MCZ
UBBABY
JUN 0 4 2012
Volume 98
Number 1
Spring 2012
Journal of the
WASHINGTON
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Editor’s Ckxnments J. Maffucd i
Instructions to Authors ii
Anomaly Detection for Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor E. Sutrisno, Q. Fan, D. Das, M. Pecht.. 1
Simulation-based Military Training J. E. Summers 9
Online Introductory Physics Labs: Status and Methods A. M. Reagan 31
Perspectives from the field: Partnerships for Diversifying and Improving Ecology Education
T. M. Mourad. 47
Affiliated Institutions 56
Membership Application 57
ISSN 0043-0439
Issued Quarterly at Washington DC
Washington Academy of Sciences
Founded in 1898
Board of Managers
Elected Officers
President
Gerard Christman
President Elect
James Cole
Treasurer
Larry Millstein
Secretary
Terrell Erickson
Vice President, Administration
Jim Disbrow
Vice President, Membership
Sethanne Howard
Vice President, Junior Academy
Dick Davies
Vice President, Affiliated Societies
Victor Miriel
Members at Large
Denise Ingram
Michael Cohen
Paul Arveson
Frank Haig, S.J.
Neal Schmeidler
Catherine With
Past President Mark Holland
Affiliated Society Delegates
Shown on back cover
Editor of the Journal
Jacqueline Maffucci
Associate Editor
Sethanne Howard
Academy Office
Washington Academy of Sciences
Room 113
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202/326-8975
The Journal of the Washington Academy of
Sciences
The Journal \s the official organ of the Academy.
It publishes articles on science policy, the history
of science, critical reviews, original science
research, proceedings of scholarly meetings of
its Affiliated Societies, and other items of interest
to its members, it is published quarterly. The last
issue of the year contains a directory of the
current membership of the Academy.
Subscription Rates
Members, fellows, and life members in good
standing receive the Journal free of charge.
Subscriptions are available on a calendar year
basis, payable in advance. Payment must be
made in US currency at the following rates.
US and Canada $30.00
Other Countries $35.00
Single Copies (when available) $15.00
Claims for Missing Issues
Claims must be received within 65 days of
mailing. Claims will not be allowed if non-
delivery was the result of failure to notify the
Academy of a change of address.
Notification of Change of Address
Address changes should be sent promptly to
the Academy Office. Notification should
contain both old and new addresses and zip
codes.
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to WAS, Rm 113,
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Journal of the Washington Academy of
Sciences (ISSN 0043-0439)
Published by the Washington Academy of
Sciences 202/326-8975
email: was (g) washacadsci.org
website: www.washacadsci.org
MCZ I
library
Letter from the Editor 0 4 2012
HARVARD
This issue will be my last as Editor of the Journal of I
Academy of Sciences. For more than two years, I’ve enjoyed working
with the various authors, the Discipline Editors, and the Board. Most
importantly, I could not have gotten any of these issues published without
the dedication of the Associate Editor, Sethanne Howard. I want to thank
everyone for welcoming me and working with me during my tenure as
editor.
We are fortunate to have Dr. Sally Rood taking over the position of editor.
I have no doubt that she will continue the excellence of this publication
and I look forward to seeing her contributions to the Journal. For my final
issue, I am happy to present four articles that are a product of CapSci
2012. They embody the diversity of this organization and showcase some
of our talented members.
First, we present Anomaly Detection for Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
(IGBT) under Power Cycling using Principal Component Analysis and K-
Nearest Neighbor Algorithm by E. Sutrisno et al We move from there to
Simulation-based Military Training: An Engineering Approach to Better
Addressing Competing Environmental, Fiscal, and Security Concerns by
Jason E. Summers. We then shift to the classroom with Ann M. Reagan’s
article entitled Online Introductory Physics Labs: Status and Methods.
Finally, we continue on the topic of student education with Perspectives
from the field: Partnerships for Diversifying and Improving Ecology
Education by Teresa M. Mourad, Ecological Society of America.
I’d like to thank all of the participants and attendees at this year’s CapSci
2012 and hope that you enjoy this small sampling of a great deal of work
that was embodied in this weekend-long event.
Best,
Jacqueline Maffucci
Editor, The Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences
Spring 2012
INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
1. Manuscripts must be in Word (Office 03/07/10) and not PDF.
2. They should be 6,000 words Or fewer (the Editor may make
exceptions). If there are 7 or more graphics, reduce the number of
words.
3. Graphics (photographs, drawings, figures, tables) must be in graytone
only (no color accepted), and be easily resizable by the editors to fit
the Journal’s page size. Do not wrap text around the graphics.
4. References (and bibliography, if included) may be in the format
generally acceptable for the disciplinary or professional field
represented by the manuscript. They must be accurate, complete, and
consistent in format throughout the paper. Use endnotes.
5. Include both an e-mail address and a postal address for the author (or
primary author) including title and institutional affiliation if any.
6. Manuscripts are peer reviewed and become the property of the
Washington Academy of Sciences.
7. Send manuscripts by e-mail as an attachment, or on a CD, to
Journal^ washacadsci.org or directly to the editor, Dr. Sally Rood -
sallv.roodgcox.net. Hard copy cannot be accepted. Manuscripts can
be accepted by any of the Board of Discipline Editors.
Emanuela Appetiti - anthropology at eappetitighotmail.com
Elizabeth Corona - systems science at elizabethcoronaggmail.com
Jim Eigenreider - science education at iimgdeepvvater.org
Terrell Erickson - environmental natural sciences at terrell.erickson 1 gvvdc. nsda.gov
Mark Holland - botany at mahollandgsalisburv.edu
Kiki Ikossi - engineering at ikossigieee.org
Carol Lacampagne - mathematics at clacampagnegearthlink.net
Raj Madhaven - engineering at raj .madhaven@nist.gov
Kent Miller - computer sciences at kent.l. millergalumni.cmu.edu
Jean Mielczarek - physics and biology at mielczargphvsics.gmu.edu
Robin Stombler - health at rstombler@aubumstrat.com
Alain Touwaide - history of medicine at atouvvaideraihotmail.com
Steve Tracton - atmospheric studies at stractionghotmail.com
Washington Academy of Sciences
Anomaly Detection for Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
(IGBT) under Power Cycling using Principal Component
Analysis and K-Nearest Neighbor Algorithm
Edwin Sutrisno, Qingguo Fan, Diganta Das, and Michael Pecht
University of Maryland, College Park
Abstract
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is a power electronic transistor used in
medium to high power applications such as hybrid cars, railway traction motors,
switch mode power supplies, and wind turbines. As more IGBTs find their
application into larger and complex systems, the ability to detect and predict
failures in IGBTs can provide a key advantage in driving down cost of
maintenance and improving system availability and safety. This paper briefly
discusses the common failure modes found in IGBTs under power cycling along
with the experimental setup. Several electrical parameters are extracted and
analyzed for fault using principal component analysis (PCA) and k-nearest
neighbor (KNN) classification. The proposed algorithm is successfully shown to
detect faults just before the IGBTs enter a final degradation stage toward failure.
Introduction
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is a power electronic
device typically used in power inverters, traction drives, switching mode
power supplies (SMPS), and other power s witching/ modulation
applications. The key advantage of IGBT is its ability to combine the high
switching speed of MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect
transistors) and the high current capability of BJTs (bipolar junction
transistors) [1]. The latest push in power conservation and renewable
energy has increased the demand in power electronic devices such as
IGBTs, which warrants research into IGBT prognostics as a business
potential [2, 3, 4].
The ability to detect anomaly and predict remaining useful life of
systems is one of the key focuses of prognostics and health management
(PHM) [5]. Information generated by a PHM system'can support operators
to schedule maintenance based on a system’s health state and benefit from
failure avoidance, maximized utilization of parts life, and improved
availability and safety [6]. Cheng et al. [7] define prognostics and health
management (PHM) as “an enabling discipline consisting of technologies
and methods to assess the reliability of a product in its actual life cycle
conditions to determine the advent of failure and mitigate system risk.” In
this paper we explore the ability of a PEiM technique in detecting
Spring 2012
2
anomalous degradation trends in IGBT by applying a k-nearest neighbor
(KNN) algorithm. A previous work by Patil et aL [8] proposes an anomaly
detection method for IGBT that analyzes data collected at a constant
temperature. In this study we develop an algorithm with a capability of
analyzing data with varying temperature.
Power Cycling Experiment and Data Collection
Power cycling is a self-induced thermal cycling due to variation in
power dissipated by the device. In IGBT applications, power cycling is a
dominant loading condition where stop-and-go profiles such as in electric
vehicles cause the IGBT to heat up and cool down repeatedly throughout
its life [9]. Mismatch of the coefficients of thermal expansion between
different materials inside the IGBT package produces a fatigue stress that
degrades metallization, die attach, and wire bonds [9, 10, 11]. These
mechanical damages inside the IGBT packaging are followed by changes
in the device’s thermal and electrical characteristics that overtime push the
loading condition above the device's safe operating area, leading to
latchup or second breakdown. Figure 1 shows a cross-section schematic of
the IGBT power module used in this study. Components and the
corresponding materials are annotated.
Encapsulant
Figure 1. Schematics of an IGBT cross-section showing components and materials
Degradation in the die attach, for instance, reduces the
effectiveness of the package in conducting heat from the die to the heat
sink. This causes temperature in the die to become higher. Fligher
temperature increases the overall electrical resistance of the device which
is reflected by an increase of the on-state collector voltage (Vce(on))-
Figure 2 shows the trend of increasing Vce(ON) over time suggesting an
increasing electrical resistance as the device degrades. In this figure, the
device failed after 8300 cycles.
Washington Academy of Sciences
3
Figure 2. Plot of Vce(on) of an IGBT under power cycling experiment. Horizontal axis
shows the temperature cycles from the start of experiment until device failure. Loading
condition is 1 kHz switching frequency, 50% duty cycle, and 50°C temperature swing.
Plot shows data collected at 175°C.
Figure 3. Illustration of a power cycling experiment. Top chart shows device
temperature. Bottom chart shows power supplied into the device.
A power cycling experiment was performed on International
Rectifier discrete IGBT modules built in with freewheeling parallel diodes
[12]. Gate voltage was set at 15 V, which is sufficiently above the 5.5 V
threshold voltage specified by the manufacturer. Gate voltage was applied
as square waves with a switching frequency of 1 kHz. Temperature range
in each cycle was set between minimum and maximum temperature limits,
measured at the metal heat sink. The device was switched until
temperature rose to Tmax (maximum), then the power was cut off to let the
device cool down to Tmm (minimum) (see Figure 3 for illustration). Once
the device temperature reached Tmm, the square wave loading was repeated
again and this cycle continued until device failure. Data were collected
Spring 2012
4
every 1 second from the collector voltage, collector current, and heat sink
temperature. No data were recorded when the device was in the cooling
down mode.
Feature Extraction with Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
There are five parameters of the IGBT used toward building the
algorithm features. The first one is the collector to emitter voltage when
the gate is in the ON state during switching, Vce(on), in volts. The second
parameter is the collector to emitter voltage when the gate is the OFF state
during switching, Vce(off), in volts. The third parameter is the collector to
emitter current when the gate is in the ON state during switching, Ice(on)?
in amps. The fourth parameter is the collector to emitter current when the
gate is in the OFF state during switching, Ice(Off), in amps. The last
parameter is the heat sink temperature, T, in degree Celsius.
Seven samples of IGBT were put under the power cycling
experiment. Data collected from five samples are used for algorithm
training and the other two for algorithm testing. The training data are
further categorized into healthy and faulty. Healthy data are defined as the
first 120 observations collected in the experiment of the training samples
where each observation consists of parameters Vce(on), Vce(Off), Ice(on),
IcE(OFF), and T as described previously. The total size of healthy data is
600 observations. Faulty data are defined as the last 300 observations
before failure collected from each training sample. The total size of the
faulty data is 1500 observations.
The next step is to perform principal component analysis (PCA) on
the five parameters. PCA in this study is used to reduce redundancy in the
data due to correlations among the parameters [13, 14]. From calculating
the correlation matrix of the healthy data, we see that Vce(on) is highly
correlated with Ice(on) with a Pearson correlation coefficient of -0.910, as
shown on Table 1.
Table 1- Correlation matrix of IGBT parameters. Non zero off-diagonal entries suggest
that the parameters are not independent.
Washington Academy of Sciences
5
PCA works by transforming data points onto a new set of
independent coordinates or principal components. Each principal
component axis is oriented in the direction that captures the largest
variance in the data in a descending order. This means the first principal
component contains the largest variance, followed by the second principal
component, and so on. PCA produces the same number of principal
components as the number of input variables; however, we do not need to
use all of the principal components because the last few principal
components retain very little variance in the data and so do not provide
much information for analysis. In this study we are using the first four
principal components which account for 98% of the variance in the
training data. PCA is performed on the normalized parameters, which are
obtained by Equation 1 .
^ X^-E{X) ^ ^
NOR i — Ecj^u3.tion 1
where Xnorj is the normalized parameter for observation z, Xi is the
measured parameter for observation z, E(X) is the expected value for the
parameter which in this study is the mean from the healthy data, and gx is
the standard deviation of the parameter from the healthy data.
Anomaly Detection using KNN
k-nearest neighbor (KNN) is a technique in machine learning
where a new data point is classified based on its proximity to other data
points belonging to known classes, in this case healthy and faulty classes
[15, 16]. Traditionally classification by KNN is done by a majority vote of
the nearest neighboring points, where the class with the most number of
neighbors wins the vote and classifies the new point as its own class.
In this study however, the KNN classification method is slightly
modified by selecting three nearest neighbors from each class and then
calculating the distance of the new point to the centroid of the neighbors
of each class. An illustration of this distance-based KNN algorithm is
shown on Figure 4. The advantage of using a distance based KNN instead
of a majority vote based is that we obtain information on the trajectory of
degradation in the feature space as we track the change in the distance.
