to the Academy in 1964.

The journal can be accessed by subscription through the World Wide Web at http://www.amacad.org, the web site of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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