SPAN: January 1971

Page 1



Norman Borlaug

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Paul Samuelson

Agriculture's Schweitzer

SPAN VOLUME

XII

NUMBER

'fl.)', ongratulating Dr. Norman Borlaug on his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1970, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi wrote: "It is a richly deserved recognition of your outstanding contribution to the war against hunger. There can be no peace as long as there is hunger and poverty." She paid a tribute to the American agronomist's dedicated research and guidance which have benefited lakhs of farmers in India. In similar vein, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Clifford M. Hardin commented: "The selection of a talented agricultural scientist (for the Nobel prize) dramatizes the role of food as an instrument of peace .... No individual in the world has been more in the vanguard in using the techniques of science for the overcoming of world hunger." Dr. Borlaug, 56, is head of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico. For many years he has been leading a team of researchers from seventeen nations whose work resulted in the technological breakthrough which ushered in the Green Revolution. The highyield dwarf varieties of wheat and other cereals developed through this research are now being cultivated extensively in India and other Asian countries. Large increases in agricultural production have been achieved and for many developing countries the goal of self-sufficiency in foodgrains is well within sight. Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, who has known Dr. Borlaug since 1953, describes him as "Agriculture's Schweitzer." Recalling Dr. Borlaug's many visits to India, the Indian scientist praised his "deep humanism, a burning passion to destroy hunger, a childlike simplicity of behaviour and expression and a self-effacing temperament."

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conomics has made much headway since it was labelled a dismal science in the early nineteenth century. The complexities of present-day national economy and the increasing concern of the economist with social problems have led to a new appreciation of his role and his contribution to nation-building. Professor Paul Samuelson, 1970 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, believes that an economist should not evade social issues. A recent (eighth) edition of his well-known book Economics: An Introductory Analysis -of which more than a million copies have been sold-describes changes in the economic world and focuses emphasis on problems of inequality in income and race.

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f ' Contemporary American Art

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Merchant to Millions I

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The Changing Asian Scene

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by Charles R. Costlin

Teen-age Chorus /V' 'I',

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Pollution and Public Health bY PR . . C upta /

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Dulles-' World's Be~t Airport? by William Burrows

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Apollo 14 Heads for Fra Mauro I

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Moon Rocks: What Scientists Are Learning from Them by Henry , S.F. Cooper, Jr.

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Winning Basketball Combination -6p-< :..

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'A Laboratory Isn't a Place. It's a Set of Attitudes' 40 t

by AlisQn Pryski and Sharon Kelly ill 1 - , ")

Moving People and Goods

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by V.S. Nanda

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, ~ Front cover

Professor Samuelson, who has been a member of the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1940, has also served as consultant to the U.S. Treasury Department, the Bureau of the Budget, the President's Council of Economic Advisers and the National Task Force.on Economic Education. The citation for the award of the Nobel prize to the 55-year-old professor states that he has done "more than any other living scientist to raise the level of scientific analysis in the field of economic theory."

Left, this field of high-yield dwarf wheat near Udaipur is one of thousands scattered across India, which testify to the success of Dr. Borlaug's work.

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Scarlet coats ablaze, the President's Bodyguard sets the tone ,of pomp and splendour for the Republic Day Parade, which once again will , draw thousands to New Delhi this month. Photo by Avinash Pasricha.

Back cover For his work in wheat breeding, Dr. Norman Borlaug has been awarded the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. In this photograph by N.S. Nagarajan, he is seen with Indian agriculturists in a wheat field in Ludhiana.

Editorial Staff: Carmen Kagal, Avinash Pasricha, Nirmal K. Sharma, Krishan G. Gabrani, P.R. Gupta. Art Staff: B. Roy Choudhury, Nand K. Katyal, Kanti Roy, Kuldip Singh Jus. Gopi Gajwani. Production Staff: Awtar S. Marwaha, Mammen Philip. Photographic Services: USIS Photo Lab. Published by the United States Information Service, Bahawalpur House, Sikandra Road, New Delhi, on behalf of the American Embassy, New Delhi. Printed by Arun K. Mehta at Vakil & Sons Private Limited, Vakils House, Sprott Road, 18 Ballard Estate, Bombay-I. Manuscripts and photographs sent for publication must be accompanied by stamped, self-addressed envelope for return. SPAN is not responsible for any loss in transit. Use of SPAN articles in other publications is encouraged except when they are copyrighted. For details, write to the Editor, SPAN. Subscription: One year, rupees five; single copy, fifty paise. Inasmuch as we are currently oversubscribed for SPAN, we regret that it will not be possible to accept any more subscriptions for the time being. For change of address, send old address from a recent SPAN envelope along with new address to A.K. Mitra, Circulation Manager. Allow six weeks for change of address to become effective.




MISCH KaHN Three Generals Engraving A professor in design at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Misch Kohn is the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Ford Foundation grant, and a Tamarind Workshop Fellowship. Kohn has worked in large wood engravings as well as on metal plates, and uses intaglio techniques to refine the original images. His play with lines, dots, swirls, and mixed methods of intaglio etching and aquatint result in an exuberant calligraphic style, as seen here in a witty rendition of three highly-decorated military figures.

ALEXANDER Violin (right) Lithograph

CALDER

Though best known for his sculpture, Alexander Calder is also noted for his work in oil and lithography in which he utilizes the essential elements of his sculpture. His twodimensional designs are usually bold and bright, as in the carefully balanced shapes of Violin. One of his most recent designs is of vivid geometric shapes, including his own initials, which was translated into engineering specifications and set in black and white terrazzo to form a stretch of sidewalk on upper Madison Avenue in New York City. Appropriately, it fronts on three adjoining art galleries.

MANY STREAMS CONVERGE to form the main current of American art. It is as difficult to isolate them as it is to categorize the various styles, the divergent attitudes, the dominant influences from which they flowed. With all this, it is still possible to discern certain broad characteristics which may be described as typically American. Beginning in New York in the late 'forties, American art was rooted in revolt. It was born out of a rejection of the past, and its watchwords were renunciation, emancipation, freedom. This legacy is fiercely guarded by today's artist with his unwillingness to conform, his refusal to compromise. Bent on seeking his own path, the artist seems committed only to a gruelling, self-demanding ethic based on distrust of the accepted and the acceptable.

Paintings on preceding pages: Left, Dunes by Karl Knaths, oil; right, Lone Cow in Landscape by Milton Avery, oil; above, Cygnus by Dan Christensen, acrylic. Ambassador's photo by J.D. Beri

In their explorations, thc artists are Because of this, schools and styles have using a host of new materials-felt, plastic, proliferated, risen, flourished and colplywood, styrofoam, plexiglass, and metals lapsed. After the Abstract Expressionists of all kinds. One young painter explained: of the 'forties, came the California School, "Michelangelo saw marble around him the Neo-Realists, the Abstract Colourists, and worked with it. I use electricity. What's and the Pop and Op artists. There is Minimal Art, technological art, and what would . the difference?" An interesting aspect of today's art is appear to be the ultimate-computer art. the stress on the viewer's participationTurning their backs on beauty and prethe is asked to feel, to imagine, to meditate tiness, renouncing symbols and imagery, and to arrive at his own conclusions. There many young American painters and sculpis a definite appeal to the individual, an tors exhibit a practical, straightforward insistence on his active involvement in the simplicity. They seem absorbed in the creative process. object per se, the object undisguised, unThe very size of modern canvases creates broken, impersonal and uninterpreted. an environment, a special space that phyOthers are obsessed with the directness sically isolates the viewer from his usual and immediacy of experience. Their legitisurroundings. One is not accustomed to mate plea is that today's life is not the kind seeing what appears to be so little on so of life the renaissance man had, so today's vast a scale. Perhaps this is precisely the man must paint today's experience. Some of them go even further to say: "Let's ex- artist's intention. His painting is meant to overwhelm first and to please and distract plore the uncertain world of life itself and second, if at all. forget about art."


CAROL SUMMERS Dark Vision of Xerxes Colour Woodcut A master of his technique in print-making, Carol Summers has been awarded the Tiffany and Guggenheim Fellowships as well as a Fulbright grant for study in Italy. He prints most frequently from oversized woodblocks in landscape compositions. Summers achieves unusual effects by placing his paper directly on the un inked woodblocks. When he rolls colour on the paper, it adheres only to the raised portion of the block, a modern version of the Chinese "rubbing" technique.


JACKSON POLLACK Untitled Serigraph on Paper Jackson Pollack's untimely death in 1956 stilled one of America's most influential artists whose technical innovations and originality brought him international recognition. A visual image of his rebellion and unresolved conflicts resulted in tangled washes of line covering the picture surface. His work was intensely individual, insisting that the viewer enter the spirit of the painting to catch its spontaneity and rhythmic frenzy.

LOLO SARNOFF Annapurna III (left) Plastic Light Sculpture with Plexiglass Base Early in 1968, Lolo Sarnoff was inspired by the possibility of creating works of art in light and colour with Fiberoptics. The properties of this new hair-thin material permit light, applied at one end, to be transmitted through it so that the other end glows with a speck of light. Varying colour patterns are achieved by mounting a colour wheel and motor in the base. Mrs. Sarnoff prepared a single-artist exhibition of "FloLite" sculptures for the Agra Gallery of Washington in 1969.

ROBERT MOTHERWELL In Black with Yellow Ochre (right) Lithograph Robert Motherwell is considered by many critics and artists to be one of the most articulate and thoughtful painters of the New York school, a movement which he helped to found. In 1964 he won the Guggenheim Award. Motherwell uses a palette of black and white with muted ochres or browns and, occasionally, a fourth colour. A sequential arrangement of shapes dictates the optical rhythm and spontaneous movement found in much of his work.


FAIRFIELD PORTER The Kittiwake and the John Walton Oil on Canvas Fairfield Porter specializes in paintings of landscapes, stilIlifes and portraits. In this work he portrays an inlet in Maine accented by two boats observed in the cool light of a summer sunset. The interest in the quality of light is Impressionist, the broadness of the technique is Expressionist, and the two are combined, in Porter's personal style, to make a convincing painting. Porter is also a wellknown author on the arts. He writes for many leading art magazines and has produced an important book on the great American realist painter Thomas Eakins.