The criterion for anomaly used in this study is when the distance of
a point to the faulty class is closer than the distance to the healthy class
Spring 2012
6
which suggests that the IGBT is now behaving more alike to a faulty
device. This criterion can be summarized by the following statement:
Anomaly exists if: (Distance to Healthy Centroid- Distance to
Faulty Centroid) > 0
Figures 5 and 6 show the result of the KNN anomaly detection
algorithm applied on two IGBT samples. The two figures show that the
algorithm successfully detects anomaly before failure when the distance
curve crosses above the zero line.
Figure 4. Illustration of a distance based KNN algorithm.
Figure 5. Anomaly detection for IGBT test sample #1. Anomaly detected at 717 cycles.
The sample failed at 891 cycles. Experiment loading condition: 1 kHz switching
frequency, 50% duty cycle, 100°C temperature swing.
Washington Academy of Sciences
7
Cycles
Figure 6. Anomaly detection for IGBT test sample #2. Anomaly detected at 6973 cycles.
The sample failed at 8249 cycles. Experiment loading condition: 1 kHz switching
frequency, 50% duty cycle, 50°C temperature swing.
Conclusions and Further Work
A method to detect anomaly in IGBT under power cycling has
been proposed and shown to perform effectively on the experimental
samples. The experiment loading condition was designed after the power
cycling condition faced by IGBTs in field operations. We acknowledge
that results here are based on limited number of samples and that there is
an uncertainty^ involved when extending this method to real field
conditions where the temperature cycles are not as uniform and controlled
as the lab setup; however, this study suggests a feasible approach to
devising an online anomaly detection system for IGBTs. Output from such
system will provide valuable information for operators in determining
support actions.
Further work of this study will include analyzing more samples,
varying the loading conditions and improving the robustness of the
algorithm in handling possible multiple fault classes as a result of multiple
loading conditions. We will also explore the possibility' of predicting the
remaining useful life post anomaly detection.
References
[1] N. Patil, J. Celaya. D. Das, K. Goebel, and M. Pecht, "Precursor Parameter
Identification for Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor Prognostics,'’ IEEE Transactions
on Reliability, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 271-276, June 2009.
[2] P. Clarke, "Power Transistor Market to Grow 9% in 2011,*’ EE Times, News &
Analysis, June 24, 2011.
Spring 2012
8
[3] A. Liu, “China’s IGBT Market Set to Double by 2014,” IHS ISuppli, Market Watch,
Feb. 3,2011.
[4] B. K. Bose, “Power Electronics and. Motor Drives Recent Progress and Perspective,”
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 581-588, February
2009.
[5] B. Saha, J. R. Celaya, K. F. Goebel, and P. F. Wysocki, “Towards Prognostics for
Electronic Components,” 2009 IEEE Aerospace Conference, pp. 1-7, Big Sky, MT,
March, 2009.
[6] C. Chen, G. Vachtsevanos, and M. E. Orchard, “Machine Remaining Useful Life
Prediction Based on Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy and High-Order Particle Filtering,”
Annual Conference of the Prognostics and Health Management Society, October 17,
2010.
[7] S. Cheng, K. Tom, L. Thomas, and M. Pecht, “A Wireless Sensor System for
Prognostics and Health Management,” IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol. 10, No. 4, April
2010.
[8] N. Patil, D. Das, and M. Pecht, “Mahalanobis Distance Approach for Insulated Gate
Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) Diagnostics,” Proceedings of the 17* International
Conference on Concurrent Engineering, Cracow, pp. 583-591, September, 2010.
[9] M. Held, P. Jacob, G. Nicoletti, P. Scacco, M. H. Poech, “Fast Power Cycling Test for
IGBT Modules in Traction Application,” Proceedings of 1997 International
Conference on Power Electronics and Drive Systems, Vol. 1, pp. 425-430, 1997.
[10] M. Ciappa, “Selected Failure Mechanisms of Modem Power Modules,”
Microelectronics Reliability, Vol. 42, pp. 653-667, 2002.
[11] M. Bouarroudj, Z. Khatir, J. Ousten, F. Badel, L. Dupont, and S. Lefebvre,
“Degradation Behavior of 600 V-200 A IGBT Modules under Power Cycling and
High Temperature Environment Conditions,” Microelectronics Reliability, Vol. 47,
pp. 1719-1724, 2007.
[12] International Rectifier, Data Sheet PD-97269A, “IRGB4045DPbF Insulated Gate
Bipolar Transistor With Ultrafast Soft Recovery Diode,” January 28, 2010.
http://www.irf.com/product-info/datasheets/data/irgb4045dpbf.pdf
[13] K. Pearson, “On lines and planes of closest fit to systems of points in space,”
Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 2, pp. 559-572, 1901.
[14] S. Chatterjee and A. S. Hadi, “Regression Analysis by Example,” 4th ed., John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2006.
[15] E. Fix and J. L. Hodges Jr., “Discriminatory Analysis-Nonparametric
Discrimination: Consistency Properties,” Report Number 4, Project Number 21-49-
004, USAF School of Aviation Medicine, Randolph Field, Texas, Febmary, 1951.
[16] D. Hand, H. Mannila, and P. Smith, Principles of Data Mining, The MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA, 2001.
The authors would like to thank the more than 100 companies and organizations that
support research activities at the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering at the
University of Maryland annually. Also special thanks to the members of the Prognostics
and Health Management Consortium at CALCE for their support of this work.
Washington Academy of Sciences
9
Simulation-based Military Training: An Engineering
Approach to Better Addressing Competing Environmental,
Fiscal, and Security Concerns
Jason E. Summers
Applied Research in Acoustics LLC
Abstract
Governments and militaries have long recognized that armed forces must engage
in training in order to develop and maintain the proficiency necessary to
effectually carry out those legitimate duties with which they are entrusted by
their nations. This is made particularly salient by the increasing demands placed
on individual members of the Armed Forces because of reduced staffing and
increased task complexity. Yet training comes at a significant financial cost:
roughly one third of the total defense budget in fiscal year 2012 is devoted to
training. Moreover, military operations directly impact the environments in
which they are carried out, while also burning significant quantities of fossil
fuels. Broad societal, government-wide, and Department of Defense
commitments to improved environmental management together with fiscal
austerity measures enacted in response to the financial crisis will increasingly
bound the scope of training operations, potentially limiting their utility. Often
the challenges these bounds bring are approached only as a zero-sum problem of
balancing interests, as exemplified by the 2008 Supreme Court trial over sonar
training by the U.S. Navy. However, scientific advances have improved the
understanding of physical phenomena and, together with innovations in
modeling techniques and advances in computational power, this has enabled
simulation-based training to augment live-action training for many military
applications. In this paper, sonar training serves as an example through which to
illustrate in broad overview the scientific and technological advances that have
enabled enhanced capabilities for simulation-based training. It also provides a
framework through which to examine how these technologies should be best
developed to address the unique demands imposed by environmental, fiscal, and
security concerns. Beyond enhanced knowledge of the ocean environment,
improved models of sound propagation and scattering within that environment,
and new algorithms for real-time computation, effective simulation-based
training also requires an understanding of how the learning process is mediated
by the fidelity of the simulation. This, in turn, impacts the efficacy of
simulation-based training and the cost of developing a training system. Such
considerations are a necessary part of any system-engineering process if it is to
ensure that a training technology satisfies the diverse demands imposed on it.
Spring 2012
10
Introduction
The armed forces are the institutional embodiment of the responsibility
legitimate governments have to protect their political communities from
foreign acts of aggression that endanger life and property. Right exercise
of this responsibility requires that governments ensure that armed forces
are capable of effectually responding to aggression and that their response
will conform to the laws of war. Both requirements are realized through
military training. Readiness requires that militaries develop and maintain
equipment and personnel capable of rapid and efficacious response to
threats. Proficiency requires that militaries develop and maintain within
their personnel skills necessary for combat. Long-term trends toward
increasing task complexity and reduced staffing complicate fulfilling these
demands, by placing greater demands on training to convey larger
amounts of complex information in shorter periods of time.
Thus, training is a necessary and essential component of
maintaining a standing military. But it is not without significant cost and
consequence. The time, materials, and infrastructure necessary to conduct
training all have substantial economic costs, as do wear and tear to
military systems that result from training. In fiscal year 2012, roughly one
third of the total defense budget is devoted to training - a figure that only
partially reflects the full financial costs [1].
Training operations also can have both immediate and long-range
environmental effects. Direct environmental disturbances that result in
immediate effects include acoustic and thermal emissions together with
impact on air and water quality from byproducts of combustion. Over a
longer timescale, use of munitions in test ranges presents possible risks for
soil, water, and groundwater contamination from unrecovered munitions
and a direct risk to human and animal life from unexploded ordnance. At
still longer timescales, military training operations impact climate change
through use of fossil fuels.
Moreover, members of the Armed Forces participating in training
operations - particularly live-fire exercises - face significant physical
risks including loss of life [2]. Just as it is imperative for the military to
minimize total casualties during active operations, so is it imperative for
them to do so during the preparation for such operations.
Because there are compelling reasons for both conducting and
limiting training, the situation seems to present a problem of balancing
two competing obligations: an obligation to conduct training sufficient in
Washington Academy of Sciences
scope to maintain the readiness and proficiency of a standing military, and
an obligation to limit training in order to better steward fiscal,
environmental, and human resources. Arriving at a compromise between
these obligations may be possible [3], though there is substantial
disagreement over the proper balance [4, 5].
The present approach to resolving the competing obligations,
particularly as it has been decided within the U.S. courts, relies on
assessing the “balance of interests” between two parties within
government or between government and another party. This reasoning,
which decides based upon which party has a more compelling interest, is
exemplified by the 2008 Supreme Court decision on the case between
defendant Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter and plaintiff Natural
Resources Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC). Writing for the majority. Chief
Justice Roberts summarized in the opinion the court’s assessment of the
balance of interests: [6]
We do not discount the importance of the plaintiffs
ecological, scientific, and recreational interests in marine
mammals. Those interests, however, are plainly
outweighed by the Navy’s need to conduct realistic training
exercises to ensure that it is able to neutralize the threat
posed by enemy submarines.
Military interests do not always trump other
considerations... In this case, however, the proper
determination of where the public interest lies does not
strike us as a close question.
While the opinion in this case rejected a limit on military training,
two prevailing trends suggest that the frequency and scope of training will
decrease in the future. The first is a series of fiscal austerity measures
enacted in response to the financial crisis, which will likely extend across
all elements of the Department of Defense (DoD). The second is a broad
growth in societal commitments to improved environmental management
that are increasingly finding regulatory embodiment in laws and policies.
The risk posed by limiting training operations is that smaller scale
operations may trade utility for other gains so that, ultimately, they are less
cost effective.
Spring 2012
12
Simulation-Based Training
Simulation-based training provides a technological alternative that
resolves the tension between obligations by effectively mitigating the
competition between their demands. Rather than conducting training in the
conventional manner, simulation-based training uses computer-generated
virtual environments to augment or replace portions of the real
environment. By doing so, it can often reduce or limit risks to the
participants and the environment while reducing overall costs. Provided
that, in so doing, it can also ensure proficiency and readiness are achieved,
simulation-based training can better jointly meet the broad scope of
obligations faced by training operations.
There is a long history of use of simulation technology for training
operations [7]. Today simulation technology employed by the military
spans a broad range including desktop flight trainers derived from
commercial products, immersive virtual-reality training environments, and
complex tactical team trainers comprising multiple sites each replicating
the physical environment of one or more military platforms.
The recently developed primer on modeling and simulation from
the National Training and Simulation Association defines modeling as
“the representation of an object or phenomena,” which “may be
mathematical, physical, or logical representations of a system, entity,
phenomenon, or process” [7]. Simulation, in turn, is defined as “a
representation of the functioning of a system or process,” comprising the
collective functioning of one or more interconnected models that together
predict the time evolution of a system [7].
Systems for simulation-based training, as depicted schematically in
Figure 1, comprise simulation, with various constituent models;
environmental and other databases, which serve as input for models; and
rendering algorithms, which enable presentation of simulated data to
users.
As depicted in Figure 2, simulation-based training exists on a
continuum, ranging from augmentation of the real environment with
simulated, virtual entities to fully simulated, purely virtual environments.
Likewise, rendering takes various forms depending on the mode by
which those being trained interact with the output of the simulation. These
include (1) first-person presentation, as in immersive virtual reality; (2)
third-person screen-based presentation, as in video games; and (3)
technology-mediated presentation, as in radar or sonar training for which
Washington Academy of Sciences
13
simulation output replaces real-world input to standard technological
interfaces.
In the first case, simulation output is rendered to sensory
transducers (such as display goggles and headphones). In the second case,
simulation output is similarly rendered to sensory transducers (such as
display screens), but from a third-person perspective. In the third case,
simulation output is rendered as the output of data from one or more
sensors that are modeled within the virtual environment.
The distinction between the first and second modes of rendering is
quite fluid, as demonstrated by video games that adopt a first-person
perspective. Such a distinction relies upon assumptions about the
ontological status that trainees assign to simulation. However, the
ontological status afforded to simulation - the subjective sense of whether
something is “like real life” - cannot be described meaningfully in such
simple terms. An alternate approach, discussed later in this paper, grounds
this subjective assessment in biology, giving an objective basis for
understanding the full spectrum over which simulation can be perceived
“as real.”
Nonetheless, the type of rendering constrains the type of simulation
and the constituent models it uses. Rendering bounds the physical and
temporal scale and limits over which simulation is carried out. Likewise,
distinct display modalities make distinct demands on the physics that a
simulation must incorporate. This is particularly well illustrated by the
case of simulation-based sonar training.
Simulation-Based Sonar Training
In recent years concern over the risk posed by quiet submarines operating
in littoral waters has motivated the Navy to increase their use of active
sonar to detect these threats [8]. Though computational algorithms assist
human operators, detection and classification of submarines using active
sonar is an “incredibly complex” task that requires substantial amounts of
training in realistic environments for operators to achieve proficiency [9].
However, some evidence suggests that active sonar may adversely affect
marine mammals, in particular, certain species of whale [10-13].
The Navy has used simulation-based sonar training in various
forms for more than fifty years [14-15], largely due to the pedagogical,
logistic, and cost advantages it offers. Peter W. Singer reports that “the
Navy estimates that its use of gaming at bases, in lieu of doing the same
Spring 2012
14
exercises at sea, saves it some 4,000 barrels of fuel a year” [16]. Therefore,
despite legal decisions that allow for ongoing live training, the Navy has
supported development of new simulation-based training. This has
included support for the Surface ASW Synthetic Training (SAST)
program, which developed simulation-based training for the SQQ-
89A(V)15 sonar system that was the subject of Winter v. NRDC [17].
Sonar provides operators with a technologically mediated
connection to the physical world; a trait it shares with other military
sensing technologies such as radar. More than simply enhancing existing
sensory modalities of operators, these technologies categorically extend
the human capacity for sensing by enabling distinct new ways of
observing the world but displaying the sensing data to operators so they
can be perceived.
Of particular interest here is active sonar, in which a sonar
transducer emits acoustic signals and uses the returns scattered back from
the environment to detect, classify, and localize targets of interest.
Active-sonar systems typically present information to operators
through visual displays, auditory displays, and the output of automation
algorithms. Each display effectively selects and highlights particular
aspects of the data and the underlying physical processes by which it was
generated. For example, a conventional A-scan display (a plot of
amplitude versus time) for the time series associated with a particular
spatial beam provides little or no useful information about the Doppler
shifts associated with each return. Neither does a GEOSIT display in
which B-scan displays (displays of amplitude mapped to intensity plotted
as a function of time) are mapped to range and bearing. However, the
equivalent spatial auditory display [18] conveys some Doppler
information and a specialized spectral display might convey even more.
Because sonar mediates the connection of operators to the physical
world, simulation for sonar can take two distinct approaches. In the first,
simulation models the phenomena of the displays themselves and renders
the simulation results directly to the displays. Alternately, in the second,
simulation models the phenomena of the physical environment and
renders the simulation results in the form of virtual sensor output. This
virtual data then replaces the data generated by the real world.
The latter approach, termed simulated stimulation (sim-stim), is
more computationally demanding and requires greater knowledge of the
Washington Academy of Sciences
15
physics of the environment. However, simulation at the environment level
offers significant advantages over simulation at the display level.
Display-level simulation is tied to the particular display and sensor
system for which it is developed, making upgrading or repurposing of
simulation components potentially costly and time consuming. Moreover,
it relies (at least implicitly) on a form of reduced-dimension latent-
variables model, which is inherently susceptible to errors if the display
data used to develop the models are not truly representative.
A number of recent advancements have enabled broader
application of sim-stim simulation-based sonar training. First, advances in
computational power via multicore CPU and many-core GPU processors,
together with algorithms able to utilize these new architectures to their
best advantages, allow real-time computation for scales of problem that
were previously intractable. Many numerical techniques in underwater
acoustics are amenable to parallelization (see, e.g., [19]), though work is
ongoing. Second, there have been significant advances in understanding
the physics of underwater acoustics in shallow water. Development of
modem high-resolution broadband sonar systems had, until recently,
outpaced growth in knowledge of fundamental physical mechanisms of
sound propagation and scattering in the ocean, particularly in shallow-
water regions for which boundary interactions are significant.
Efforts over the last fifteen years have specifically sought to
improve the knowledge of the physical processes underlying scattering
from the air/water [20] and water/sediment interfaces [21], which has
recently led to development of new computational models.
Similarly, fundamental research efforts have been directed toward
the physical mechanisms responsible for spurious target-like echoes
(termed “clutter”) [22]. This has recently resulted in new models for
scattering from target-like objects in the environment [23] and new models
that explain how scattering from boundaries can lead to target-like clutter
[24].
While new developments make simulation-based training for
active sonar more viable and realistic, it remains necessary to determine
how to best utilize new models within a simulation system. Likewise, the
level to which simulation is carried out must be determined. Ultimately,
all simulation relies on a set of assumed phenomenological models and
archival databases to serve as inputs to physics-based models. Simulation-
based sonar training must, for example, determine whether the physical
Spring 2012
16
properties of the ocean environment will be based on archival databases
and heuristic models or computed by coupled ocean/acoustic models [25].
In order to assess the answers to such questions, it is necessary to
consider the relationship of simulation fidelity to training efficacy.
Simulation Fidelity and Training Efficacy
Simulation-based training must, when properly employed, result in
the desired results of proficiency and readiness. If not, untrained or
improperly trained combatants may hinder, impede, or prevent the Armed
Forces from performing its functions. Failures of efficacy for training
technologies belong to one of three types. First is omission, which occurs
when knowledge and skills are not taught or fail to transfer from the
training environment to the real world. Second is negative transfer, which
occurs when exposure to training technology results in slowed learning in
the real world. Third is negative training, which occurs when training
results in acquisition of incorrect knowledge, skills, or behaviors.
Avoiding these failures requires careful consideration of fidelity and how
it is allocated.
In the field of modeling and simulation, fidelity describes “the
degree to which the representation within a simulation is similar to a real-
world object, feature, or condition in a measurable or perceived manner”
[26]. Thus, while fidelity is intrinsically measurable, there is no single
scale on which it is measured and no convenient means of comparing
fidelity. Typically fidelity is expressed in terms that suggest some
topological knowledge about relationships (higher or lower, nearer or
farther) without knowledge of a metric.
Beyond modeling the physical environment with an appropriate
degree of veracity, fidelity requires representation of appropriate
complexity in scene, scenario, and tasks. It also requires that joint
behaviors such as relations between stimuli and the response environment
be represented with an appropriate degree of faithfulness to reality [26-
27].
In many cases, efficacy of simulation-based training is governed by
the fidelity of the virtual environment. Simulation fidelity is generally
thought to enhance the transfer of training from virtual environments to
the real world. Moreover, failure to replicate real-life scenarios with
sufficient fidelity can produce absent, false, or distorted cues, the
consequences of which can be negative transfer and negative training.
Washington Academy of Sciences
17
For this reason, allocation of fidelity within a simulation is critical.
The fidelity with which task-related information, such as perceptual cues,
is presented has a direct bearing on the efficacy of the training experience.
The fidelity with which distractors and other elements of the
environment that complicate task performance are presented is likewise
critical.
However, in other cases, fidelity requirements can often be relaxed.
In doing so, suppressing artifacts associated with lower fidelity - and
thereby avoiding creation of false or distorted cues - is generally more
important than reproducing phenomena that are not task related.
Yet, it is also necessary to reject the “naive but persistent theory”
that fidelity alone is sufficient to ensure efficacious training [28].
Simulation alone is not training, but serves the purposes of a broader
training program [29]. Therefore failures of omission can result from the
training design in which simulation is employed. To avoid omission it is
also necessary that simulation fidelity be matched to the training design.
This is not trivial because the critical relationships between user, task, and
environment may not be known a priori. Moreover, theories of attention
and working memory suggest that providing excess fidelity not directly
tied to training goals may be harmful [29-32].
Even if relationships between user, task, and environment are
replicated, ontological distinctions cause stress, motivation, and
consequences to differ between real and simulated environments. The
result of this is reduced transfer of training [29, 33]. Efficacy of training
depends on the relationships between affective, cognitive, and physical
states in the real and simulated environments [34]. For example, to
effectively train for performance in stressful environments, task learning
and stress exposure must be integrated [35].
These same issues animate consideration of negative transfer and
negative training. Designers of simulation-based training must respect the
complexity inherent in the process of acquiring new knowledge and skills.
In so doing, they will be required to consider the relationships between
user, task, and environment, rather than unilaterally “solve” issues through
an undifferentiated technological approach.
Unfortunately, in practice, development of simulation-based
training often fails to adhere to these principles. Equating high levels of
physical fidelity with training efficacy has a long history and remains
commonplace [30].
Spring 2012
18
Presence
The belief that improvement of simulation fidelity necessarily will
result in enhancement of transfer of skills and learning from a virtual
environment to the real world is generally grounded in the notion that
fidelity enhances the “sense of being there” - termed “presence” - and
that learning that occurs in virtual environments that are experienced “as
though it is real” is more likely to have real-world impact.
Presence, being a subjective measure typically evaluated through
questionnaires, is rather imprecise and of limited use in developing a
simulation-based training system. Thus more recent work has sought to
ground the concept in biology.
Functionally, a simulation can be said to have achieved presence if
users respond to the synthetically generated proximal cues of the virtual
environment as though they correspond to distal stimuli in the real world.
This phenomenon, which has also been termed “place illusion” [36],
results from virtual environments that are veridical in terms of their
congruence with the empirically derived and ecologically adapted
cognitive models and methods used for interpreting reality. That is, they
reproduce with appropriate fidelity the complex relationships between
user, task, and environment.
Mel Slater has described an analogous “plausibility illusion” which
he defines as the experience “that the scenario being depicted is actually
occurring,” which “is determined by the extent to which the system can
produce events that directly relate to the participant, the overall credibility
of the scenario being depicted in comparison with expectations” [36].
Provided that both illusions are present. Slater argues that “participants
will respond realistically.”
A related but distinct theoretical framework has been developed by
Slater et al. [37]. In this framework presence and plausibility, illusions are
a response to stimuli that satisfy three requirements: (1) a low-latency
sensorimotor loop between sensory data and proprioception {i.e., the
internal perception of one’s own volitional motion), (2) statistical
plausibility of sensory data in relation to the empirical probability
distribution over environments in the real world, and (3) appropriate
correlations between egocentric behaviors and the response of the
environment, on both local and global scales. While Slater focused on
virtual-reality systems in which humans interact directly with the virtual
environment, much simulation-based training is for systems in which
Washington Academy of Sciences
19
connection to the physical world is technologically mediated. Because this
interface is unchanged between virtual training and the real world, the
notion of presence that is constrained by the “sensorimotor contingencies
afforded by the virtual reality system,” is problematical or irrelevant. The
primary question is whether the simulation can sustain the plausibility
illusion, “the illusion that what is apparently happening is really
happening (even though you know for sure that it is not).” Requirements
(2) and (3) are related to the plausibility illusion largely through reaction
of the virtual world and entities in it to egocentric actions, i.e.,
“correlations between external events not directly caused by the
participant and his/her own sensations (both exteroceptive and
interoceptive).” Examples include both shadows and echoes that behave in
response to the actions of the participant.
The requirements, and particularly the last two, are naturally
interpreted within the framework of ecological psychology in general and
Brunswig’ s probabilistic functionalism in particular [38]. From this
perspective, presence requires the virtual environment to correspond to
empirically derived probabilistic notions about real-world ecology.
Requirement (2) reflects the expectation that stimuli will conform to
empirical estimates of the probability distributions describing ecological
models of the real world. This requirement extends across temporal and
spatial scales, including not only naive physics and cause-and-effect
relationships, but also expectations about the narrative structure of scenes
[39].
Though it has not been shown, it is likely that this reasoning
applies not just to the response of the environment to egocentric behaviors,
but also to the naive physics of task/goal oriented behaviors by other
entities or elements in the environment. For example, if the task were to be
pursuing an individual in a complex environment, accurately simulating
the acoustic response of the environment to the footsteps of the individual
being pursued would be important for ensuring users respond to the
simulation as though real in the same manner that simulating egocentric
responses of the environment have been shown to be in other cases. Task-
relatedness, rather than, or together with egocentricity, is likely to be what
determines the importance of fidelity [40].
While the functional definition of presence does alter the meaning
of the term in some sense, it also removes one of the major failings in
application of the term. The conventional view holds that presence, in the
sense that a virtual environment is “interpreted as being real” is necessary
Spring 2012
20
for transfer of training to the real world [41]. But the universality of this
requirement has been generally refuted by a growing body of recent work
following the seminal findings of Green et al. [42]. This work has shown
that perceptual and cognitive skills gained by playing conventional action
video games transfers and generalizes to real-world tasks. Yet, these
games do not produce a sense of presence in the conventional sense.
This difficulty is largely resolved by the functional definition of
presence. While conventional video games typically do not produce a
sense of “being there,” they do produce neurological and physiological
responses that are the same as responses to the real world with respect to
those aspects that transfer. For example. Green et al. [42] found that
training from first-person shooter games enabled players to make
decisions more rapidly and accurately in real-world scenarios - a
cognitive process for which playing such games evokes the same
neurological and physiological processes as real-world experiences.
Tikewise, this functional understanding of presence and its effect
on transfer of learning accounts for prior findings that simulations that
provide a sense of “being there” are required for the acquisition of
complex behaviors in virtual environments and the transfer of these
experiences to the real world [41, 43], while allowing that simulations that
are not immersive, but produce identification with avatars can result in
changes in behavior [44].
Presence (as functionally defined) ensures that a virtual training
environment is actually training users for a real-world task by ensuring
that the simulation engages users in the same physiological and
neurological processes they are being trained to perform in the real world.
Thus, it is simply a restatement of the anecdotal finding that simulation-
based training should ensure appropriate fidelity in representation of task-
critical elements of the virtual environment.
Within this framework, the purpose of allocating fidelity to task-
related aspects of the simulation is understood as ensuring that the same
neurological and physiological processes are used. In the same way,
allocating fidelity to components of the environment that complicate the
task ensures that the training experience replicates all aspects of cognitive
function including load and attentional effects that result from distractors.
Washington Academy of Sciences
21
Simulation- Based Sonar Training
Determining the level and allocation of fidelity needed for
simulation-based sim-stim sonar training requires understanding the
display phenomena operators make use of during task performance and
how these phenomena map to physical processes. Figure 3 is an example
of a taxonomy of phenomena for one particular mode of display,
illustrating one particular branch. Additionally, it is necessary to
understand the mapping from phenomena observed by operators to models
of physical phenomena, as shown schematically in Figure 4. Such
taxonomies and mappings provide a basis for selecting the constituent
models of a simulation.