FRANK STELLA Star of Persia II (left) Lithograph By departing from the usual rectangular canvas and using other geometric shapes, Frank Stella has evolved a distinctive style, which has had considerable influence on the youngest generation of painters in the United States. The work shown here was inspired by Stella's visit to Iran in 1964 and a subsequent study of the elements of Persian design and architecture. It is handsomely rendered in clear harmonious bands of colour with mathematical logic.

ROY LICHTENSTEIN Night Seascape Felt Banner Evoking controversy wherever pop art is questioned as art, Roy Lichtenstein has been hailed for the form which his own break with tradition has taken. His bold portrayal of the powerful representational image, whether a comic strip or a household product, and his insistent patterns of primary colours, lines and magnified photoengravers' dots reflect constant competition and tension. The reproduction of artistic design by craftsmen into banner form has grown significantly since 1965. Lichtenstein's simple design, with careful attention to the division of space, lends itself especially well to the felt banner which is seen here.



Sears, Roebuck and Co., the world's number 1 retailer, has opened its fifteenth and latest overseas buying office in India-as a step towards meeting the varied and exacting demands of its many million customers.

ONE OF THE MOST famous books in the world cannot be bought, although it is issued in eleven editions for a total of 200 million copies a year. It is over 1,600 pages long, heavily illustrated, and its contents have something for everyone. Known as the "wish book," this mammoth publication is the Sears Catalogue) published by one of the largest merchants in the world, Sears, Roebuck and Company. It is in fact not just one catalogue, but five-the spring and autumn general catalogues, plus two smaller seasonal ones and a Christmas gift book of more than 500 pages. It is sent to 12 million Sears' customers and accounts for 22 per cent of Pages from recent Sears catalogues contrast markedly with those of the 1897 edition at far left. Reprinted in 1968, the volume now occupies a unique place as authentic Americana.

the store's sales volume. It may also be seen in the 825 retail stores in the V nited States, 40 in Latin America and a number in Canada and Europe. To fill the enormous demand for merchandise that the catalogues and stores create, Sears has 450 specialized buyers and 15 overseas buying offices. The newest has recently been established in New Delhi. Sears, Roebuck Overseas, Inc., is III reality not a buying office, but acts as liaison between the manufacturer and the parent company's specialized buyers. It surveys the market for items that will appeal to the ultimate customer, checks the manufacturer's plant capacity, the quality of the goods, delivery schedules and costs. If all the reports are satisfactory, the V.S. office is informed and the buyer concerned arrives to make the actual purchase. Richard Gesteland, manager of the New continued


With a vast network of sales outlets, Sears' interest in any product can mean large orders, and for India a major breakthrough in its drive to boost exports.

Delhi office and an experienced man in the field, did not come to India with a shopping list. His job is to see how Indian products fit into the world market with respect to design, quality and cost, keeping in mind that the product must be produced in large quantities for delivery on a firm schedule. Although Sears is not in competition with the American shops that buy hand looms or the unique items that do not lend themselves to mass production, not all handicrafts are eliminated from consideration. In the first phase of the operation, Sears will experiment with small brass items such as ash trays, carved teak or rosewood animals, and buffalo-horn carvings. These would be particularly appropriate for listing in the Christmas catalogue. The second step will involve light engineering products-manufactured goods which already have a production base, such as bicycles, bicycle parts and accessories, electronic components including transistors and hand tools. Finally-and probably the most important for India's export business-will come the exploration for more sophisticated products, which might involve factory development and expansion and training programmes in design, engineering and management. Mr. Gesteland feels that this later stage can have three significant implications for the Indian economy. "One is the fact that we will be engaged in product development. There will be large-scale purchases of specific items which will create a larger base for further exports to countries in addition to the United States. Second, news of this operation will get around rapidly to our competitors in the United States and Europe, and possibly Japan, which may attract other buying offices here. The third is the multiplication of India's export earnings." Sears has been looking at the Indian market for several years and has done some Today's Sears catalogue, left ahove, is triple the size of the 1895 edition and offers more than 140,000 items-from diapers to diamond rings. A typical scene in a Sears retail store, left.


What Sears does not have, it works hard to get, even having merchandise made to exact specifications and sold under its own labels. A merchandise testing and development laboratory, established in 191I, today employs 200 scientists and technicians who are evaluating everything from insect spray to building materials, from textiles to television sets. An industrial engineering division concentrates on developing ways to produce the same or better products at a lower price-through better design, better¡ manufacturing processes, or changes in materials. An organization as vast as Sears must obviously have developed a practical sys~ tem for both buying and selling. The key was decentralization. The present Sears structure-started shortly before World War II and completed after the war-divides the company into a Chicago "parent" headquarters, five geographic territories, a foreign operation and a central buying operation. Whatever the number of stores in a territory, the administrative staff remains basically the same. Decentralization is the rule. In each of the five territories stores are organized in "groups" in the metropolitan areas and as "zones" in the less populated. The store manager has great freedom in adjusting his stocks arid displays within he United States around the overall company policy. While the parent turn of the century was growing company does the buying, the stores can up by growing west. The Plains in most cases decide whether to stock the states were being settled,¡ post merchandise that is bought for them. Sears presently operates eleven cataoffices were being built in every town and village, railroads were bridging the conlogue oider plants, which report to the tinent-and Chicago was the rail hub of territorial manager. Each plant is a multithe Middle West. An ideal location for aj' million-dollar operation, for nearly onemail-order business, and mail-order comfourth of Sears' annual sales volume comes panies were becoming the answer to the from catalogue business, which retail farmer's prayer. They could shop at Sears stores have not made obsolete. Instead of and save. Sears, Roebuck prospered. direct-mail ordering, however, the major Richard Sears' talents were in selling, part of catalogue business now comes from advertising and merchandising. He was not catalogue sales offices, telephone selling an organizer. That was left to a Chicago units, retail store catalogue order departclothing manufacturer, Julius Rosenwald, ments and independent catalogue merwho bought into the company in 1895. chants. From then on the business expanded until With such a vast network of sales outnow it amounts to roughly one per ceht of lets, it can readily be seen that Sears' inthe U.S. Gross National Product. terest in any product can mean1arge orders Over the decades the company has been for the manufacturer~ For India it can also a leader in developing efficient managemean a major breakthrough in its drive to ment systems as well as promoting quality boost export earnings, END merchandise-from refrigerators or auto parts to diamonds and fine art. It is the Much care goes into the production o/the Sears largest retailer of laundry equipment, garcatalogue pages, right. which attract sales 0/ den tractors, bicycles, children's night two billion dollars every year. In 1968, Sears' clothing, replacement tyres-and mink. total sales exceeded $8 billion/or the.first time.

importing indirectly-up to perhaps a million dollars. "I certainly think we can surpass that in the first year or two of having an office here," remarked Mr. Gesteland, "and then we hope to multiply that figure by several times in subsequent years." One reason for his optimism is the improvement he finds in product quality and punctuality in delivery. Sears, Roebuck-like other stores-sells what people want to buy, only Sears sells more. Smart merchandising has been the key to the company's success for over three-quarters of a century. In 1886 a young man stilI in his twenties found himself selling watches as a sideline to his job as a railway station agent in . Northern Minnesota. He was so successful that he soon went into business for himself and moved to Chicago. As his business grew, so did his problems: he needed someone to repair watches. So young Richard Sears hired another young man, Alvah Roebuck, a watchmaker. Here began an association that was to make their names famous, for it was in 1893 that the corporate name of the firm became Sears, Roebuck and Co., and a new mail-order house was born.


A long-time ¡observer

of Asian eventsinterviewed here by Charles R. Gostlinassesses the progress and problems of nations in the area.

new President of the Asia Society, has had long and varied experience in Asia. Since graduating with honours in 1936 at the age of 21 from the University of Illinois with degrees in political science and journalism, his whole life has revolved about Asia-first as a student, writer, and traveller, later with the military, and then as an educator, journalist, diplomat, and consultant. How and when did this life-long interest begin? He says: It Was an accident, really. As a cub reporter on the Chicago Daily News I dreamt of becoming a foreign correspondentpresumably in Europe. Then one day in 1938 Walter S. Rogers (a remarkable man, as I subsequently discovered) of the Institute of Current World Affairs came along. Like few Americans of his day, he foresaw that India was on the threshold of fundamental changes and of greatly growing importance in world affairs. He was sufficiently persuasive so that when the Institute offered me a fellowship Ijumped at the chance to learn something about India and . its Asian neighbours. There was no area studies course in the United States in those days. The only organized programmes of Indian studies we could find anywhere were the Indian Civil Service probationers' courses given at three British universities. Although the idea of including an American had apparently not previously arisen, I was admitted to the course at the London School of Oriental and African Studies. . Going to India in 1939, I had a term as a student at Aligarh Muslim University and some months living in a Kashmir village. In my second year I shared in the life of some Hindu ashrams, travelled extensively, and became acquainted with Indian urban life. In 1941 I was commissioned in the U.S. Naval Reserve and assigned as Naval Liaison Officer in Bombay and later as Assistant Naval Attache in Chungking with opPHILLIPS TALBOT,

portunities to travel around wartime China. After the war I finally made it as a foreign correspondent, returning to India and Southeast Asia for the Chicago Daily News.

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Exceedingly knowledgeable regarding U.S.-Asian affairs, Talbot was a close observer of Asian events during the years immediately following the second World Waf, when nationalism became a dominant force throughout the continent. In addition to reporting Asian developments for his newspaper, Talbot at that time formally resumed his Asian studies. In his words: Those were dramatic days. It was good to have Asian friends whose emotions and actions helped me better to comprehend the aspirations, conflict, crisis, and eventual resolution in 1947 of the issues of Indian independence, partition, and the creation of Pakistan. I welcomed chances also to observe the similar convulsions and transitions sweeping such countries as Burma, Indonesia, and the Indochinese Peninsula. Meanwhile in China to the north the Communists were consolidating their control. In what other age or place have the basic public institutions of so many people been transformed so rapidly or pervasively? By 1948, after eight years spent almost continuously in Asia, I was ready to return to the academic quiet (as it then was) of the University of Chicago to teach some courses on South Asia and take doctoral work in international relations.