Significantly, the understanding of the relationship between fidelity
and training efficacy presented previously suggests that not only is the
fidelity of simulated target entities important, but also the fidelity of
clutter, noise, and reverberation that distract from, or otherwise
complicate, the task of sonar operators.
The cognitive processes involved in detection and classification
cannot be reduced to pattern recognition alone. They also involve
discriminating between similar distractors and are modified by the
complexity of the task the environment presents. Likewise, simulation of
clutter, noise, and reverberation is important to ensure proper training on
the use of automation; such signals can trigger false alarms, which further
complicate the task of operators.
Discussion: Cost-Effective Design for Simulation-Based Training
Systems
Taken collectively, the new possibilities offered by simulation-
based training can enable governments and militaries to provide necessary
training for their armed forces able to develop and maintain the
proficiency at or above current levels while, at the same time, more fully
addressing fiscal, environmental, and safety concerns.
Virtuality also introduces unique benefits. Training can be
conducted more frequently because of the enhanced availability virtual
technologies allow. Training can also be more flexible, incorporating
elements that would be difficult or impossible in live training. For
example, virtual training can depict potential threats that cannot be present
during live training. Both of these benefits have pedagogical advantages.
Spring 2012
22
However, such gains are neither automatic nor guaranteed.
Simulation-based training systems able to fulfill the promise of the
technology must be developed in such a way that fidelity is allocated to
best achieve efficacy while accounting for inherent limitations and
concerns of cost.
Moreover, the tacit assumption that simulation-based training is
cost effective is not always accurate. Initial development costs for such
systems are high; the technology ages rapidly, which increases the
effective lifetime costs; and other alternatives may provide similar
performance with lower initial and lifetime costs. Thus, it is only in those
situations where the risks associated with live training are high that cost
effectiveness is reasonably assured [29].
This relationship can be depicted graphically, as shown in Figure 5.
Prudential ethical decisions bound the allowable risk and cost of live-
action training in the real world. Training scenarios that exceed these
limits on risk and cost must be conducted virtually, if at all. Scenarios
within these limits can be conducted as live-action training, but the range
of particular combinations of cost and risk for which live training is
appropriate are constrained to fall within the area under a curve that is
determined by the lifetime cost of effectual simulation-based training. This
dependence on costs leads to a family of curves. As new technologies
enable effectual training at lower cost, the effective cost limit associated
with live-action training is reduced, the risk threshold remains fixed, and
the total area under the curve decreases. In practice, the curves associated
with effectual simulation-based training are specific to particular training
environments and, in some cases, cannot be drawn because simulation-
based training is not yet effectual.
Transfer of learning from simulation-based training to the real
world cannot be assured through “brute engineering force” that attempts to
achieve very high levels of fidelity [29]. Generally, if task and training
environment are identical, perfect transfer is expected. This explains the
drive for physical fidelity in virtual environments, particularly for
technologically mediated weapons systems such as radar, sonar, and
unmanned vehicles in which the interface remains consistent between
training and real life. But stewardship concerns must balance the goal of
ensuring efficacy by achieving high levels of fidelity.
Washington Academy of Sciences
23
Acknowledgements
The views expressed here are those of the author alone and are based on
publicly available information. His views should not be construed to be
those of his employer, the U.S. Federal Government, or any entities
therein.
References
[1] The FY12 budget allocated $172 billion of Operation and Maintenance funds to
support training and readiness out of a $553 billion base budget,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/factsheet department defense (Last retrieved 15
March 2012).
[2] Mortality rates among recruits in basic training are lower than those for the civilian
population, as reported by Stephanie L. Scoville, “Mortality During U. S. Armed
Forces Basic Training: A 25-Year Review (1977-2001)” (PhD diss.. Uniformed
Services University of the Health Sciences, 2002). However, accidents consistently
rank as one of the leading causes of death among active-duty military, even during
wartime, as reported in “Military Casualty Information,” DoD Statistical Information
Analysis Division, accessed September 24, 2011,
http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm
[3] Stephen Dycus, National Defense and the Environment (Hanover, NH; U. Press of
New England, 1996).
[4] Stephen Dycus, “Osama’s Submarine: National Security and Environmental
Protection After 9/11,” William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review 30,
no. 1 (2005): 1-54. Retrieved from
http://scholarship.law.wm.edU/wmelpr/vol30/issl/2 (Last retrieved 24 September
2011).
[5] U. S. Government Accountability Office, Military Training: Compliance with
Environmental Laws Affects Some Training Activities, but DOD Has Not Made a
Sound Business Case for Additional Environmental Exemptions, GAO-08-407
(Washington, D.C.: March 7, 2008), http ://www. gao. gov/new. items/dO 8407 . pdf
[6] Winter v. NRDC, 555 U.S. 1-12 (1999),
http://www.supremecourt.gOv/opinions/08pdf/07-1239.pdf
[7] National Training and Simulation Association, “A Primer on Modeling and
Simulation: The World of M&S,” (201 1).
http://www.corporatepress.com/clientfiles/ntsa/files/primeronmodelingandsimulation
.pdf (Last retrieved 15 March 2012).
[8] John R. Benedict, “The Unraveling and Revitalization of U. S. Navy Antisubmarine
Warfare,” Naval War College Review 58, no. 2 (Spring 2005): 111-12.
[9] W. H. Wulfeck and S. K. Wetzel-Smith, “Design of Instruction for Incredibly
Complex Tasks,” Presentation to the DOD Accelerated Learning Workshop, 22-23
July 2008.
Spring 2012
24
[10] Eugene H. Buck and Kori Clavert, Congressional Research Service Reports, Active
Military Sonar and Marine Mammals: Events and References, 1 January 2008.
[11] Douglas P. Nowacek, Lesley H. Thome, David W. Johnston, and Peter L. Tyack,
“Responses of cetaceans to anthropogenic noise,” Mammal Review 37, no. 2 (2007):
81-115.
[12] Peter L. Tyack, Walter M. X. Zimmer, David Moretti, Brandon L. Southall, Diane E.
Claridge, et al., “Beaked Whales Respond to Simulated and Actual Navy Sonar,”
PLoS ONE 6, no. 3(2011).
[13] Mariana L. Melcon, Amanda J. Cummins, Anne E. Simmonis, Simone Baumann-
Pickering, Marie Roch, et al., “Assessing the effects of mid-frequency sonar on
beaked whales in Southern California (A),” Journal of the Acoustical Society of
America 129, no. 4 (201 1): 2395.
[14] Robert R. Mackie and Albert Harabedian, “A Study of Simulation Requirements for
Sonar Operator Trainers,” Technical Report: NAVTRADEVCEN 1320-1,
AD0603329, Human Factors Research, Los Angeles, California, March 1964.
[15] Herbert Berke, “A Technique for Shipboard Sonar Echo Simulation for Training,”
Technical Report: NAVTRAEQUIPCEN IH-231, AD-A027096, Naval Training
Equipment Center, Orlando, Florida, June 1976.
[16] Peter W. Singer, “Meet the Sims ... and Shoot Them,” Foreign Policy March/April
2010. Retrieved from
http://www.foreignpolicv.eom/articles/2010/02/22/meet_the_sims and shoot them
(Last retrieved 18 July 2010).
[17] “Surface ASW Community Teams with Submarine Force for Improved Training
Capability,” Team Submarine Public Affairs, NAVSEA Newswire, September 11,
2008.
[18] Jason E. Summers, “Information-theoretic performance analysis of azimuthal
localization for spatial-auditory display of beamformed sonar data,” Proceedings of
ICAD 2010, the 16th International Conference on Auditory Display, Washington,
D.C., 9-15 June 2010.
[19] See e.g. P. Hursky and M. B. Porter, “Accelerating underwater acoustic propagation
modeling using general purpose graphic processing units,” Proceedings of OCEANS
2011, Waikoloa, HI, 19-22 September 2011.
[20] Roger C. Gauss, Robert F. Gragg, Daniel Wurmser, Joseph M. Fialkowski, and
Redwood W. Nero, “Broadband Models for Predicting Bistatic Bottom, Surface, and
Volume Scattering Strengths,” Technical Report, NRL/FR/7100 — 02-10,042, Naval
Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., 30 September 2002.
[21] Darrell R. Jackson and Michael D. Richardson, High-Frequency Seafloor Acoustics
(Springer, New York, 2007).
[22] Proceedings of the International Symposium on Underwater Reverberation and
Clutter, Peter L. Nielsen, Chris H. Harrison, and Jean-Claude Le Gac, Eds., Villa
Marigola, Lerici, Italy, 9-12 September 2008.
[23] Charles W. Holland, Thomas C. Weber, and Giuseppe Etiope, “Acoustic scattering
from mud volcanoes and carbonate mounds” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 120, (2006): 3553-
3565.
[24] D. A. Abraham and A. P. Lyons, “Novel physical interpretations of K-distributed
reverberation,” IEEE J. Oceanic Engineering, 27, (2002): 800- 813.
[25] Lermusiaux, P.F.J. et al. “Coupled Ocean-Acoustic Prediction of Transmission Loss
in a Continental Shelfbreak Region: Predictive Skill, Uncertainty Quantification,
and Dynamical Sensitivities.” /£££ Oceanic Engineering, 35.4 (2010): 895-916
Washington Academy of Sciences
25
[26] DoD Directive 5000. 59-M “Glossary of Modeling and Simulation Terms” (1998).
[27] C. E. Osgood, “The similarity paradox in human learning,” Psychological Review 56
(1949): 132-43.
[28] H. Ellis, The Transfer of Learning (Hqvj York: Macmillan, 1965).
[29] J. K. Caird, “Persistent Issues in the Application of Virtual Environment Systems to
Training,” Annual Symposium on Human Interaction with Complex Systems (1996):
124-32.
[30] Euardo Salas, Janis A. Cannon-Bowers, and Clint C. Bowers, “Training in
organizations: Myths misconceptions, and mistaken assumptions,” Research in
Personnel and Human Resource Management 17 (1999): 123-61.
[31] N. Dahlstrom, S. Dekker, R. van Winsen, and J. Nyce, “Fidelity and validity in
simulator training,” Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science 10, no.4 (July/August
2009): 305-14.
[32] Greggory Tibbits, Lesley Jolly, Lydia Kavanagh, and Liza O’Moore, “Educational
Technologies and Learning Objectives,” Proceedings of the 2010 AaaE Conference,
Sydney, Australia (2010): 518-25.
[33] Christopher K. McClemon, Michael E. McCauley, Paul E. O’Connor, and Joel S.
Warm, “Stress Training Improves Performance During a Stressful Flight,” Human
Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 53, no.3 (June
2011): 207-18.
[34] D. A. Overton, “State-dependent learning produced by depressant and atropine-like
drugs,” Psychopharmacology 10 (1964): 6-31.
[35] N. Friedland and G. Keinan, “Training effective performance in stressful situations:
Three approaches and implications for combat training,” Military Psychology 4
(1992): 157-74.
[36] Mel Slater, “Place illusion and plausibility can lead to realistic behaviour in
immersive virtual environments,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
364 (2009): 3549-57.
[37] Mel Slater, B. Lotto, M. M. Arnold, M. V. and Sanchez-Vives, “How we experience
immersive virtual environments: the concept of presence and its measurement,”
Annuario de Psicologia 40, (2009): 193-201.
[38] M. K. Dhami, R. Hertwig, and U. Hoffrage, “The Role of Representative Design in
an Ecological Approach to Cognition,” Psychological Bulletin 130 (2004) 959-988 .
[39] P. Chueng and P. Marsden, “Designing Auditory Spaces to Support a Sense of Place:
The Role of Expectation,” Position Paper for The Role of Place in On-line
Communities Workshop, CSCW2002, New Orleans, November 2002.
[40] Personal Communication, Paul Bello, Office of Naval Research.
[41] D. M. Romano and P. Bma, “Presence and Reflection in Training: Support for
Learning to Improve Quality Decision-Making Skills under Time Limitations,”
CyberPsychology & Behavior, 4 April (2001): 265-277. [Online].
[42] C. Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier, “Action video game modifies visual selective
attention,” Nature 423, 29 May (2003): 534-537.
[43] J. G. Tichon, “Using Presence to Improve a Virtual Training Environment,”
CyberPsychology & Behavior”, 10 April (2009): 781-788.
[44] J. Fox, and J. N. Bailenson, “Virtual self-modeling: The effects of vicarious
reinforcement and identification on exercise behaviors,” Media Psychology, 12,
(2009): 1-25.
Spring 2012
26
Figure 1. A high-level schematic of a notional simulation-based training system illustrating
the general components and flow of information. While rendering only receives simulation
data, the nature of the rendering determines the nature of the simulation (a concept that is
depicted here by a dotted arrow). The responses of trainees both alter the rendering (e.g., in
response to head motion) and require changes in the simulation {e.g., in response to a change
in the signal being transmitted).
t < \
Washington Academy of Sciences
27
Figure 2. As depicted here, training exists on a continuum between live training, which occurs
in the real environment, and virtual training, which occurs in the virtual environment. Between
these poles, constructive training uses mixed reality to augment the real or virtual
environment.
live
constructive virtual
real
environment
mixed
reality
virtual
environment
Figure 3. A graphical depiction of a taxonomy of phenomena for active sonar. One branch of
the taxonomy is shown for clutter echoes that are discrete, and persistent, such as the echo
from a scatterer on the seafloor or a large biological entity.
Clutter Echoes
Noise
spatial
distribution
I Discrete
^ Diffuse
temporal
distribution
I Persistent
^ Transient
dynamics
I Moving
^ Static
Reverberation
Target Echoes
Spring 2012
Figure 4. A schematic graphical depiction of the translation from phenomena observed by
active-sonar operators, to physical phenomena, to physical mechanism, to mathematical and
computational models. The circles show the item under consideration for each category.
models
Bubble Size
Distributions
Bubble Spatial
Distributions
Washington Academy of Sciences
29
Figure 5. A notional depiction of the cost-risk constraints on the viability of live versus virtual
training: only the area bounded by the cost and risk limits allows for live training; in the cross-
hatched region training must be virtual, if it is possible at all. The three curves depict varying
levels of cost effectiveness of simulation-based training, with the shaded areas under the
curves representing the reduced region for which live training is appropriate.
cost
1
k
Spring 2012
This page intentionally left blank
Washington Academy of Sciences
31
Online Introductory Physics Labs: Status and Methods
Ann M. Reagan
College of Southern Maryland, La Plata, MD
Abstract
Nearly 400 US colleges and universities offering undergraduate introductory
physics courses were surveyed to determine the extent to which introductory
physics instruction is currently available in a fully online format. A second
survey, targeting those institutions offering online introductory physics courses,
identified current approaches to and plans for making the corresponding physics
laboratory course components available online. A single approach towards
online laboratories was selected, and a set of experiments was developed based
on program goals for technical rigor, student engagement, cost, and suitability
for deployment in an online environment. Preliminary results and “lessons
learned” from the deployment of these experiments in an online instructional
format are discussed, as well as recommended next steps for the development of
a research-based online physics laboratory curriculum.
Introduction
Opportunities for online education continue to expand. The most
recent report of the Babson Survey Research Group shows online learning
enrollment increasing at more than ten times the rate for post-secondary
education overall, with 31% of all students in higher education now
enrolled in at least one online course. ^ The availability^ of online
opportunities is becoming pervasive, with nearly two-thirds of institutions
offering face-to-face undergraduate-level courses now offering similar
courses online. This availability of online courses and programs,
however, varies significantly by discipline. More than a third of all
institutions offering full degree programs in business,
computer/information science, or Liberal Arts/General Studies also offer
full degree programs in the same disciplines completely online.'" However,
less than 10% of all US undergraduate institutions offering physics
courses provide even one section of an introductory physics course in an
online format."^
As online learning continues to make inroads into all disciplines,
research-based methods will be needed to assure the quality of the online
learning experience keeps pace with the quantity of online learning
opportunities. A significant body of literature exists regarding the science
of face-to-face undergraduate physics teaching and learning,^ with gains in
standardized tests and large sample sizes providing objective evaluation
Spring 2012
32
6 7 8
criteria for competing instructional approaches. ’ ’ Similar data are scarce,
however, for online physics instruction,^’ with almost no published
literature comparing measureable, objective educational outcomes in
online and face-to-face physics laboratory courses.^ The result could
provide the makings of a “perfect academic storm” as physics departments
feel pressured to provide online physics courses with insufficient data on
best practices and/or the benefits and pitfalls of competing online
education strategies, especially with regard to online physics laboratories.
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), in a
position paper on physics labs, lists the following as goals for introductory
lab programs: 1) engage students in the experimental process, including
experimental design, 2) develop experimental and analytic skills, 3)
advance conceptual learning, 4) assure that students “understand the role
of direct observation in physics and to distinguish between inferences
based on theory and the outcomes of experiments,” and 5) develop
collaborative learning skills. Anecdotal evidence and informal survey
responses suggest faculty are concerned that online laboratory learning
may equate to the substitution of simulations for traditional laboratory
experiences or the elimination of lab experiences altogether, mitigating
against AAPT goals 1, 2, and 4. In this effort it is shown, however, that
online laboratories that include hands-on, student directed, student
implemented experimentation could meet all of the AAPT’s stated goals,
within the constraints for cost, technical rigor, and accuracy appropriate
for an undergraduate-level introductory physics course.
This paper proceeds in three parts. Part 1 describes two surveys;
the first assesses the current level of availability of introductory physics
courses and labs in fully-online formats, and the second identifies the
methods used to provide online physics laboratory experiences. Part 2
explores the feasibility of developing a set of “hands-on” student centered
physical experiments that could meet the AAPT Guidelines and be
deployed in a fully-online undergraduate physics laboratory course. Part 3
examines the initial results of using a subset of these experiments, both in
a traditional face-to-face laboratory and as fully online exercises. Finally,
“lessons learned” from the process are documented, as well as conclusions
and recommendations for next steps in the development of a research-
based online physics laboratory curriculum.
Washington Academy of Sciences
1
33
Part I: Surveys
According to the US Department of Education, there were 4495
post-secondary degree-granting institutions operating as of 2010, the most
recent year reported. In a previous effort, the author conducted a
proportionate survey of 398 of those institutions offering undergraduate
introductory courses in physics, to assess the level of availability of fully-
online introductory physics courses and laboratories. The ratio of two-year
to four-year institutions was approximately the same as the ratio of two-
year to four-year public institutions for the same period. The survey results
revealed that, of the 398 institutions offering introductory undergraduate
physics courses, 38 (9.5% ± 2.9%, to the 95% confidence level) offered at
least one similar physics course online, and of those, approximately half
(15, or 3.8% ± 1.9%, to the 95% confidence level) offered the
corresponding laboratory course, or the lab portion of the same course, in
an online format.'^ These data indicate that physics courses have
significantly lower incidence of online offerings, compared to all other
disciplines reported by Allen et al. ’ Further analysis of the survey data
showed no statistically-significant dependence of the results on the status
of the institutions as two-year or four-year colleges/universities.
In this current effort, a similar survey was conducted of 311
accredited two-year institutions offering introductory physics courses in
traditional (face-to-face) formats, to assess the changes in availability of
introductory physics instruction online from Spring 2010 to Spring 2012.
Results were further broken down by the type of introductory course
(conceptual, algebra/trigonometry based, calculus-based). Broad courses
in physical sciences, as well as courses in astronomy, meteorology,
oceanography, geology, and/or earth sciences were excluded. Course
schedules for the Spring 2012 semester for each institution were reviewed
to identify the physics courses taught by type, as well as the modalities by
which the courses were offered (self-reported by the institutions as
classroom, hybrid, or online/web-based). The results showed a small but
statistically significant increase in the availability of online physics
courses and laboratory classes, with 34 (11% ± 3.5%, to the 95%
confidence level) reporting at least one available section of introductory
physics offered online and 21 (6.8% ± 2.8%, to the 95% confidence level)
offering at least one section of an introductory physics laboratory course
in a fully online format. Even with this increase, the results still
demonstrate physics significantly lagging all other disciplines reported in
the availability of online educational opportunities.
Spring 2012
34
Because the total sample population of schools offering physics
courses online was relatively small (34 institutions), a third survey was
conducted. The third survey targeted only those institutions offering
introductory physics courses fully online, and sought to identify the
methods through which the corresponding laboratory content is presented.
The second and third surveys were combined to provide a sample of 66
non-duplicative institutions offering or planning to offer fully-online
introductory undergraduate physics courses within the next two years. At
26 of the 66 institutions, all corresponding laboratory work is required to
be completed on-site at the campus. Students must either attend a
traditional on-campus laboratory course, and so complete discussion and
instruction online but perform experiments on-campus (web hybrid
approach), or attend an on-campus week or weekend laboratory intensive
to perform multiple lab exercises in a condensed time (“boot camp”
approach). Thus, for these institutions (39% ± 12%, to the 95% confidence
level of institutions offering introductory physics courses online), students
complete identical experiments, with identical equipment and supervision,
as their peers taking physics courses in a traditional format. The other 61%
of online physics students (± 12% to the 95% confidence level) experience
a variety of non-traditional approaches towards achieving the goals and
learning objectives of the laboratory portion of the curriculum.
Besides traditional (on-site) physics labs, the third survey
identified four additional categories into which these approaches fell.
The first approach identified was video analysis of instructor-
supplied videos of experimental procedures. In some cases, the videos
showed instructors performing the experimental procedure, with the
measurement data either read by the instructor or the measurement device
displays shown in the video for students to read. Other approaches to
video analysis included an instructor-supplied video of an object in free-
fall, or ‘launched’ in ballistic motion. The students then used
commercially-available or educational-commons video analysis software
to determine the position, velocity, and acceleration of the object as a
function of time. In each case, the student was removed from the
experimental design and the hands-on aspects of the experimentation.
The second approach identified was the use of virtual labs. In this
case, students performed laboratory exercises using a model of the actual
physical phenomena, or “virtual” instrumentation that the students were
required to manipulate on a computer screen. Respondents were divided
between using publically-available simulations, such as those developed
Washington Academy of Sciences
35
by the Physics Education Technology (PhET) Project at UC Boulder/^’^^
privately-developed simulations, or a combination of the two.
The third approach identified was direct, hands-on student
experimentation performed off-site. Students purchased or borrowed
equipment from the institution, or purchased materials from commercial
sources, to perform experiments at home. Commercially-available
equipment was either purchased as a “kit” from a specialty supplier, or
acquired by student purchase of readily-available household items. Of the
off-campus lab approaches, this one most closely mirrored the methods
and degree of student involvement in the experimental process of the
traditional on-campus labs.
The final approach identified was the use of remote labs. In this
approach, students operate laboratory equipment directly through Internet-
based remote control, with real-time video cameras providing direct
feedback and immediate observation of measurements and results. A
standard approach to distance learning in the engineering community
during the past two decades,^^’^^ remote labs are only beginning to enter
the mainstream of physics education.^^
A more detailed analysis of the survey results showed that nearly
all institutions offering online physics laboratories used a combination of
two or more of these approaches. Only four of the nearly four hundred
total institutions surveyed across Surveys I and II identified online physics
laboratory courses that consisted of simulations only. Thus, the
overwhelming majority of introductory physics laboratory students, both
in traditional face-to-face lab courses and in online lab courses, experience
direct, hands-on experimentation with physical phenomena and
measurement techniques.
Part II: Kit Development
For the second part of this effort, the “kif’ approach to hands-on,
direct experimentation in an online format was chosen for further
development. Experiments were considered based on specific standards
for cost and appropriateness. These standards limited consideration to
experiments that 1) were relevant in scope and content to the curriculum
of a first-semester introductory physics course, 2) were of appropriate
complexity and depth for a college-level course, 3) would provide
sufficient accuracy for student analysis and student satisfaction, 4) could
be accomplished semi-autonomously by college students in a distance
format (e.g., from home, communicating with instructors via e-mail or
Spring 2012
36
online chat, only), 5) required direct, hands-on interaction by students with
the experimental process, and 6) could be accomplished with inexpensive
or readily available materials at a total cost to students for ten such
experiments commensurate with the price of a single textbook. The fact
that ten post-secondary institutions offering “kit”-based hands-on online
introductory physics laboratory courses were identified in the surveys,
with average price-to-student of $130 for an equipment kit, showed
immediately that the cost and content goals of this effort were within the
current state-of-the-art.
A first-semester introductory physics course usually covers the
topics of kinematics (velocity, acceleration, one- and two-dimensional
motion, free-fall, and projectile motion), mechanics (Newton’s Laws,
forces and equilibrium, torques and rotations, gravity, conservation of
energy, conservation of momentum), thermodynamics (ideal gas behavior,
heat capacities and calorimetry, phase change, thermal transport, simple
engines and efficiencies), fluids (hydrostatic and Bernoulli’s equations,
Archimedes’ principle, viscosity, relationships of pressure, force, volume,
and density), and simple harmonic motion and waves. A first-semester
physics laboratory course typically includes eight to ten experiments,
covering a cross-section of topics from this set. A selection of ten
experiments covering this material, with an average equipment cost of $ 1 5
per experiment, would meet this effort’s goals for appropriate content and
cost commensurate with the price of a typical college textbook.
According to comments expressed in the Part I surveys, the
primary objection by faculty to offering undergraduate physics laboratory
courses online is the perceived lack of hands-on interaction by students
with appropriate lab equipment. The sophistication of equipment currently
available to the average college-aged online learner, however, far exceeds
the level available at most college campuses just 30 years ago. All online
learners, for instance, have access to a computer with an Internet
connection, and the overwhelming majority of these have sound cards that
sample at a standard rate of 44.1 kHz, far higher than the sampling rate of
high-end introductory physics laboratory data acquisition systems.
Coupled with a standard audio input device (microphone), the computer
sound card provides students with the capability to time experimental
events to within a few thousandths of a second.^^
A standard computer soundcard, microphone, and collection of
free software were used in experiments for this effort as a timing system
accurate to one one-thousandth of a second or better. An open-source.
Washington Academy of Sciences
37
General Public Use sound recording and editing software product called
Audacity was used to audio-record experiments and determine the time
intervals between different experimental events. Figure 1 shows a screen
shot of an Audacity recording of a golf ball being dropped from a known
height at the same instant the person holding the golf ball said the word,
“Time.” The start of each event (the word and the sound of the golf ball
hitting the floor) is clearly seen in the recording track shown. Figure 2
shows a zoom-in window of the sound of the ball hitting the floor.
Zooming in allows accurate reading by the software user of the precise
time of the event. A subsequent reading of the time for the start of the drop
allows a very accurate determination of the difference between the two;
♦ i.e., the time for the golf ball to fall the known distance. Trials of this
simple approach in a home environment yielded very consistent results,
with calculation of the acceleration due to gravity repeatedly achieved to
within 2% of the accepted value.
A second experiment was completed using the same timing
method to investigate the principle of Conservation of Energy. A common
first-semester physics experiment uses a motion detector to measure the
heights of consecutive bounces of a ball. The ratio of the heights of
consecutive bounces is related to the Coefficient of Restitution (COR), a
measure of the mechanical energy dissipated in the collision of the ball
with the floor. By Conservation of Energy, the ratio of consecutive bounce
heights can be calculated using the ratio of the velocities of the ball before
and after it bounces. By application of simple kinematics (ignoring air
resistance), this quantity is also related to the ratio of time between
consecutive bounces.
Spring 2012
38
Figure 1. Recording of the time of free-fall for a ball released from a known height. First
and second sounds shown are the release and end of flight, respectively. Data recorded
with standard PC microphone, soundcard, and Audacity audio recording and editing
software.
Figure 2. Zooming in to one sound event permits the time to be read to one ten-
thousandth of a second.