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During this same period, in 1949, Talbot edited South Asia and the World Today-a comprehensive study of post-war Asian problems. In this work he showed a deep understanding of the difficulties facing the wartorn and newly independent nations of Asia. During the decade of World War II, South Asia (extending from India and


Pakistan to the Philippines) underwent drastic convulsions whose consequences are significant to itself and to the outside world .... The reins of power have fallen from alien colonialists into the hands of indigenous leaders. This by itself has transformed the position in South Asia. But economic and social changes have been even more profound.... Where would the new nationalisms find vigour to weather the storms that buffeted them? =w(e00)0z

Because he recognized the tremendous significance of the events occurring in Asia and the need for Americans to be well informed about them, Talbot was instrumental in establishing the American Universities Field Staff ( AUFS)-a non-profit organization-and was its executive director until 1961. He explains: The American Universities Field Staff was founded in 1951 by a group of college presidents as a co-operative organization to aid American educational institutions in the diffusion of knowledge necessary to a better understanding of world affairs. The Field Staff operates as a career service for exceptionally well-qualified American specialists who report on contemporaneous developments. The resulting studies are distributed to member universities and colleges. ----S8.~ In these early, critical years of Asian independence) Talbot was not only executive director of the AU FS but also continued to travel and report extensively on Asian events. In 1958 he joined with Indian author and editor Sundar L. Poplai to write the book, India and America. In 1961, after the late President Kennedy took office, Talbot left the AUFS to join the U.S. Department of State as Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs. In 1965 he was named U.S. Ambassador to Greece. In 1970) he became the new President of the Asia Society, succeeding Kenneth T. Young.

facets. Masterworks of Asian art are shown He views his new position as an opportunity in three exhibitions a year in the Asia to renew his personal interest in Asian affairs . House Gallery, which has come to be and to educate Americans about Asia. mus;h appreciated by art lovers. Our Asian The Asia Society was founded on the Literature Programme has helped bring conviction that it is important for Americans to gain a better understanding of forth about fifty works of Asian literature and has sponsored poetry readings on Asian peoples. As I see it, never has this campuses and by radio, for example, for goal been more urgent than now; nor, the centennial of the Urdu poet, Ghalib. perhaps, more difficult to achieve. In this post-independence generation millions of It has now commissioned translations of nearly fifty additional works. We also Asians are coming to experience the full sponsor a great many lectures, seminars, complexities of modern life. America also conferences,. and cultural programmes in is in a fairly complex stage. We know more the handsome, glass-fronted Asia House about Asian nations than we used to know. that is the Society's headquarters. An Our universities and colleges have greatly additional pleasure has been the opportuincreased their capabilities in the study nity of welcoming a number of distinguishof and teaching on Asia. But unhappily ed Asian visitors to New York. We are much of the involvement of Americans and now expanding our programmes through Asians over the past thirty years has related a prospective centre in Washington and to three wars. These wars, I believe, have skewed both American perceptions¡ of arrangements with organizations in other Asia and Asian perceptions of the United American cities. I should like to see the States. Looking to the future, better underSociety act as a catalyst for more dialogues standing is needed to undergird the con~ between Asians and Americans, as a way structive relationships that are essential to of getting at the range of human problems get along peacefully together in a shrinking that must concern the peoples of both world. It is our hope that the Asia Society the continents. -ie00)0z can help Americans from their school years onward to obtain a broader appreciation Talbot admits that the opportunity to travel in Asia is one of the main attractions of Asian peoples and of the importance of of his new position and says he hopes to visit trans-Pacific understanding. the area as frequently as possible. In 1969 The Society, founded in 1956 at the in- he visited fourteen Asian nations and returned impressed and excited by the prospiration of John D. Rockefeller 3rd who gress he observed. has a keen interest in Asia, is a non-profit, I could not help being struck by the non-governmental organization which atmany changes that have occurred in Asia tempts tofulfil its goals in a 11ariety of ways. in the ten years since I had last visited In addition to stimulating the study of Asia the area as a private citizen. There are still, in American scho0 ls and among adult of course, plenty of problems-particularly groups, the Society sponsors exhibitions of the costs of surging population levelsAsian art and publishes Asia, a quarterly but some of the problems which looked magazine) and assists in the translation and virtually insoluble in the 1950s turn out publication in English of Asian works of to have been remarkably well-handled in literature. It also has sponsored a series of the 1960s. There are many signs of the books on Asian nations. modernizing of infrastructure: educational The Society's programmes have many

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enrolments are at their peak; transportation and communication facilities have progressed substantially; public institutions, though still often hard-pressed, have gained valuable experience. Also, jndustrial growth has been pronounced and extensive although uneven from place to place. What impressed me most, perhaps, was that a new generation of Asian leaders has gone beyond the old issues of independence to concentrate on political, social, and economic modernization. This thrust is remarkably widespread. ••••• 0)0:

The modernization and change which every Asian nation is experiencing are of very broad dimensions and not confined merely to urban centres. Centuries-old rural life styles, farming practices, ways of thinking-the whole complex pattern of village life-are changing, often with unforeseen C01Jsequences. On his recent Asian trip, Talbot quickly became aware of the extent of the phenomenon. Some villages I knew thirty years ago look more or less the same now. But that's superficial. In truth, they have been transformed out of recognition. What else could you expect from the impact of schools, recreation. halls, radio receivers, bicycles, access roads that for the first time link a village with a major road net, and repeated involvement in the processes of democracy? Land tenure reforms, easier credit facilities, and new co-operative societies don't always turn out quite as well as expected but they do influence the villager's ideas and values. So does the extra money that comes when 'crops are improved and prices don't fall. •••.• "o)a---

The development which most impressed Talbot by its fundamental significance is the agricultural or "green revolution" which is occurring in many Asian nations. He believes that this will have tremendous implications not only in the agricultural realm but in all areas of their national lives.

The "green revolution" is truly revolutionary; that is, we don't know all its consequences yet. In any event, it is of immense importance to the processes of rural and national change. Spectacular increases in yields of wheat and rice will, no doubt, have important and often difficult social, as well as economic, consequences. Some farmers and others are sharing handsomely in the new bounty; those who are not may become discontented. But, the problems that may arise, whatever they are, need not blot out the tremendous significance of the fact that some Asian peoples who have suffered from grave shortages in the past now at last see the prospect of feeding themselves.

----Z.••••••••• --Together with the progress he noted throughout Asia, Talbot also became aware of some of the new challenges and problems which the nations most probably will face in the years to come. The rates of progress and change of the' past decade or so may well accelerate, resulting in new internal strains on the societies, forcing Asian leaders to develop new policies and structures to cope with the new demands and involving new patterns of national and international relations. One gets a sense of the quickening pace of almost everything in Asia today. The "unchanging East" was never a reality, but the great acceleration of the processes of change is a product of our day. It seems inevitable that the rate will become even more rapid in the 1970s. Also looming on the horizon are other questions: Are all the new schools and colleges turning out citizens whose skills best match the needs of their nations? How can societies best manage disruptions brought on by modernization-or by lack of it? Can population growth really be slowed? These are real issues. At the same time it is exciting to see some Asian nations moving into rapid economic growth. What is happening in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Singapore for example, as well as in Japan,


portends vigorous extension of trade and investment relationships among Asian countries and between them and the rest of the world.

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Regional co-operation is becoming increasingly recognized as an important and effective means by which Asian nations can solve mutual problems and Talbot belieres that significant steps are being taken in this direction. r n terms of regional associations for common purposes, an impressive variety of institutional experiments are now being launched in Southeast Asia. Governments are linking themselves not only in general treaties of commerce and friendship but also in such specific undertakings as the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Secretariat (SEAMES), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asian and Pacific Council (ASPAC). Also regional organizations such as ECAFE (Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East), Colombo Plan, Asian Development Bank, and the Mekong Committee are bringing Asian countries closer together. Regional co-operation starts with combining resources to meet commonly understood needs. Thus, I would anticipate an increase of regional economic and social programmes, regional scientific and technological arrangements, and, finally, possible regional security systems. What form these latter take will depend on the countries in the area.

ulous country in the world, and with its scientific and nuclear capabilities, will have considerable weight in Asia. In what directions the governors steer the nation's energies will depend on many factors, both domestic and international. The condition of mainland China's relations with the Soviet Union and with Japan will be significant as will the nature of the peace settlement in Southeast Asia and, quite possibly, the policies of India. It is unrealistic to think about Asia these days without taking into account the fact of mainland China. Nor, indeed, can one underestimate the importance of Japan, the new economic giant. As Japan substantially increases its aid programmes and its trade with other Asian countries, there will be a profound economic impact throughout Asia. In addition, the primarily economic relationships which have been Japan's hallmark since World War II may soon be augmented, one would anticipate, by growing political relations. These all are prospects which, no doubt, are getting much thought in other Asian countries.

tion of how reciprocally effective relationships can be sustained between what are called the developed and the developing countries. Much of the future peace, stability, and progress of the world will depend on finding constructive answers.

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What, then, are the implications of the new Asian policy of .the u.s. as enunciated by President Nixon? In Talbot's opinion, it does not mean that the United States will no longer take an interest in Asian affairs. On the contrary, he thinks that the new policy is a reasoned response to the increasing desire for self-reliance on the part of Asian nations. The so-called Nixon Doctrine forecasts a decrease in the American military presence in Asia as Asian countries are able to take on fuller responsibilities for the security of their area. The policy has been warmly accepted in a number of Asian countries although its consequences are causing certain Asian governments to examine their future security postures in a sober framework. It would be a great pity if the Nixon Doctrine should be taken as In vielv 0/ the progress of the past several an excuse for a lessening of U.S. interest years, the anticipated future growth, and the in the area. Instead, I believe the policy will for private orgadevelopment of regional organizations in open up opportunities Asia, what does Talbot see as the role of nizations to extend their relationships with more economically advanced nations in the Asians in positive and constructive ways. ""'00:future development of the area? Economic development is, unfortunateAnd, with these new opportunities, Talbot ly, at self-generating and self-sustaining believes that the Asia Society has an imlevels in only a few Asian countries. Even portant role to play in U.S.-Asian relations. in most of those countries, foreign capital Asians are looking increasingly at their investment is likely to be an important own problems from the standpoint of in0;-.--The influence of Communist China and factor in the growth rate attained in the dependent nations able to conduct mature Japan during the next ten or twenty years next decade. In a number of other Asian relations with other countries. This trend will certainly be important to the peace, countries. foreign· economic assistance is is excellent. It should certainly mean closer security, and prosperity of Asia, but what not merely important; it can literally be relations between Asians and Americans their respective roles will be is a matter of crucial to the success of national efforts because we have so much in common. It conjecture at this point. is my hope that the Asia Society will have towards modernization. Although there Although in present circumstances al- are those who regard the subject as jaded a bright and significant future in helping most anyone's crystal ball is likely to be and boring, to my mind one of the great Americans to keep abreast of the unfolding cloudy, it is evident that during the coming questions of our time remains the difficult developments in Asia-momentous as years mainland China, as the most poppolitical, economic and psychological questhey are likely to be. END

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PUbliC health "We know that water and air which were said to be free at one time are no longer free," Prime Minister Indira Gandhi remarked recently. "Somebody has to pay the price-either you pay in greater costs or pay the cost in the worsening of health and peaceful living." A simple but effective chlorine dispenser, left, for disinfecting well water has been designed at the Central Public Health Engineering Research Institute. Here it is demonstrated in a village near Nagpur.

Raw sewage is fed into rivers, far left. For rendering city wastes harmless, one of the methods developed at CPHERI makes use of mcchanicallyaerated lagoons. A water sample is being tested below.


In India, as in any country, the effects of inadequate and unwholesome water supplies and of insanitary collection and disposal of human wastes contribute to a high incidence of disease. In addition, the problems of industrial wastes and air pollution that accompany urban growth demand solution to ensure the maximum benefits of industrialization. A recent Times of India editorial summed up the situation aptly: "While rich countries poison their lakes and rivers with wastes from chemical and other factories and the air in their cities with exhaust gases, poor nations do it by dumping sewage into their rivers and by allowing people to cook over open fires. In T ndia, some degree of poll ution takes place in both ways." The scientific disposal of domestic sewage is perhaps the weakest link in India's public health chain, according to Prof. SJ. Arceivala, Director of the Central Public Health Engineering Research Institute (CPHERI) in Nagpur. But he is tackling the problem with crusading zeal. His thesis is that sewage disposal and treatment need not be a burden on the community, but can be made a self-paying proposition. Sewage treatment, he says, can yield irrigation water that contains all the essential nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potash) to make it a fertilizer by itself. In addition, fish farms can be developed and algae, a rich source of proteins, harvested. Sewage disposal, like the weather, is one subject about which everyone talks, but little is done. Fortunately Prof. Arceivala is in a position to do something. As CPHERI's director, he has launched a fullscale campaign. In this venture, CPHERl's eight zonal centres are contributing significantly in transforming laboratory results into proven field practices. Their effectiveness is enhanced by their planned dispersal in Ahmedabad, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kanpur and Madras. Prof. Arceivala, however, faces a formidable task ahead. He knows that with many competing demands on the limited financial resources of a community, a system of underground drainage and sewage treatment gets a very low-if not the lowest-priority. "It is a case of out of sight, out of mind," he says. "In cities when water supply fails, people raise a hue and cry. But not many are concerned where the waste water goes." Out of some 2,540 cities and towns in India, only about 1,200 have a modern water supply. Of these, less than 200 have

underground drainage, and of the 20 most populous cities, only two have complete sewage treatment plants. "Sewage is the other side of the pipedwater-supply coin," says Prof. Arceivala. When water is piped and brought into a community without a sewer system, it is an invitation to disease. People dependent on wells or streams for water-true of most villages and towns-consume on an average only 20 litres per head every day. But the moment a community has a piped water supply, the water consumption usually jumps to 120 litres, and 80 per cent of this quantity runs out as waste. Without proper drainage or sewage treatment, this waste water becomes a breeding ground for diseases, pollutes near-by wells and underground water or streams which are sources of drinking water. "But merely constructing more modern sewage treatment plants is also not the answer," Prof. Arceivala points out. "For one thing, they are expensive. And their

hen water supply fails, people raise a hue and cry. But not lIlany are concerned where the waste water goes.'

technical complexity causes maintenance problems. What is needed is the development of simpler methods of treatment." CPHERI scientists have concentrated their efforts on working out such processes that are inexpensive and unconventional. The capital costs have been slashed by as much as 80 per cent and running costs by 90 per cent compared with those incurred in conventional plants. Already more than 50 such plants have been built in the past six ycars and are operating successfully in such widely scattered places as Bhilai, Vijayawada and Lucknow. These new methods take advantage of warm climate and plentiful sunshine, while their mechanical simplicity brings them within the technical competence and financial reach of the majority of municipal bodies. Take.l for example, the treatment of waste in oxidation ponds. For its effective working, all that is needed is a large, shallow pond into which domestic and industrial wastes are stored for a few days. In the presence of sunlight and organic nutrients in the incoming wastes, a healthy bloom of algae flourishes together with colonies of bacteria. Through the natural

process of self-purification, bacteria speedily digest the organic waste and make it harmless enough to be released into water or on land without any danger of pollution. As no foul smell comes from the pond, it does not become a nuisance to the locality where it is constructed. In tropical countries like India, the process works at high efficiency because "bugs multiply faster in a warm climate." Prof. Arceivala emphasizes: "Low-cost treatment does not mean low quality of treatment. There is no compromise with efficiency. In fact, its performance is better. Dr. N.U. Rao and his colleagues in the Microbiology Division have shown that pathogenic bacteria responsible for typhoid, cholera and other intestinal diseases are completely eliminated in oxidation pond effluents. This is not achieved even in modern conventional plants." Until ten years ago, if a sewage treatment plant was to be built in India, there was no alternative to the highly expensive, multi-stage plants, using such devices as trickling filters, clarifiers and digesters. But today the picture has changed as a result of CPHERI research. With the setting up of CPH ERI, systematic investigations have been undertaken on a national scale for solving problems of water supply and treatment; of sewage collection, treatment and disposal; of control and treatment of industrial wastes; and of air pollution. The rapid growth of the Institute within ten years of its establishment in 1959 is due in part to the half-million-dollar assistance given by the U.N. Special Fund. A CPHERÂŁ survey of a number of river basins revealed that they are being progressively ruined by the indiscriminate flow of wastes from municipal sewers and industrial units. One spectacular example that Prof. Arceivala often cites to his visitors is the Jamuna River. "Agra may well be drinking Delhi's sewage," he says. While that may not be literally true, "an analysis of the river water between Delhi and Agra has shown increasing deterioration in its quality." The problem of water pollution in Delhi was dramatized in 1956 when thousands of people suffered in the hepatitis epidemic, following the mixing of the Najafgarh nullah sewage discharge with the Jal11una water near the Wazirabad water plant. Another instance of water pollution occurred in March 1968 when the Ganga River literally caught fire near


Monghyr in Bihar. Investigation revealed that petroleum wastes from a neighbouring oil refinery had polluted the river water. As a result, Monghyr citizens had to go without water for one week. "Merely asking factories and municipal bodies to treat their wastes will at best lead to a marginal solution of the problem," says Prof. Arceivala. "Unless we are armed with proper legislation and are in a position to wield the big stick, we public health engineers will remain by-standers, only apologizing for our inability to do anything useful in the matter." Many countries have passed comprehensive laws to curb and control pollution. In India, Maharashtra State took the lead by enacting the Water Pollution Control Act last year. The new types of industries-fertilizer factories, petro-chemical complexes, oil refineries and synthetic-material plants for drugs, fibres, rubber and plastic-are multiplying rapidly and causing some of the most critical pollution problems. For the public-sector synthetic drugs factory in Hyderabad, Dr. G.J. Mohanrao and his team of scientists after two years of research worked out a design for the waste treatment plant. Constructed at a cost ot Rs. 27 lakhs, it has been in operation since 1967. The problem was to sta¡ bilize the factory wastes. Although small in volume they contain some 70 chemicals as well as a rich mixture of acids so concentrated that fingers could burn if dipped into it. If these effluents were released untreated, there was danger of their seeping through the porous soil and polluting the city's fresh-water lake, a source of drinking water. A biological treatment method that uses "bugs" to feed on the toxic matter was found to be economic and effective. A similar method was also worked out for the Hindustan Photo Film plant in Ootacamund, and its Rs. lO-lakh treatment unit has been operating since 1966. Many other factories, including those producing pulp and paper, fertilizers and chemicals, have been so assisted. Prof. Arceivala is quick to point out that "every problem relating to industrial waste treatment is not a research problem. In 90 per cent of the cases it is merely judicious application of available knowledge that is required. To my mind, the best method is not to go in for turn-key jobs from contractors of specialized equipment. Such contractors are not likely to take into account reduction in waste by good housekeeping within a factory, or the

possibility of using unconventional methods of treatment involving little or no equipment. Every city or town requires guidance. What is needed is the setting up of special design and testing cells in each state government and large municipal corporations, with experts preparing tailormade designs. Specialized agencies like CPHERI or post-graduate departments of educational institutions can also assist in this work." While polluted water is a serious public health problem in India, another area of increasing concern is air pollution. Air is one of the three basic needs of man-the other two being food and water-and it constitutes 80 per cent of the weight of his intake. While bad food and contaminated water can be avoided, no one can avoid breathing. The problem is aggravated in India because, according to Prof. Arceivala, "a person here needs one-and-a-half times more air and twice as much water than in the West." The Smoke Nuisance Act applies only to the coal-fired boilers and aims to minimIze sooty, black smoke. But today's modern industries like fertilizers

nless we are armed with proper legislation ... we public health engineers will remain by-standers: and petro-chemicals emit nearly invisible chemical fumes of sulphur, nitrogen and other toxic compounds. "In this field of air pollution," notes Prof. Arceivala, "we are passing through a period of measure and mourn. Before any control can be effectively organized, it is essential to measure the type and extent of air pollution. Without these basic data, we can't talk and point a finger at any cuI prit. So in 1969 we started a network of stations for sampling air quality in our eight zonal centres and here in Nagpur." A short but intensive survey in Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi revealed the high concentration of dust in the atmosphere-two to five times greater than that prevailing in the Western countries. The dust particles act as "carriers" for pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and hydrocarbons, which people inhale. Scientists consider the presence of sulphur dioxide and dust particles as the best indicator of the general level of air pollution.