In the second experiment, the Audacity software and computer
sound card were used to determine the COR, and from this, determine g,
the acceleration due to gravity. The sounds of three consecutive bounces
of a golf ball dropped from a known height were recorded using the
Audacity software. The absolute times of each bounce were used to
determine the time interval between the first two bounces and the time
interval between the last two bounces. The COR was calculated from the
ratio of these intervals. The timing information was also used to calculate
the velocity immediately after the first bounce. Relating this to the initial
potential energy and the percent of mechanical energy dissipated in the
collision (determined from the COR), the acceleration due to gravity was
determined. In trials in a home environment, this method consistently
produced measurements of ‘g’ within 1% of the accepted value.
Washington Academy of Sciences
39
These first two experiments investigated the topics of free-fall in
constant acceleration, the kinematic equations, conservation of energy,
and inelastic collisions. The experiments were completed in times
commensurate with standard on-campus physics labs. Total estimated
costs for all equipment required for both experiments (one golf ball and a
measuring tape) was under $4. These experiments met or exceeded the
goals for online introductory physics experiments, identified at the start of
this effort.
While cell-phone texting has become the bane of undergraduate
face-to-face instruction, the explosive growth and fierce competition in the
cell phone industry provides great potential benefits to online learners.
7f\
About 90% of all Americans aged 18 to 34 own a cell phone, with cell
phones increasing in the frequency and quality of applications offered.
Almost all cell phones now include a stopwatch feature with one one-
hundredth of a second resolution. Many newer devices also embed digital
still and video cameras with resolution of up to 30 frames per second.
Combining cell phone video recording with readily-available free
software for screen capture and frame-by-frame playback provides another
method for accurate experimentation in the home environment. In the third
home experiment performed for this effort, a kitchen table was tilted by
placing two identical telephone books under the legs on the table’s longer
side. A low-friction toy hovering on an air cushion was given an initial
horizontal velocity on the table top, and the toy’s motion was recorded
using a cell phone camera. Figure 3 shows the motion of the toy in a series
of frame-by-frame screen shots.
9R
The video of the toy’s motion was imported into Tracker, an
open source software product made available freely for non-commercial,
educational purposes. The software allows the user to identify the location
of an object of interest in each video frame, and use the pixel count and a
reference length to map this location into a calibrated x-y coordinate
system. Data can be exported and copied into other programs, or graphed
and processed within Tracker to determine linear and angular velocities,
accelerations, and momenta. Figure 4 shows screen shots of the resulting
video and corresponding graphs of x- and y-locations versus time for the
toy. Note the constant velocity of the object in the horizontal direction,
with a clearly parabolic graph for the vertical data.
Spring 2012
40
Figure 3. Motion of a frictionless toy given an initial horizontal velocity
across a tilted table
Figure 4. Position data for projectile motion, interpolated using Tracker video analysis
software. Notice the constant horizontal velocity (linear graph of x-vs-t) and constant
vertical acceleration (parabolic graph of y-vs-t).
Video analysis can be used in a wide range of introductory physics
lab applications. Starting the toy from the lower left comer of the table, for
instance, would allow the determination of the initial velocity and angle,
while trigonometry and the kinematic equations could be used to predict
the total distance traveled and x- and y-components of velocity at
subsequent positions. Releasing a ball from rest and allowing it to roll
down the table in a straight line from top to bottom would mirror the
behavior of an object in free-fall. In a variation on this last approach, a
single AA battery was released from rest and allowed to roll down the
length of the table under the influence of gravity, then compared to the
behavior of other rolling objects. An inexpensive caliper would permit the
correlation of the accelerations to the objects’ moments of inertia.
Washington Academy of Sciences
41
One of the factors limiting the cost and accuracy of the
commercially-available kits was the high prices of calibrated weight sets.
Most kits used less-accurate, less-expensive spring scales instead, or a
very limited number of calibrated weights. A review of commercial
laboratory supply vendors found calibrated weight sets typically costing
$50 to $70, with a single vendor offering a lowest price of $25 for a set of
hooked masses. Digital scales developed for the jewelry business, with
capacity suited for lab applications and resolution of 0.1 grams, however,
are now available for under $20.^^
With the growing availability of digitized consumer products, such
as video cameras, timing devices, software, and scales, the quality and
accuracy of home laboratory experiments are now only limited by the
creativity of the physics lab instructor. In addition to the free and low-
priced items already described, a list was put together of equipment
available from multiple vendors and suited for use in home
experimentation for a web-based introductory physics course. The final
list included a measuring tape, several balls and steel bearings, a plastic
caliper, a digital scale and calibration mass, wood blocks and screw-in
metal eye hooks, a 1.5 ft. section of 1 x 6 board, 2 spring scales, an edge
pulley and table clamp, a stand and right-angle clamp (two preferred), a
tandem pulley, a balance stand and three knife-edge meter-stick clamps, a
graduated cylinder, an aluminum calorimeter, thermometer measuring
-12 °C to 100 °C, a syringe (without needle) and Luer lock cap, two
springs, a half-meter stick, a protractor, a spool of thread or string, a push-
pin, paper clips, fishing weights, tape and scissors. With the software and
techniques described above, this equipment could be used by online
students to perform more than twenty college-level experiments spanning
the entire range of topics covered in a first-semester introductory physics
course. A review of prices offered through a limited number of laboratory
equipment suppliers resulted in a price estimate for the entire equipment
list of about $170. Additional cost savings could be realized by economies
of scale and by reducing the number of experiments from twenty to eight
or ten.
Part III: Student Trials
In the third part of this effort, the first two experiments described
in detail in Part II were developed and tried with undergraduate students in
an introductory algebra/trigonometry-based physics lab course. The results
provided insights into both the strengths and the weaknesses of the chosen
approach.
Spring 2012
42
In the first trial, students in a traditional face-to-face physics
laboratory course completed two experiments for extra credit at home in a
simulated online environment. All descriptions of procedures and
techniques for the lab exercises Were delivered online, and students were
only permitted to communicate with the instructor regarding the
experiment via online means (chat, email, virtual office hours). This
assured adherence to the “do no harm” philosophy, as students’ primary
lab learning experience remained unchanged.
• Students were provided with a brief tutorial on how to use the
Audacity software and given access to written experimental
instructions/guidelines. Initial results were astoundingly poor, as students
asked questions at a staggeringly low rate, despite instructor availability
through scheduled online virtual office hours, chat, and email response
times under two hours. Misunderstandings, misconceptions, and
computational errors resulted in student-demonstrated percent errors
ranging from 2% to 35%, despite consistent achievement of experimental
errors of 1% to 2% in the same experiments carried out by the instructor.
As a result of the initial trial, the entire approach to online
laboratory development was restructured. First, the simulated online
environment was found to be inefficient as a primary means for vetting
student experiments for use in an online laboratory course. Student
misconceptions only became apparent once a semester, and only after final
experimental reports were submitted. A second approach was developed in
which students were supplied written and video instructions, then
performed the experiments on campus under direct instructor supervision,
but with limited/no instructor comment or direction. Direct instructor
observation and immediate student feedback helped identify areas where
instructions were unclear, with the result that instructional materials could
be modified, improved, and retested within the week.
Video instructions were developed to supplement the written
experimental instructions for one of the pilot experiments. These
instructions included animations to explain the underlying physical
phenomena. Care was taken to make sure the video instructional tools
directly addressed the most common misconceptions and questions
students had in the performance of the experiments. The goal was to
provide instructional information and background sufficient to allow
students to make educated choices in measurement methodologies and
analyses, to improve experimental accuracy and validity of conclusions,
and to assure students could connect the experiments to their prior
Washington Academy of Sciences
43
textbook/theoretical learning, all with minimal/no direct student- instructor
guidance.
In addition to the revised video tutorials, the written materials were
redesigned to include interactive questions for students to answer based on
watching the video materials and performing experimental steps. A sample
set of data was provided, with one modeled calculation, to further clarify
the analytic process. Additionally, students were required to participate in
the derivation of the relevant formulas through a guided process (written
instructions provided some steps, students provided subsequent steps).
In the second and third trials, conducted in a traditional on-campus
setting with Instructor supervision, students were given the revised
instructional materials one week in advance of the scheduled experiment,
and were specifically warned that no questions would be answered that
had been directly addressed in the written or video presentations. The
outcomes included dramatic improvements in student preparedness (as
measured by Instructor observation), student conceptual understanding
and confidence (as determined from student feedback), and experimental
accuracy (as measured in laboratory reports submitted for grading).
Lessons Learned and Next Steps
Animated theoretical background information and visual lab
instructions provide students a significant advantage in preparing for,
understanding, and performing lab experiments. They also help students
directly tie their textbook knowledge to a practical, physical application.
As a result, additional visual lab instructional materials will be developed,
for both online and face-to-face implementation.
Beginning physics students with no more than a rudimentary
background in algebra and trigonometry are capable of deriving physical
formulae for lab applications. This process also helps them understand the
significance of the formulae, and how they relate to the
theoretical/textbook knowledge they already have. However, students at
this level need considerable guidance in this process. Lab instructions
should therefore be modified incrementally to include (either through a
pre-lab exercise or as part of the in-class lab experience) a guided partial
derivation of some of the relevant formulae.
A faster, more efficient methodology was identified for pilot
testing of new labs for distance education. In this method, candidate
experiments for distance labs are vetted in the traditional classroom, with a
competent instructor monitoring and noting the common mistakes and
Spring 2012
44
misconceptions in real-time, with limited instructor interaction and re-
direction. New labs can then be implemented in a simulated or ‘real’
online environment only after they have been dry-run in class, with
modifications of the lab methods and instructions based on the initial in-
class tests. Student use in a fully-online environment is still required as a
“Next Step” for the full development of the lab exercises explored in this
investigation.
The greatest hindrance to the development and improvement of a
fully-online physics laboratory program is the lack of objective assessment
standards for research-based guidance of the curriculum development
process. Objective assessment criteria must be developed to compare the
efficacy of competing lab methodologies, for both online and on-campus
implementation. Assessment criteria should be informed by the AAPT
goals for introductory laboratories^"^ and the findings of the National
Academies. Correlations should be monitored between different
laboratory instructional methods and student retention in the lab course,
persistence into follow-on courses, improvements in conceptual
understanding, knowledge of the scientific process and methods, and
perceptions of and interest in further scientific investigation.
Conclusions
Online learning opportunities abound. Online access to
introductory physics courses and labs, while far behind the level of
accessibility in other disciplines, is following the same general trend in
growth. Multiple methods already exist and are being used to provide
undergraduate introductory laboratory programs in a fully-online format.
Improved quality in and access to consumer electronics, innovations like
the use of video and remodeled laboratory instructions, and student
demands for flexibility in scheduling and accessibility will continue to
impact the future of the online lab experience.
The quality of the lab program that will emerge in the online arena
is entirely up to the physics education community. As said in the AAPT
Policy Statement, “Excellent laboratory programs do not happen by
chance but require thought and planning. Achieving these goals is a
worthy challenge, and their broad implementation will require the best
efforts of the physics community.” Rigorous, objective metrics must be
devised so that competing online laboratory approaches can be evaluated
and improved. Research-based assessments must be interwoven into the
development of online physics laboratory programs. The alternative is to
Washington Academy of Sciences
45
accept the dramatic growth in the availability of online laboratory
programs, with no objective measure of their educational value or impact
on future science learning.
^ “Going the Distance: Online Education in the United States, 201 1,'’ I. Elaine Allen and
Jeff Seaman, Babson Survey Research Group, ISBN 978-0-9840288-1-8, November
2011
^ “Growing by Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005,” 1. Elaine Allen
and Jeff Seaman, The Sloan Consortium, ISBN 978-0-9766714-2-8, November 2005
Mbid
^ Ann M. Reagan, “Development of a Fully Online Undergraduate Physics Laboratory
Course,” AAPT Winter Meeting, Jacksonville, FL Jan 201 1
See, for example, Phys. Rev. Special Topics - Phys. Ed. Res. fPRSTPERj, an electronic-
only Journal devoted entirely to this subject, co-sponsored by the American Physical
Society (APS) Forum on Education and the American Association of Physics Teachers
(AAPT); http://prst-per.aps.org
^ David Hestenes, Malcolm Wells, and Gregg Swackhamer, “Force Concept Inventory,”
The Physics Teacher, 30 (3), 141-151 (1992)
^ David Hestenes and Malcolm Wells, “A Mechanics Baseline Test,” The Physics
Teacher, 30 (3), 159-166 (1992)
^ Richard R. Hake, “Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-
student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses,” Am. J. Phys.,
66(1), (Jan 1998)
^ Gerd Kortemeyer, “Correlations between student discussion behavior, attitudes, and
learning,” Phys. Rev. ST- PER, 3, 010101 (2007)
Ronald Thornton, “Web-Delivered Interactive Lecture Demonstrations: Creating an
active science learning environment over the Internet,” FEd. Newsletter, Fall 2003
P. Le Couteur, “Review of Literature on Remote and Web-based Science Labs,”
BCCampus Articulation and Transfer of Remote and Web-based Science Lab
Curriculum Project, June 6, 2009
http://rwsl.nic.bc.ca/Docs Review of Literature on Remote and Web-
based Science Labs.pdf (February, 20 1 2)
Anne J. Cox and William F. Junkin III, “Enhanced Student Learning in the
Introductory Physics Laboratory,”/. Phys Ed., 31 (1), (Jan. 2002)
N. D. Finkelstein, et aL, “When learning about the real world is better done virtually: A
study of substituting computer simulations for laboratory equipment,” Phys. Rev. ST-
PER, 1,010103 (2005)
“Goals of the Introductory Physics Laboratory,” American Association of Physics
Teachers (AAPT), The Physics Teacher, 35, 546-548 (1997)
“Digest of Education Statistics,” Table 276, National Center for Education Statistics,
Department of Education, 20 1 0
e.g., see Edward P. Wyrembeck, “Video analysis with a web camera,” The Physics
Teacher, 47, 28-29 (Jan 2009)
e.g., see R. W. Tarara, “Photo-Realistic Laboratory Simulations,” made available for
free educational use by the developer at
http://www.saintmarvs.eduy^-rtarara software.html (20 1 2)
Spring 2012
46
Noah D. Finklestein, et al., “High-Tech Tools for Teaching Physics: the Physics
Education Technology Project,” J. of Online Teaching and Learning, 2 (3) Sep 2006
The simulation collection of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Physics Education
Technology project may be accessed at http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations (2012)
James P. Trevelyan, “Lessons learned from ten years experience with remote
laboratories,” Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Education
Research, Olomouc, Czech Republic, 2004; available online at
http://\vvvw.ineer.ora/Events/lCEER2004/Proceedings/papers/0687.pdf , as of February
2012
Euan Lindsay, Som Naidu, and Malcolm Good, “A Different Kind of Difference:
Theoretical Implications of Using Technology to Overcome Separation in Remote
Laboratories,” Int. J. Engng Ed., 23 (4), 772-779 (2007)
B. Alhalabi, D. Marcovitz, K. Hamza, and S. Hsu, “Remote labs: An innovative leap in
the world of distance education,” Proceedings of The 4th World Multiconference on
Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI 2000), Orlando, FL, July 23-26, 2000
I. Stensgaard and E. Laegsgaard, “Listening to the coefficient of restitution -
revisited,” yJm. J. Phys. 69, 136-140 (1981)
e.g, see http://wiki.audacitvteam.org wiki/About Audacitv (Mar 2012)
C. E. Aguiar and F. Laudares, “Listening to the coefficient of restitution and the
gravitational acceleration of a bouncing ball,”^m J. Phys. 71 (5), 499-501 (May 2003)
“Young Consumers Want Cell Phone Features,” Marketing Charts online journal.