Besides industry and domestic cookers, a major source of air pollution is the automobile. "It is true that the volume of vehicular traffic in our cities is not so high compared to that in most Western cities," says scientist J.M. Dave, who is CPHERI's Deputy Director and heads its Air Pollution and Industrial Hygiene Division. "But that is made up by the older age and poorer engine performance of most of our cars. Exhaust gases of some of them have been found to contain carbon monoxide at rates as high as 5.5 to 10 per cent. In the United States, the legal limit of carbon monoxide in auto exhausts of new cars has been fixed at 1.5 per cent. The intensity of pollution caused by cars in Calcutta is comparable with that in New York, Chicago, London and Washington, where vehicular traffic is far heavier. By adjusting carburettors and air-fuel ratios of new petrol-engine cars in India, the carbon monoxide content can be reduced by 25 per cent. Further reduction would need major engine modifications." He explained that diesel vehicles behave differently. Although they produce smoke and odour nuisance and so attract more public attention, they have no carbon monoxide in their exhaust. Diesel combustion takes place under an excess of air. But diesel smoke does need to be controlled. The Bombay Municipal Corporation has asked CPHERI to conduct a Rs. 1.86Jakh three-year study to monitor air over the city and identify the sources of pollution and recommend control measures. For a global survey of air pollution, the World Health Organization has recognized CPHERI as one of the three regional centres, the other two being Moscow and Tokyo. The network includes two international centres, London and Washington, and 20 laboratories around the world. With technical expertise and facilities to counsel on a wide range of pu blic health engineering problems, CPHERI has emerged as not only a leading institution for better health and sanitation in India but also in other developing countries of the region. The Nagpur Institute has attracted some 200 scientists, many of whom have studied and trained abroad. Prof. Arceivala himself went to Harvard in the United States in 1954 on a U.S. Government fellowship for post-graduate specialization in public health engineering, known there as sanitary engineering. The first post-graduate course in this field was introduced at Harvard in 1926. END


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WORLD'S E5J BEST (IIIAIRPORT 111I


airport watcher I savour airports; I don't just hurry through them. The customs men at Rome International, all of whom cari'y chalk, give a squiggle and a smile and don't make you open your luggage-usually. The bar at Shannon Airport has possibly the cheapest drinks

S AN AMATEUR

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Reprinted with permission ji-om HOLI DA Y. © 1969 Per/l'ct Publishing COIiII'OIlY.

While plane stands gleaming on the tarmac, abo\'e, passengers check in at the airport's main terminal, below. They then mo\'e to mobile lounges, which sene as pre-flight waiting rooms. At departure time, passengers are dri\'en to the plane and enter the craft from telescoping

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anywhere, and the bootblacks at Cleveland are among the best in the world. Istanbul's Yesilkoy offers one of the most historic and picturesque rides to the city, although not one of the shortest, past the ancient wall; and Cointrin, in Geneva, whisks you to your plane on an underground moving sidewalk. The lO-minute drive from the centre of Geneva to the airport, by the way, is one of the shortest in the world. If you want a unique ride from the airport, try catching the monorail at Tokyo International, which lets you off on top of a five-storey building. Food?


Paris, of course, and the moving of Les HaIles near Orly should make it even better. The carrousels at Los Angeles International make getting baggage as painless as can be expected. Airport watchers go to many airports for sustenance. But they go to Dulles International to feast. Dulles was opened on November 19, 1962, as the first airport designed specifically to handle jets. Eight years later, it is still a pilot's dream and a passenger's delight, a monument to function and aesthetics. Many Washingtonians go to Dulles to look at it, which, considering its distance from

the District of Columbia, is a singular compliment. For the unmarried, Dulles is also one of the cheapest, but most spectacular, places to take dates in the area, and for the married, an excellent place to take children. And its size and modern features make it a natural for airshows. Dulles sprawls over 4,000 hectares of Virginia countryside 40 kilometres from Washington, D.C. There are no obstacles along the approaches to runways, which are long enough to handle Supersonic Transports and easily long enough to handle Boeing 747s. (continlled)



ulles is also a passenger's airport. Its 180metre-long terminal building (which can be expanded to 550 metres) was designed by the late Eero Saarinen, who called it the "best thing I have done." Saarinen's terminal is a sonata of sweeping concrete and towering glass surrounded by floral gardens and trees that make for serenity and a sense of sureness. But the sculptured shell also boasts efficiency. An airline passenger stepping out of his car at the curb in front of the terminal has to walk less than 60 metres to get to his plane, which may be up to a kilometre away. The secret is the mobile lounge. Planes do not load and unload at the terminal, so that noise and congestion can be kept to a minimum. Passengers are carried to and from their planes in large mobile lounges that attach to plane doorways with hydraulic gangways. Passengers are therefore never exposed to noise, jet blast, fumes and weather and can make

Jet taxis into service area, left, which is kept at a distance from the main passenger terminal so as to minimize noise and fumes.

most of the trip to or from their plane sitting down. Dulles has 30 gate positions, but like everything else at Dulles, the gates can be expanded to 90 when they are needed. Finally, Dulles bothers its neighbours less than any other airport, since enough land was originally acquired to keep runways far from the airport's boundaries. The boundaries, themselves, were planted with trees that dampen jet noise. Dulles International has been under-utilized since it was built because of its distance from Washington, the city it was designed to serve. Although more travellers take advantage of tIle airport each year, many others have shown hesitancy to drive there from downtown. Two factors will bring Dulles into its own, however. First, the Virginia counties which share Dulles are quickly populating with potential customers. Second, commuter helicopter service and, later, Short Takeoff or Landing service from downtown, ,,,ill greatly quicken the trip and bring Dulles the admirers it deserves. END

Control tower perches atop a concrete shaft, below left, from which operators direct traffic ranging from helicopters to jumbo jets.

Below, terminal's vast concourse is covered with a sweeping canopy-like roof of concrete. Glass walls provide clear view of airfield.

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THIS MONTH, three U.S. astronauts are setting out to visit what some are beginning to call earth's eighth continent -the moon. Scheduled to lift off from Cape Kennedy on January 31 on its nine-day voyage is Apollo 14, America's sixth manned lunar flight and the fourth with a moon-landing objective. The mission commander is Alan B. Shepard, America's first man in space, but it will be the first flight in space for his two companions, Edgar D. Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa. Mitchell, lunar module pilot, is to accompany Shepard to the moon while Roosa, command module pilot, is to remain in the mothership in lunar orbit. One of the original seven astronauts, Shepard, a U.S. Navy Captain, 47, is the only one of that first group of April J 959 on flight status. His J 5-minute, sub-orbital flight almost ten years

ago on May 5, J 96 I, launched Amer- . ica's manned space programme, but he became America's almost forgotten astronaut after he was grounded in 1964 because of an inner ear infection. However, he helped train younger, newer astronauts. Soon after he had undergone corrective surgery two years ago, he was named to head the Apollo14 crew. Astronaut Mitchell, 40, a U.S.Navy Commander, received his Doctor of Science degree in aeronautics/astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964. Prior to his selection as an astronaut in April 1966, he graduated first in his class at the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School. Like Mitchell, Roosa, 37, a U.S. Air Force Major, was also chosen as an astronaut in 1966. He received a Bachelor of Science


degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1960. Before joining NASA, be was an experimental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Apollo-14's destination is the billy, rugged Fra Mauro region. Scarcely an ideal landing spot for astronauts, it is considered a geologist's dream. Scientists expect the Apollo-14 explorers to bring back proof that the moon is more than 5,000 million years old, the presently accepted age of the solar system. This site is the same one which was denied to America's Apollo-I3 astronauts last April after an explosion crippled the spacecraft. Since that emergency, the Apollo craft has been made safer and more fireproof. An extra oxygen tank and more chemical batteries provide additional air and electric power. The Apollo-14 astronauts will pursue Apollo-I3's goal. During their 34-hour stay on the lunar surface February 4 to 6, Commander Shepard will lead two five-hour moon walks to pick up rocks-some as big as a football. In these excursions, the crew will use for the first time on the moon a two-wheeled cart to carry 32 kilograms of equipment, including lunar tools, sample bags and cameras. They expect to range out more than 1.5 kilometres from their landing craft, compared with 60 metres by the Apollo-II men and 400 metres by the Apollo-l 2 astronauts. One of the questions to be explored in new experiments is whether or not there is water on the moon. Some specialists believe that chunks of ice may lie buried under the lunar surface. For this search the Apollo-14 astronauts will use a technique much like that employed by prospectors to locate oil on earth. A series of small explosions will be set off, and their shock waves picked up and recorded. The character or "signature" of the returned signals will indicate the presence or absence of water. END

The map,lefi, shows ApoIl0-14's landing site with those o/Apollo 11 and 12 as well as Apollo 15, scheduled for July 1971. Some possible sites lor the remaining two Apollo flights, planned for 1972, are also marked. Right, Apollo-14 Commander Alan Shepard stands at the base 0/ a lunar module with his fellow crewmen Stuart A. Roosa (centre) and Edgar D. Mitchell. Astronaut Mitchell, below, demonstrates the two-wheeled cart to be used for the first time on the lunar surface b)' him and Shepard. 0¡- 2-

60 .-



In this concluding article of the twopart series, the author, a New Yorker staff writer, presents the scientific clash between" hot-mooners" and" cold-mooners" at the Lunar Science Conference. Attended by 700 specialists in Houston, Texas, last year, the meet was the forum for unveiling scientific results of the analyses of the Apollo-ll moon rocks.

the conference ended, there was a panel discussion on the origins of. the moon. In addition to the capture theory, there have long been two other major theories concerning the birth of the moon-the fission theory, which holds that the moon had broken away from the Earth, and the binary theory, which holds that the moon and the Earth had formed side by side. Dr. O'Keefe had been advocating the fission theory at the same time that he was arguing for the lunar origin of tektites. (The binary theory seems to have fallen out of favour, for I found no advocates of it.) For once, the coffee tables were deserted as the scientists crowded into the auditorium. The scientists on this panel were all new to me. They were Dr. S.K. RunEFORE

Copyright Š 1970 Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr. From Moon Rocks (Dial Press). Originally appeared in The New Yorker.