Watershed Publishing, http://www.marketin^charts.com/direct/voung-consumers-want-
cell-phone-features- 13278 (Jun 20 1 0)
Air-Puck Soccer, Schylling, Inc, Rowley, MA: $9.99 retail
Tracker, developed by D. Brown of Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA, may be downloaded
for free at http://www.cabrillo.edu/-dbrown/tracker/ ; update 20 1 0
e.g, see
http://www. wholesale-
scales. com/index. php?main page=product info&products id=382 (20 1 2)
“America’s Lab Report: Investigations in High School Science,” Committee on High
School Science Laboratories: Role and Vision, National Research Council, Susan R.
Singer, Margaret L. Hilton, and Heidi A. Schweingruber, editors. National Academies
Press, 2005, ISBN 9780309139342
Washington Academy of Sciences
47
Perspectives from the field; Partnerships for Diversifying
and Improving Ecology Education
Teresa M. Mourad
Ecological Society of America
While the National Science Foundation (NSF) serves a critical role
in supporting basic and applied research in the natural and social sciences,
NSF has long recognized and supported efforts in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education at all levels both formal
and informal. These investments integrate research with education,
challenge barriers to participation, and often foster partnerships among
otherwise unlikely friends.
Between 2006 and 2010 the Ecological Society of America (ESA)
received several NSF awards for its priority education initiatives. As the
largest professional community of ecologists in the world, ESA has made a
commitment to diversifying the field of ecology and promoting outstanding
ecology education to advance the understanding of life on Earth.
To this end, ESA’s primary initiatives have focused on two core
activities, and recently a significant project to engage a wide variety of
stakeholders interested in environmental literacy. NSF funding has been
used to support: 1) the Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and
Sustainability (SEEDS) mentoring program, 2) partnerships to facilitate the
discovery of digital resources for learning through EcoEd Digital Library
and 3) an Ecology and Education Summit to develop an Action Plan that
will accelerate Environmental Literacy for a Sustainable World.
SEEDS Mentoring Program for Diverse Undergraduate Students
Focused on the undergraduate level, the SEEDS
(http://esa.org/seeds) program began in 1996 with substantial funding from
the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The program initially served African
American students and faculty at selected Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs). Activities were led by the Institute of Ecosystem
Studies (lES) in partnership with ESA and the United Negro College Fund
(UNCF). In 2002, ESA assumed full management of SEEDS and since
then, has expanded its range of student activities to include travel
scholarships to ecological field trips, ESA Annual Meetings, undergraduate
research fellowships and leadership meetings and currently serves all racial
and ethnic students.
Spring 2012
48
In many institutions where large numbers of minority students are
enrolled, the subject of biology and its supporting funding and
infrastructure is often skewed in favor of biomedical careers.
In order to increase the numbers of minorities seeking careers in
ecology, the SEEDS program addresses two key barriers to recruitment and
retention: 1) the need for mentors and 2) the lack of awareness of ecology as
a viable course of study and career opportunity (Baker 2000; Committee on
Underrepresented Groups 2011; Klug et al. 2002).
The mission of SEEDS is to diversify and strengthen the profession
of ecology through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest of
students underrepresented in ecology and to develop diverse leadership for
future generations. Since 1996, the program has served an estimated 3,000
people in a variety of program opportunities. Direct support was offered to
488 students between 2002-2011 through ecological field trips. Leadership
Meetings (since 2006), Travel Awards to ESA Annual Meetings, and
Undergraduate Research Fellowships. Forty percent of these students were
served more than once, reflecting the nurturing philosophy of SEEDS.
Figure 1 shows the diversity of students served by racial / ethnic categories.
Figure 1.
SEEDS Students Served 2002-2011
By Race/Ethnicity
Pacific
Islander-^
3%
Native
American
13%
Caucasian
10%_
Multiracial
1%
In addition to these opportunities, SEEDS also built up a campus
ecology chapter network. There are now 73 campus chapters across the
country and three high schools. ESA offers a small grants and special
projects grants program. In 2010, SEEDSNet, a social networking site, was
launched, offering forums, virtual career fairs and webinars.
Washington Academy of Sciences
49
The program relies on multiple layers of mentoring support: ESA
members who are established scientists, SEEDS alumni graduate students
and SEEDS undergraduate students who are connected with high school
students. ESA also has two full time staff dedicated to the program who
maintain communications with the entire network through e-newsletters,
announcements, job posts on SEEDSNet and facilitating webinars and
workshops led by students.
NSF funding has provided critical support for the biannual
ecological field trips in cooperation with the Long Term Ecological
Research (LTER) sites, the Leadership Meetings, travel awards for 13-15
students per year to ESA annual meetings and most recently, the 2012-2013
cohort of Undergraduate Research Fellows. SEEDS was awarded the 2006
Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and
Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), the highest award of its kind in the
nation, administered by the NSF. Other sources of funding for the SEEDS
program include the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the US Forest Service,
the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the generous contributions of
ESA members.
Impact
A 201 1 survey of SEEDS participants directly served (N=85) shows
that 51.7% have graduated, 42.35% are in graduate school (N=36), 50.59%
are employed (including students). Of those in graduate school, 97%
(N=35) are still in an ecology or environment-related field. Of those who
are employed, 93% have remained in the field, indicating positive career
impacts of SEEDS. Further, 98% indicated they plan to remain involved in
the environmental field in the future. SEEDS has played a critical role in
retention of underrepresented minority students by providing support
through an active social network especially for those students in institutions
who are isolated from their own communities.
The survey showed that 63.1% of respondents felt that SEEDS had
“a lot” or a “great deal” of influence on their decision to pursue their
careers. Another 23.8% indicated that SEEDS had “somewhat” of an
influence. The top three ways in which SEEDS contributed to their career
choice were (N=82): 1) Exposed me to broader career options in the
ecology field (75%) 2) Provided me with leadership skills/confidence to
lead (69.5%) and 3) Helped me understand the strength of diverse
perspectives (64.6%). Additionally, 57.4% of respondents indicated that
SEEDS “most definitely” influenced or had “a lot of’ influence on their
seeing themselves as leaders.
Spring 2012
50
Digital Resource Discovery and Dynamic Learning Communities for a
Changing Biology
While SEEDS focuses, on student development, the Digital
Resource Discovery (DRD) project focuses on faculty teaching needs. In
2011, ESA was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation
titled: Digital Resource Discovery and Dynamic Learning Communities for
a Changing Biology (DRD). This project was developed as a partnership
among the Ecological Society of America (ESA), the Botanical Society of
America (BSA), the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology (Science
Pipes), the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), and the Society for
Economic Botany (SEB).
ESA’s longstanding EcoEd Digital Library (EcoEdDL -
http://ecoed.esa.org) serves as the DRD project’s testbed for development.
EcoEdDL is built on the CWIS platform developed by the Internet Scout
team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which has many Web 2.0
features built in. EcoEdDL resources are harvested by the BioSciEd Net
(BEN) which is a pathway for biology education resources in the National
Science Digital Library (NSDL). All EcoEdDL resources are
peer-reviewed prior to publication.
DRD project activities involve four components: 1) technology
development, 2) integration with a data visualization tool, Cornell’s
Science Pipes, 3) community engagement and; 4) sustainability planning.
The four components were guided by an NSF-funded workshop in 2010
where ESA brought together educators, scientists, technology experts and
potential partners to explore the role of EcoEdDL in Translating Research
for Undergraduate Ecology Education.
The DRD project was designed to respond to four demanding challenges
which emerged:
1. Demand for Quantitative Skills in Biology
2. Demand for Digital Resource Discovery Services
3. Demand for Community Support Services
4. Demand for a Sustainable and Innovative Digital Library and
Learning Community.
Increasingly, dramatic developments in the biological sciences draw-
attention to understanding the highly interconnected nature of
environmental and biological systems. (AAAS 2010; NRC 2009; NSF
2009). These developments highlight the importance of understanding
Washington Academy of Sciences
51
research data, particularly large datasets across spatial and temporal scales.
Overwhelmingly, faculty asked for support and tools to provide
students with authentic and meaningful opportunities for a 21st century
ecology classroom to collect, analyze, visualize, and interpret real data.
Faculty saw that EcoEdDL could play a large role in facilitating the
development and dissemination of classroom resources in the face of
technical and logistical challenges for working with datasets and a scarcity
of relevant user friendly tools. This is being developed through our
partnership with Science Pipes.
Through separate NSF awards, ESA also developed an Interactive
Conceptual Framework to support Education using Continental-Scale Data.
Rich with definitions, links to datasets and resources, this framework was
one of the outputs in ESA’s initiative to develop a strategy that will
introduce the opportunities and the data to be available from the National
Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to the educational community
and to engage faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities
and Minority-Serving Institutions. As an extension of the project, ESA
brought together undergraduate faculty from MSIs and primarily
undergraduate institutions to develop a set of teaching activities using large
scale data under the auspices of the National Center for Ecological Analysis
and Synthesis (NCEAS). These resources, once peer-reviewed, will be
available in EcoEdDL.
Going forward, ESA will also incorporate recommendations to:
1 . build a recognition program that will that will promote credibility
and value for education scholarship within home institutions and the
wider community
2. position EcoEdDL as a vehicle for researchers to achieve NSF
broader impacts requirements
3. develop strategic partnerships with research centers that have expert
resources in many multimedia formats to develop leading
educational products and services.
Accelerating Environmental Literacy for a Sustainable World
The growing momentum within the scientific and educational
communities to break down the silos between disciplines, between research
and education, and between formal and informal ways of learning has
brought about a new appreciation of the need to work together. Going
beyond ESA and the field of biology, ESA spearheaded the Ecology and
Spring 2012
52
Education Summit (http://www.esa.org/eesummit/) in partnership with 22
national organizations. The Summit convened 200 people at the
headquarters of the National Education Association in Washington, DC
from October 14-16, 2010 on the theme. Environmental Literacy for a
Sustainable World.
The event was co-chaired by Dr. Meg Lowman, ESA’s Vice
President for Education and Human Resources, and by Dr. Carolyn
Breedlove, Manager of the National Education Association Green Across
America, External Partnerships and Advocacy. Major funding came from
the National Science Foundation, the USDA Forest Service, the USDA
National Institute for Food and Agriculture and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
Stretching across many sectors, the summit brought together diverse
thought leaders, educators, scientists, professionals, and policy experts
from a wide variety of sectors including academia, business, agriculture,
government, health, and media, that serve the spectrum of grades K-20+
audiences.
The open-segment of the Summit featured two keynote speakers:
Will Steger, Arctic Explorer and Will Allen, Urban Farmer, Growing
Power, as well as 27 panelists and moderators on six panel discussions. Six
pre-Summit events were also organized to broaden interest and
participation. Summit participants also participated in two breakout
sessions to generate recommendations.
The Summit was organized along five themes:
1) Learning about Complexity and Change: Foundations for
Environmental Literacy
2) Turning the Tide: Building a Green Society through Learning and
Doing
3) Seeing our World Inside and Out: Harnessing Technology for
Environmental Literacy
4) Best Practices for Effective Teaching and Learning
5) Environmental Literacy for All
Following the open segment of the Summit, sixty-two invited
participants mapped out a Decadal Action Plan that will provide direction
for concerted action. Twelve action items were identified. These action
items aimed at greater integration of the many existing programs and
initiatives across the country. While not comprehensive, they draw
attention to some strategic opportunities for the community to rally around
Washington Academy of Sciences
53
to foster an environmentally literate society. It is regarded as a living
document and is expected to evolve and be updated over the decade.
Learning about Complexity and Change
Complexity and change recognizes the interdependent relationships
among ecological, socioeconomic and cultural systems that are
foundational to life on Earth. Participants called for an environmental
literacy framework that will integrate the social dimensions into existing
earth systems literacy frameworks.
Turning the Tide
Conscious of the present trajectory of unsustainable
socio-environmental change, participants urged that initiatives catalyze
grassroots efforts; that Green schools be developed as hubs for communities
to live and learn about sustainability; and that an Action kit be created that
communities can use for achieving a green society.
Harnessing Technology
The enormous reach of technology is evident in the volume of
games sold and the near universal embrace of mobile technology today. The
creation of “C. Science 2.0” focused on handheld games is a huge
opportunity for environmental literacy efforts.