The chemistry of the moon rocks is different enough to cast doubt on the idea that the moon was once part of the Earth.

corn, a geophysicist, of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Dr. Brian Skinner, a geochemist, of Yale; Dr. Donald U. Wise, a geologist," of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; and Dr. A.E. Ringwood, a geochemist, of the Australian National University in Canberra. Dr. Ross Taylor had already told me something of his countryman's theory of the origin of the moon-the <Jpik-Ringwood theory-

and had urged me not to miss hearing Dr. Ringwood. (Dr. Ernst <Jpik, an astronomer at the University of Maryland, in College Park, who contributed the astronomical part of the <Jpik-Ringwood .theory, was not present.) The moderator of the panel was Dr. Robert Jastrow, a physicist, who is director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, in New York. Dr. Jastrow opened the discussion by saying that, with 90 per cent of the Apollo 11 results already presented, interpretation and synthesis seemed to be in order. "That is why I have seated Dr. Ringwood at my immediate left," Dr. Jastrow said. Dr. Ringwood, a trim-looking man with a ruddy face and quick motions, began to talk, very fast. He said he felt that the chemistry of the moon rocks was in many ways like that of rocks on Earth but that it was nonetheless different enough to cast doubt on the idea that the moon was once continued


part of the Earth, as the fission theory has it, or that it had been formed in a manner similar to the Earth and at the same time, as the binary theory states. Similarly, the capture theory seemed unlikely, he said. Assuming that the moon had been formed like the other terrestrial (or solid) planets and subsequently captured by the Earth, the moon then should have the same chemical abundances as these planets, including the same abundance of iron. Most of the terrestrial planets (Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars) had an abundance of iron like the sun's, but, Dr. Ringwood pointed out triumphantly, there was substantially less iron in the moon. Therefore, the moon's origin was not like that of other solid bodies in the solar system-which meant to Dr. Ringwood that it probably had not been caught by the Earth from the debris circling the solar system in the system's early days. (The possibility that it had come from outside the solar system was so remote that nobody seriously proposed it.)

h~t none of the theories explained was the' evidence of two apparently contradictory types of heating early in the moon's history. First was the geochemists' evidence of slow, gentle melting, which suggested that the moon may once have had some internal heat. Then there was evidence of a more drastic heating than anything known on Earth: In relation to the Earth, the moon was poor in volatile elements (the ones with low melting points, such as lead and bismuth) and rich in refractory elements (the ones with high melting points, such as titanium). The implication was that the material in the moon had been heated to such a degree that the low-melting volatiles had been driven away, leaving a concentra¡tion of high-melting refractories. All this suggested to Dr. Ringwood that

"I think it's going to be a free-for-all, with a whole host of new theories being advocated over the next few years."

the moon, instead of being some sort of planet formed from primitive material orbiting the sun (as the Earth presumably had been formed), was rather the result of further refinement. It was beginning to look as though neither the cold-mooners nor the hot-mooners had been exactly right, Dr. Ringwood said. (The moon was turning out to be a more complex place than the words "hot" and "cold" implied, and neither adjective was used much at the meeting.) At least one panelist-Dr. Wise, a proponent of the fission theory-objected to Dr. Ringwood's neat dispatching of the rival theories. Dr. Wise, a slender man, was a co-author of the most popular of the fission theories, the Darwin-Wise theory. The Darwin-Wise theory goes back to Sir George Darwin, the son of Charles Darwin. Sir George suggested in 1879 that the sun had long ago caused huge tides on the Earth, and that these tides had eventually reached such magnitude and resonance as to lead to elongation of the Earth's mass and then to separation. Ironically, Dr. Ringwood himself suggested, but did not follow up, a theory like the one Dr. Wise developed in modifying Darwin's original ideas. Very early in the history of the Earth, when its components were still molten, most of its iron concentrated at its centre to make the core. In 1961, Dr. Ringwood made the suggestion-it was just a couple of sentences in a paper-that when the iron sank to make the Earth's core this action imparted a greater rate of spin t6 the Earth, so that the moon was separated from its surface,

like a lump of clay off a potter's wheel. In 1963, Dr. Wise developed his own theory about the moon's spinning off the surface of the Earth as the core formed, and wrote a detailed paper on the subject. The Darwin-Wise moon, as Dr. Wise reaffirmed at the meeting, would have started out in fairly solid form, and would¡ have stayed close to the Earth for some time, so that the Earth, which was then heated to incandescence, might have melted the surface of the moon, like a marshmallow roasted over hot coals-accounting, perhaps, for some of the partial melting the geochemists had found. (Before Dr. Wise sat down, he tossed out a thought that was almost as tantalizing as Dr. Ringwood's original throwaway suggestion. He said he couldn't help noticing that the topography of the back of the moon was a good deal softer in contour than that of the front, and he wondered whether the rough front <;arried the scars of separation from the Earth, while the gentler back might be more nearly like the primordial surface of the Earth itself.) Dr. Ringwood said, "Well, this is just going to be the beginning. I think it's going to be a free-for-all, with a whole host of new theories being advocated over the next few years." He didn't think, for example, that the two types of heating the geochemists had noticed could be accounted for by any of the existing theories, and, accordingly, he was suggesting a theory to explain how the material in the moon had been heated twice. The first time, the material that was to compose the moon had been heated so drastically that most of the volatile elements were driven off, and Dr. bpik had proffered an explanationat the time Dr. Ringwood deserted the Darwin-Wise theory-of how this might have happened. Dr. bpik had postulated that the Earth accumulated at the centre of a condensing cloud of particles; as the process continued, the Earth became hot, and so did the outer part of the cloud (the part that was to become the moon), driving away all the volatile elements; then, as the cloud


cooled, the outer part formed a ring-like Saturn's-around .the Earth; and it was out of the cold particles in the ring, poor in volatiles, Dr. Opik suggested, that the moon was formed. (Dr. Ross Taylor had seized on this theory to explain the high abundance of titanium on the moon. A greater percentage of elements with high melting points would have been left in the ring, he said. But, paradoxically, Dr. Ringwood preferred to think of the titanium as forming during the gentler, second phase of the heating, which would have come later.)

ecently, Dr. Ringwood had been considering another way of accounting for Dr. Opik's ring. An astrophysicist at Yeshiva University, Dr. Alastair G.W. Cameron, had suggested that the material that was to go into the moon started off as a sort of loose cloud of rocky and gaseous components surrounding the Earth. According to Dr. Cameron, the Earth had not formed at the centre of a condensing cloud but had been built up by an accumulation of particles floating around the solar system. Dr. Cameron's accumulating particles would eventually have landed fast enough and hard enough on the growing body to heat it up-,-a process called infall heating-and this would have maintained Dr. Cameron's cloud and kept it hot. Dr. Cameron turned out to be in the audience, and during a break in the discussion I asked him where the infalling particles that had built up and heated his Earth had come from. He replied that, as he saw it, the entire solar system had formed out of the solar nebula-a huge cloud consisting mainly of hydrogen but containing all the other elements as well. The solar nebula, which had flattened into a disc, had condensed so rapidly that the sun accumulated at its centre within somewhere between 100 and 1,000 years. Other particles

"If I had to judge the existence of the moon on the plausibility of any of the theories, I'd claim it wasn't there."

had accumulated in increasingly large clumps within the hydrogen to begin the formation of the planets. (Under this theory, the Earth and some of the other planets must be older than the sun.) Inside the nebula-and aided by the nebula's hydrogen-particles of all the other elements rained down on the planets fast enough to heat them up. The speed of these events was critical, Dr. Cameron said, for the Earth, like the sun, would have had to accumulate in under a thousand years-perhaps in only a hundred years-in order for the infalling material to heat the Earth to 5,538 C., the temperature that Dr. Cameron n~eded to maintain his cloud. When the sun and planets had largely formed, the solar wind -which initially was a million times as strong as the present one-blew what remained of the hydrogen nebula out into space, leaving the planets orbiting freely. (This very hot initial phase of the sun may have been what roasted the surface of Dr: Urey's moon, which-in another version of the origin of the solar system-may have been careering around with a pack of other moons.) When the hydrogen was gone, and the rain of particles had stopped, there would have been a vast number of chunks of matter, other than planets and moons, orbiting th~ sun-a point that was worth remembering, Dr. Cameron concluded, because it would be useful later on. When I turned back to the panel discussion, Dr. Ringwood had already got rid of the moon's volatiles from either Dr. Opik's cloud or Dr. Cameron's. He told the audience that when the cold particles

in Dr. Opik's ring began clumping together (as was bound to happen when the ring extended a certain distance from the Earth) the particles could easily have gathered to form the moon in less than a hundred years-a rather leisurely pace, considering that the sun, which has a mass approximately 26,500,000 times the moon's, may have accumulated in the same length of time. At that rate, the heat from the infall of particles would have been enough to raise the moon's temperature to more than 649 C, which, Dr. Ringwood said triumphantly, would have been enough to explain the evidence of internal melting that he and the other geochemists had found in the moon rocks. (Moreover, the infall could have concentrated the heat at the moon's surface, where Dr. Urey and others wanted it.) Dr. Ringwood concluded that once the moon was hot, radioactive materials in its rocks might have kept it warm for a couple of billion yearslong enough to account for the different ages of the lunar material. 0

0

r. Ringwood smiled wanly as he awaited questions from the audience. The first scientist to raise his hand began by saying, "If I had to judge the existence of the moon on the plausibility of any of the theories, I'd claim it wasn't there." What bothered him was that if the moon had formed from a ring that was orbiting the Earth's equator, the orbit of the moon should be on the plane of the Earth's equator, whereas in fact the moon's orbit is at an angle to the equator. Dr. Ringwood protested that astrophysics wasn't his field,¡ and apologized for the absence of Dr. Opik, since it was Dr. Opik's ring that was in question. However, he hazarded the guess that the ring and the moon's orbit had started out on the plane of the Earth's equator, and that later something had tilted the Earth. (continued)


While the audience pondered this one, Dr. O'Keefe, a fission man, arose and asked Dr. Ringwood how he proposed to get his gas cloud-and the ring-into orbit around the Earth in the first place. NASA, Dr. O'Keefe remarked, had a hard enough time orbiting a relatively small spacecraft. Dr. Ringwood again said that he wished Dr. Opik were there, and went on to suggest that the concentration of the WiseRingwood iron core, plus the heat created by infalling particles, had caused the rocky, gaseous cloud to sort of evaporate from the Earth's surface. Dr. Jastrow challenged this picture of a misty emanation from a sort of primeval bog. Dr. O'Keefe's point hung in the air unanswered, and, just as the meeting seemed about to move tactfully to another subject, a chair scraped in the back of the room and a man said, in a loud, booming voice, "I.:et. me briefly indicate how some of the difficulties that have been mentioned can be overcome." There was a rustling as several hundred scientists turned to see who had spoken. It was Dr. Cameron.

aking up Dr. O'Keefe's objection, he said that, as an astrophysicist, he found nothing to prevent a cloud of vaporized rocks from extending as far as five Earth radii into space. (An Earth radius is about 6,400 kilometres.) The cloud would already be there as an accompaniment to the formation of the Earth, and later it would flatten into a disc extending outward from the Earth's equator. And, further, the law known as Roche's Law stipulates that any particles orbiting the Earth beyond 2.7 Earth radii-Roche's Limit-will tend to cluster together. Accordingly, that part of the disc beyond Roche's Limit would form the ring, and the particles in the ring would immediately begin to pile up to make the moon. Dr. Cameron added that he agreed with

Something new happened to create an awareness of Earth as a unique and precious place at the moment man took his first step on the moon._

Dr. Ringwood that the moon could accumulate in less than a hundred years. Then, having lofted the cloud, the ring, and the moon for Dr. O'Keefe, Dr. Cameron took up the problem of the moon's present orbit. He began in a roundabout fashion with the matter of the lack of volatile elements on the moon. If the Opik-Ringwood theory (or the RingwoodCameron theory) were correct, he said, there should be no volatile elements on the Earth, either, for while the moon's volatiles were burning off inside the hot cloud, the Earth's volatiles would have been burning off, too. Yet the Earth's surface is rich in volatiles. (Dr. Urey had argued to me that the presence of volatiles on the Earth was a fatal flaw in the theory.) Obviously, Dr. Cameron had to get the volatiles back onto the Earth in a hurry, and at this point he made use of the large chunks of matter he had left orbiting the sun after the planets were. formed. Since they hadn't been inside Dr. Cameron's hot cloud, they would have remained rich in volatiles. They would have piled onto the Earth, becoming the outer 10 per cent of the planet, but hardly anything would have piled onto the moon, because the moon was so small, and its gravity so weak, that most of the material would have splashed right off it. As these chunks of matter, rich in volatiles, landed on the Earth, the accompanying jolts would have tilted the Earth on its axis relative to the moon"thereby overcoming the objection," he added sonorously. Dr. Jastrow didn't appear to be convinced by Dr. Cameron's general theory.

He de~lared that it was his impression that certain physical laws .would have been violated unless a third body-such as Mars -was formed at the same' time as the Earth and the moon. Then he' ended the discussion by saying, "I won't give the members of the panel a chance to reply to this remark, because it's time to adjourn." When. the conference on the Apollo 11 rocks ended, what one scientist called the "frantic phase" of the ,study of the moon was over. NASA wouldn't hold another scientific conference for a year, and mean-' while the scientists would be free to release their findings whenever and however they pleased.

t a banquet that NA::;A gave for the scientists, the chief speaker was the British astrophysici.st Fred Hoyle. (One scientist nervously remarked beforehand, "NASA doesn't know what it's doing! Hoyle was against sending men to the moon!") Towards the end of his speech,'r Professor Hoyle mentioned a prediction he had made in 1948-tnat once a man had taken a photograph from space showing the Earth in its entirety, a new idea would be let loose in the world. "You have noticed how, quite suddenly," he went on, "everybody has become seriously concerned to protect the naturaf environment. It happened almost overnight, and one can understand how one can ask the question 'Where did this idea come from?' You could say, of course, from biologists, from conservationists, from ecologists, but, after all, they've really been saying these things for many years past, and previously they've never even got on base. Something new has happened to create a worldwide awareness of our planet as a unique and precious place. It seems to me more than a coincidence that this awareness should have happened at exactly the moment man took his first step into space." END


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Coach Press Maravich (above) is concerned not only for the fate of his basketball team, bnt also for his son Pete (right), its top scorer.

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tial in professional basketball in the United States is Peter Maravich, who caught the attention of pro teams while he was still an undergraduate at Louisiana State University (LSU). How this brilliant young player made the All-American basketball team in his second year at the University and became the most prolific scorer in the history of college basketball is the story of a winning father-son duo. Pete's father Press, the son of a Yugoslavian immigrant, is head coach of Louisiana State University's basketball team, and under his tutelage Peter became the team's star and top scorer. When the boy was only seven, Press began teaching him the fundamentals of the game with the result that when Pete entered the University, he was already a skilful player. Despite the team's winning record, continued

WINNING BASKETBALL COMBINATION


Coach Maravich gives final words of encouragement to his team in the closing moments of a tense battle. His son Pete is third from left.

Widely known for scoring baskets, Pete is also a superb play-maker. Here he passes the ball between his legs without breaking stride.

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the father-son syndrome sometimes intruded into the workaday coach-player relationship. "It's hard when your father's the coach," Pete says. "Sometimes you don't know where one leaves off and the other begins." When the two are together, Pete assumes an air of flippancy which masks his real feelings. When Press isn't around, he speaks of his father with genuine affection. "I'll tell you one thing," he says. "l"could never be a coach. Too many worries. Too much pressure. I don't know how Dad does it." Although Press taught his son how to play basketball, Pete taught his father something in every game. Press admits that he became less a coach than a fan of his son, who set a collegiate scoring record in one season by averaging 43. 8 points per game. During a game, the father's eyes would seldom leave his son-even when Pete didn't have the ball. Pete handles the ball skilfully, but his reputation is built on scoring. Press Maravich, father and coach, made it plain to the team that they would win only with Pete making large scores. He was right. "Shoot the ball, Pete! Don't pass!" Press would yell from the bench. After one game, Pete was dejected. He scored 45 points and LSD beat a previously undefeated team, but he made some bad passes late in the game when it could have hurt. "You looked terrible tonight," the coach scowled at Pete. Then seeing how downcast his son was, the father in Press Maravich took over. He put his arm around the boy's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Hey, we won. And you'll look better tomorrow." Pete was the last player to leave the locker room. He watched his father talking with a reporter about the game and about Pete's exploits. The rest of the LSD team did not resent Pete's special place. "When you score, you win," Pete says. "That's what everybody cares about. Winning. Not the publicity." END

Displaying the form that made him a member of the U.S. national team, "Pistol Pete" drops in another basket with a twisting, fall-away jump shot.


laboratory isdt a plaee ••• itt)sa set of attitudes



in Connecticut, the students have organized and now operate a social studies laboratory where we learn by asking and then answering our own questions. A little over three years old, the laboratory already has attracted educators from all over the world to inspect the changes in our system that are helping to bridge the emotional and intellectual schism between student, teacher and administrator. The heart'of the laboratory is not fancy equipment or expensive materials, but a simple idea that the way to educate people for democratic living is to educate them in a democratic environment. Our laboratory work puts students into the real world. Instead of sitting in a classroom reading a textbook and answering someone else's questions, we search for our information, discovering that one answer raises at least two more questions. We're not studying citizenship, for example, we're being citizens. We go into the community to record history as it happens, to photograph changing landmarks, interview old settlers of the town, document changes in architecture, discuss the opinions of citizens on current issues. We talk with government officials, college professors, businessmen, policemen, factory w'orkers, merchants, professional people and others who make up the tapestry of our society. When they share their ideas with us, we gain new ones. The programme has succeeded in turning many bored, passive students into excited learners. It makes everybody feel he is somebody ... somebody important. Our studies place a great importance on visual literacy, as well as the traditional verbal literacy. We believe a picture is often worth a thousand words, and that learning to understand and work with T OUR SCHOOL

images IS Just as important as mastering the printed word. Our tools are simple colour-slide cameras and tape recorders, which we use to record the life around us as we discover it. When our research is recorded on slides and tape, we make up sound and slide lectures which we present to our classmates. We are always working with faculty advisers through a board of directors that is composed equally of students and teachers. We learn to clearly organize our thoughts and ideas this way, so we can present them in an equal dialogue. Our library probing and field work projects have created an interest in many of us to explore new subject matter. Since our laboratory was established in 1967, we have added numerous short courses to the curriculum, including a study into Middle Eastern, African and Canadian affairs. We have tackled several different aspe.cts.of philosophy and psychology this way too. We've had plenty of exciting results! One of our slide lectures on pollution was seen by more than 6,000 Enfield citizens. It sparked a grass-roots drive among them to eliminate littering. Town officials decided to create new park and recreational facilities. Another project has redoubled community interest in preserving and restoring many historic buildings. To those of us participating in the projects, it is not only an exciting way to learn new things but it helps to reinforce many academic skills. We learn English composition and grammar in writing scripts for our slide lectures. We learn speech techniques and music in setting up sound tracks. We learn photography. We must develop good administrative and managerial techniques in pursuing our research in teams. We are able to apply lessons of history and economics to our research and see results in very real issues. For example, some of the packaged lessons of tapes, slides, pamphlets, and commentaries now in active use in the classroom, and the community, deal with Vietnam, the American Indian, pollution, oceanography and foreign affairs of Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

A student or teacher can introduce an addition to the curriculum at any time. This way we are able to explore new subjects at the moment when our interest is greatest. Where do we get the money for these projects? Most of it comes to us through our own efforts. The students take full responsibility for applying for grants, loans and donations. We are also responsible for administering the funds that we solicit. The Connecticut State Department of Education, which encourages the development of new ideas for learning, awarded us a grant for such educational materials as recordings, books, and slides. We think the laboratory proves that any school, anywhere, can make education exciting without spending large sums of money on projects that require years to get started. The laboratory works because students and teachers work together, imaginatively and flexibly. It is successful because we are willing to try new things and because we do things, not just talk about them. We believe that democracy rests on individual inquiry and involvement. We know we are helping ourselves become individuals, not part of a mass mind. We are glad that we are able to inquire, to ask our own questions. Above all, we are becoming citizens who get involved in our community, our country and our world.


A U.S. postal employee is interviewed by a student for a research project. above. Two members of a student team, at right. prepare a slide show on historic buildings in Enfield. Below right. a student copies a map for his study project while, below, lab staff members discuss new plans with Edward Boland, social studies chairman.

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Its road both land and water, air-cushion vehicle SK-5, above, skims across the islandstrewn Niagara River near Buffalo. Photo by Dean Conger.

An aerotrain, creation of a French inventor, whirs on a test track near Paris. Blowers lift it ~ inch off the track. Photograph by Bruce Dale.

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Courtesy Nmional Geographit'. Geographic Society.

Š 1969 National


public transport facilities are proving inadequate for the thousands of city workers who have to travel from their homes to offices or factories and back. According to a recent survey, the average bus passenger in Delhi has to wait twenty-five minutes in a queue before he can board a bus. In America, with its 100 million automobiles and almost every family owning one or more, there may be no shortage of transport, but huge traffic jams on city roads occur daily, impeding traffic and delaying commuters. Many new ideas and innovations for speedier transport and tackling traffic congestion are at present in the experimental stage. Working on the air-cushion principle, the Aerotraincreated by French inventor Jean Bertin-is being tried out on a track near Paris. The train is built to run without wheels and straddles a single concrete rail without touching it, being airborne at a height of 5J8th of an inch. Engine-driven fans in the train blow compressed air onto the top and sides of the rail, giving an almost friction-free surface on which the train glides. An aircraft engine and propeller at the rear provide propulsion and the train races along at a speed which could reach 185 miles an hour. Seemingly fantastic, but in an advanced stage of trial, is the . concept of a "tube train" suspended and propelled by compressed air. Dr. Joseph V. Foa, of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, is leading this research and has produced an aluminium, torpedolike model, which is being tried out in a 2,000-foot-Iong tube in the Institute. Such a train, with huge propellers pumping the air from the front to the rear, could race at 350 miles an hour and on long runs might conceivably become supersonic! To achieve higher speeds with the conventional wheeled trains running on steel tracks, new types of propulsion are being tried. Gas turbines drive a Turbo train on its 230-mile run between New York and Boston. Although the train is designed to attain a speed of 170 miles an hour, the existing track permits only half that speed. In Japan, where special tracks were laid for the New Tokaido Line, trains roar at a speed of 130 miles an hour bedeveloped to meet the changing needs tween Tokyo and Osaka, transporting as many as 350,000 travsome of these projects are now in ellers a day. revolutionize transport before long. Electric cars, which would eliminate the problem of air pollution by automobiles, are already on the market but their present driving speeds are limited. Research is in progress to im-

ALF FISH, HALF FOWL, is an apt description of the newly-developed hovercraft, an air-cushion vehicle which can cross land and water with equal ease, skimming the surface or hovering a few feet above it. The hovercraft is now in regular commercial use on the English Channel; the British-made S.R. N4 propeller-driven ferry carries 254 passengers and thirty automobiles across the Channel at a speed of a mile a minute. In the United States, a smaller air-cushion vehicle manufactured by Bell Aerosystems has proved its worth in extensive trials in the congested San Francisco Bay Area, and half-a-dozen vehicles of this type are in use by the U.S. Army and Navy. The hovercraft is symbolic of the new trends in transportation which may revolutionize old concepts and forms of transport before long. Airlines, ocean lines, railway systems and road services are all in the throes of technological change aimed at providing quicker, more comfortable and-hopefully-moreeconomical transport for passengers and goods. A strong impetus for this change is provided by the growing and formidable problems of urbanization-crowded cities, sprawling suburbs, congested roads, recurring traffic jams. Existing

It VIM PEOPLE AND 'IJ : NEW TRENDS IN TRANSPORTATION Novel forms of transport are being ()f the jet age. Seemingly fantastic, an advanced stage of trial and may

Text continued on page 48


Driven by gas-turbine engines, one at each end, a Turbo Train speeds on the 230-mile stretch between New York and Boston. It is designed to rim 170 m.p.h. Passengers lounging in the rear dome o/Turbo Train enjoy jetliner decor and panoramic views. Both photographs on this page by Gordon Gahan.


Lockheed's flying freighter L-500, above, will hold sixty-four standard automobiles. Photo: Lockheed-Georgia. Company, At top, a Sikorsky Skycrane, resembling a huge grasshopper on the jump, hauls 8 tons of oil rig parts. Photo: Sikorsky Aircraft.

Top left, a mile-long conveyor belt on wheels or a "unit train" of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line rumbles across New Mexico. Photo by Dean Conger.

A single knob electrically steers, accelerates, shifts gear and works the brakes in General MQ,tors' new experimental Unicontrol Cak Second knob is for righthanders. Photograph by Dean Conger.

continued SPAN JANUARY

1971 47


Developments in transport of goods are no less remarkable than those for passenger traffic. Among them are automated ships, super-tankers, standardized containers.

prove batteries and use new sources of power such as the fuel cell. A half-way step to the automated vehicle of the future is also the Unicontrol Car developed by General Motors. In this car a single small knob replaces the steering wheel, gearshift lever, accelerator and brake pedal. When the knob is moved, a "baby computer" in the car's trunk activates the proper mechanism. n the air the Boeing 747-with other jumbo jets to follow soon-has ushered in the second jet age. By the middle of this decade or even earlier supersonic aircraftthe British-French Concorde, the Soviet TU-144 and the U.S. SST-are expected to be in service. Flashing across the skies at 1,800 to 2,000 miles an hour or almost three times the speed of sound, and at a height of about 60,000 feet, these planes will bring any two airports in the world within half-a-day's journey of each other. These astoundingly short flight times are expected to give a considerable stimulus to international travel and trade. But before supersonic flights or megaplanes become a routine part of air traffic, there are formidable problems to be solved. Some of these are: the widening and redesigning of runways, avoidance of traffic jams in the air, speedy handling of the large number of passengers and their baggage at airports and-most serious of all-battling the sonic boom caused by the wave of air pressure that trails behind the aircraft during supersonic flights. Unless methods are devised to control it, the sonic boom would not only cause annoyance but also structural damage to buildings within its range. In contrast to the giant airliners and at the other extreme of the rapidly developing air traffic are the air taxis which move people or cargo over short distances between cities or between city terminals and airports. An example is the air taxi service operating several times a day between Killeen and Dallas in Texas. As jet airports grow larger in size and move farther into the country, there will be need to link them by air with the smaller metro-ports. Small planes like the experimental VjSTOL (Vertical Short Take-off and Landing) will have a useful role in these feeder air services. • As living standards rise throughout the world and consumption of all kinds of goods increases, the volume of freight trafficboth short and long distance-is also constantly mounting. Current and projected developments in transport of goods are no less remarkable than those in passenger traffic. The 246-foot-long Lockheed L-500, which is the civilian version of the world's largest aircraft-U.S. Air Force C-5A-is expected to go into service in 1972. It will be able to carry sixty-

four automobiles or an equivalent tonnage of other cargo. Transport of heavy cargo to inaccessible places is the specialized function of the Sikorsky Skycrane, a helicopter which can carry lO-ton loads at 132 miles an hour. A plane of this type recently transported an entire 300-seat restaurant, in five parts, to a mountaintop in New Jersey. New super-tankers with a capacity of 2.5 million barrels of oil are operat\ng from the Persian Gulf and even larger mammoth tankers are in the ¡planning stage. In spite of their colossal size, the new cargo ships have small crews as installation of automatic devices has eliminated most manual operations. A huge freighter may have a crew of no more than a dozen. Considerable economies in ocean shipping have also been achieved by the use of standard containers in which goods are pre-packed. Such containers not only mean lower handling costs but they serve as strongboxes preventing pilferage in transit. Standard containers are also being increasingly used by rail¡ ways (including Indian railways) which are expected to continue carrying the bulk of long-distance inland freight. For certain types of freight, such as transport of coal from mines to distant factories, a recent development is the use of "unit trains." Consisting of several hundred wagons and earmarked for the special traffic, these trains are proving efficient and economical. The transportation revolution, now in the making, has many. facets. Linked with the evolution of new forms of transport are the vast problems of urban replanning and reconstruction. Airports, highways, road and rail terminals have to be redesigned to cope adequately with the new and changing needs of traffic. o relieve the increasing congestion in cities, surface roads may gradually be replaced by underground highways, leaving surface areas free for other purposes. Improved technology is expected to reduce the costs of tunnelling and constructing such highways, which would have the advantage of being unaffected by weather. Computer-controlled highways on which automobiles, electrically-operated or carried on high-speed conveyors, would be automatically guided to their destination, are also being' tried. Some of these concepts and projects may sound like science fiction but many of them are in an advanced stage of experimentation. In transportation, as in other fields, technology is developing apace and reality may well prove stranger than fiction. EN L Cargo concealing her decks, the American Legion is on her way to Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, which leads the world in the handling of containerized cargo. Photograph by Dean Conger.

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