Best Practices for Effective Teaching and Learning
Participants recognized that there are a number of effective
programs and felt a need for a centralized space that will pull best practices
and resources across sectors and audiences. For K12 audiences, it is critical
that we engage stakeholders at the state level - which can in turn impact the
15,000 school districts in a non-partisan fashion. This means strong
networks at the state level with particular efforts to show how
environmental literacy is positioned in education content standards and
continued support for research on the effectiveness of environmental or
sustainability education programs.
Environmental Literacy for All
The dramatic changes in our population demographics have forced
us to confront the reality that to date, most efforts have largely failed to
engage the diversity of audiences and communities in environmental
education. Repeatedly, our panelists - representing media, health.
I
Spring 2012
54
architecture, religion, and gaming fields - reminded us that we need to ‘get
the right vocabulary, the right audience, and the right message’. Relating
environmental literacy to core American values like economic prosperity
(jobs) and health is essential to reaching the broader society. In this effort,
collaboration with the private sector is key.
Concluding Reflections
As a national nonprofit professional society, ESA’s education
programs are mission driven and attuned to the challenges and needs of the
field. Professional societies are in a unique position to play vital facilitative
roles on activities that require cooperative efforts. There is room for
individual scientists to participate as well as for organizational partnerships.
The grants from NSF has allowed ESA to address the challenge of
broadening participation and retention of minority students, filling gaps in
resource needs in a central repository of teaching resources, and prioritizing
important decadal initiatives for environmental literacy - all accomplished
through synergistic partnerships.
References
American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2010. Vision and Change in
Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action. AAAS, Washington DC. Last
Accessed March 7, 2012 http://www.visionandchange.org
Baker, B. (2000). Recruiting Minorities to the Biological Sciences in BioScience.
50(3).191-195
Committee on Underrepresented Groups and the Expansion of the Science and
Engineering Workforce Pipeline; Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy;
Policy and Global Affairs; National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of
Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 2011. Expanding Underrepresented Minority
Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. National
Academies Press, Washington DC.
Klug, M.J., J. Hodder, & H. Swain. (2002). Enhancing Educational Opportunities at
Biological
Field Stations and Marine Laboratories. Michigan State University. Report of a Workshop,
Education and Recruitment into the Biological Sciences: Potential Role of Field Station
and Marine Laboratories, Washington, D.C. Last Accessed March 7, 2012
http://www.obfs.org/assets/docs/publications/hodder%202009%20undergraduates%20fiel
d%20stations.pdf
National Research Council. Committee on a New Biology for the 21st Century: Ensuring
Washington Academy of Sciences
55
the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution. 2009. A New Biology for the 21st
Century: Ensuring the United States Leads the Coming Biology Revolution. Board on Life
Sciences, Division on Earth and Life Studies. National Research Council of the National
Academies. The National Academies Press. Washington, D.C. Last Accessed March 7,
20 1 2 http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id= 1 2764#orgs
NSF Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education. 2009. Transitions
and Tipping Points in Complex Environmental Systems. A Report by the NSF Advisory
Committee for Environmental Research and Education. National Science Foundation,
Arlington, VA. Last Accessed March 7, 2012
http://www.nsf.gOv/geo/ere/ereweb/ac-ere/nsf6895_ere_report_090809.pdf
Spring 2012
56
AFFILIATED INSTITUTIONS
The National Institute For Standards and Technology
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
The John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress
Potomac Overlook Regional Park
Koshland Science Museum
American Registry of Pathology
Living Oceans Foundation
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Washington Academy of Sciences
57
Washington Academy of Sciences
1200 New York Avenue
Rm 113
Washington, DC 20005
Please fill in the blanks and send your application to the Washington Academy of
Sciences at the address above. We will contact you as soon as your application has
been reviewed by the Membership Committee. Thank you for your interest in the
Washington Academy of Sciences.
(Dr. Mrs. Mr. Ms)_
Business Address
Home Address
Email
Phone
Please indicate your preferred mailing address
Business Home
Present Occupation or Professional Position
Please list memberships in scientific societies - include office held:
I
I
Spring 2012
58
DELEGATES TO THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
REPRESENTING AFFILIATED SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES
Washington Academy of Sciences
DELEGATES TO THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
REPRESENTING AFFILIATED SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES
Washington Academy of Sciences
NONPROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PAID
MERRIFIELDVA 22081
PERMIT# 888
Room 1 1 3
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Return Postage Guaranteed
^ *:(:*****>(:**** ^DC 207
ERNST MAYR LIBRARY
■MUSEUM COMP ZOOLOGY
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
26 OXEORD ST
CAMBRIDGE, MA 02138-2902
MCZ
LIBRARY
OCT 02 2012
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
Volume 98
Number 2
Summer 2012
Journal of the
WASHINGTON
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Editor’s Comments 5. Rood i
Studying Mummies and Human Remains P. Veiga 1
Perspectives on Student Problem Solving B. Furino 23
Analysis of the Motion of a Ball in the Barrel of a Musket C. Mungan, J. Danker 35
Outgoing President’s Remarks: State of the Academy G. Christman 53
Incoming President’s Remarks: Next Year at the Academy J. Cole 57
2012 Academy Awardee Photos 59
Membership Application 65
Instmctions to Authors 66
Affiliated Institutions 67
Affiliated Societies and Delegates 68
ISSN 0043-0439
Issued Quarterly at Washington DC
Washington Academy of Sciences
Founded in 1898
Board of Managers
Elected Officers
President
James Cole
President Elect
James Egenreider
Treasurer
Ronald Hietala
Secretary
Terrell Erickson
Vice President, Administration
Jim Disbrow
Vice President, Membership
Sethanne Howard
Vice President, Junior Academy
Dick Davies
Vice President, Affiliated Societies
Richard Hill
Members at Large
Paul Arveson
Michael Cohen
Frank Haig, SJ.
Mark Holland
Neal Schmeidler
Catherine With
Past President Gerard Christman
Affiliated Society Delegates
Shown on back cover
The Journal of the Washington Academy of
Sciences
The Journal \s the official organ of the Academy.
It publishes articles on science policy, the history
of science, critical reviews, original science
research, proceedings of scholarly meetings of
its Affiliated Societies, and other items of interest
to its members. It is published quarterly. The last
issue of the year contains a directory of the
current membership of the Academy.
Subscription Rates
Members, fellows, and life members in good
standing receive the Journal free of charge.
Subscriptions are available on a calendar year
basis, payable in advance. Payment must be
made in US currency at the following rates.
US and Canada $30.00
Other Countries $35.00
Single Copies (when available) $15.00
Claims for Missing Issues
Claims must be received within 65 days of
mailing. Claims will not be allowed if non-
delivery was the result of failure to notify the
Academy of a change of address.
Notification of Change of Address
Address changes should be sent promptly to
the Academy Office. Notification should
contain both old and new addresses and zip
codes.
Editor of the Journal
Sally A. Rood
Associate Editors
Sethanne Howard
Peg Kay
Academy Office
Washington Academy of Sciences
Room 113
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202/326-8975
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to WAS, Rm 113,
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Journal of the Washington Academy of
Sciences (ISSN 0043-0439)
Published by the Washington Academy of
Sciences 202/326-8975
email: journal@washacadsci.org
website: www.washacadsci.org
MCZ
LIBRARY
1
editor.
Editor’s Comments
OCT O?2012
HARVt
With this issue, I’m excited to begin my role as
hew Journal
The Academy expresses a hearty thanks to Jackie Maffucci for
serving as Journal editor for more than two years, and I personally
appreciated her help with the smooth transition in Journal editorship.
We’re also extremely pleased that Sethanne Howard continues as
Associate Editor. We welcome Peg Kay as an Associate Editor.
This Summer issue provides some great Summer reading and
perusing! For example, we include here a photo journal of the Academy’s
Awards Banquet in the Spring, as well as thoughts from your leaders,
outgoing President Gerry Christman and incoming President Jim Cole.
The Academy’s Awards Committee, chaired by Peg Kay, deserves
many votes of appreciation for all its productive work towards the 2012
Awards Banquet. This year, the Academy had a most impressive line-up
of awardees - the Distinguished Career in Science award, the Lamberton
Award for Elementary and Secondary Education, and honorees from each
of these fields: Behavioral Sciences and Social Sciences; Biological
Sciences; Engineering Sciences; Mathematics and Computer Sciences;
and Physical Sciences. The list was rounded out by a History of Science
award and an award for Service to Science. Although space doesn’t allow
us to list the numerous outstanding accomplishments of the awardees. I’m
sure you will enjoy perusing our 2012 photo journal in these pages. It
provides undisputed evidence that the Washington, DC region is rich with
scientific and intellectual resources.
We also have three notable papers in this issue. The paper by Paula
Veiga will likely be of great interest to our audience of scientists who are
not necessarily seasoned Egyptologists, forensic archaeologists, or
geneticists. The article is about the study of mummies and it provides a
sometimes graphic overview of the current developments and issues in this
fascinating field of study. We hope it invites our readers to explore how
they might learn more . . . and as a perfect starting place on the history of
ancient medicine, we suggest checking out the Institute for the
Preservation of Medical Traditions at http://medicaltraditions.org.
The paper by Bruce Furino provides insights into the first-hand
experiences and perceptions of young students involved in a hands-on
STEM education initiative administered by a major university in Florida -
Summer 2012
11
the Internet Science and Technology Fair. This paper provides an
interesting aggregated “snapshot” of the students who were part of the
most recent fair, and we look forward to reading a planned multi-year
evaluation in the near future.
The excellent article by Carl Mungan and John Denker is a classic
applied physics paper that is of interest both historically and
mathematically. A system that one might think simple to model (a ball in a
musket) contains mathematical richness which is both surprising and
fascinating.
As my new Editor role unfolds, I look forward to hearing from
Academy members on their current wishes for the Journal. Thank you for
this opportunity to be your Editor.
Sally A. Rood, PhD
Editor, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences
Washington Academy of Sciences
1
studying Mummies and Human Remains:
Some Current Developments and Issues
Paula Veiga
Anthropological Team, Luxor West Bank, Egypt
Abstract
This article discusses mummification processes, both natural and
intentional, and presents a brief history of ancient Egyptian
mummification procedures. The article then provides an overview of
existing technologies for analyzing mummies, and the varied uses and
applications of examining mummies. It also presents some background
and issues related to mummy storage and display in museum
environments. Given the ancient procedures used, the limitations of
modem analysis techniques, and the existing problems trying to store
and display mummies today, the article concludes by summarizing
both the current challenges and benefits of the present-day study of
mummies, and offering some cautions.
Introduction
This paper focuses on the task of retrieving information from human
remains, with a particular focus on ancient Egyptian mummies. As the
human body has not changed much in 5,000 years, information retrieved
must be consistent with present human evolution status; traces of diseases
still existing today should confer with contemporary specimens.
Mummified bodies, regardless of their preservation condition when found,
provide important pieces of information in the study of ancient medicine.
There is a designation often associated with mummified remains:
the word mummy, that comes from the medieval Latin word mumia}
borrowed from the Arabic mumiyyah, ^ which also means bitumen - a
substance thought in the past to have had medicinal properties.^
The Process of Mummification
Various environmental elements, if not controlled, accelerate
mummification and transformation of a dead body. These are: the growth
of microbial organisms caused by moisture; the presence of food; the
human remains themselves; the application of incense, oils and resins; and
the effect of plant residues, minerals, and animal fats.
Summer 2012
2
After the body has perished, it loses water, and gases start to form
inside the body. Since human bodies are comprised of almost 70% water,
the body starts to desiccate (dry) naturally. Environmental conditions may
accelerate the reduction of water, release the gases, and start the
putrefaction of the tissues. In Egypt, the extremely arid climate favors
natural body desiccation."^ In addition, an adipocere (fatty) substance can
be formed and turn the body into a bloated specimen.
Other conditions affect the process after death, and cause the body
to lose all its tissue and become skeletonized. These include extreme
demineralization with decalcification of bones.
Some bodies are found with one or more of these conditions,
depending on whether they were exposed or buried, depending on
materials left next to the body, and depending on the amount of light,
moisture and air ventilation conditions that were in situ over time.^ Air
exposure is crucial in mummification; well-ventilated spaces usually allow
bodies to mummify (and desert winds have the same effect). Either hot or
cold dry air is a mummifying factor, while moisture enables putrefaction
and decomposition.
The presence of insects^ usually accelerates body skeletonization.
There is a specific fauna in the insect group, necrophagi insects, who feed
on dead tissue. Several pupae and larvae from different species are often
found in mummies, resulting in body decay.
Mummification in Egyptian History
In ancient Egyptian history, mummification started to happen
naturally and spontaneously. Natural mummification of bodies^ was a
characteristic of Pre- (5300-3000 BCE) and Early- (3000-2686 BCE)
Dynastic Egypt. At first, the bodies were simply placed in the fetal
position in shallow oval graves, usually surrounded by personal objects of
their daily life.^ The buried bodies of the deceased became mummified,
although the majority of natural mummified bodies found are skeletonized
bodies. The mummy called Ginger, housed at the British Museum in
London, provides an example of a Pre-Dynastic body, naturally desiccated
in the Egyptian sands.
Intentional mummification with evisceration (disembowelment)
started from the 4^^ Dynasty (2613 BCE) onward. The oldest bodies that
have been recovered are from that period.
Washington Academy of Sciences
3
From the Middle Kingdom, 11^ to 13^^ Dynasties (2055-1650
BCE), we have the example of the “Two Brothers” housed at the
Manchester Museum. They were first analyzed by Margaret Murray in
1908 and more recently by Rosalie David who wrote about the tomb
where they were found.
Most of the bodies belonging to collections and available for study
- such as the Royal mummies - are from the:
• New Kingdom (18^^ to 20^^ Dynasties, 1550 to 1069 BCE);
• Late Period (26* to 30* Dynasties, 664 to 332 BCE); and
• Greco-Roman Period (Ptolemaic 332-30 BCE and Roman 30 BCE-
395 CE).
In Egypt, mummification started fading as a funerary practice in
the 7* century CE,^^ probably as a result of the influence of Islam.
Mummification Procedures Used in Ancient Egypt
The techniques developed by ancient Egyptians for mummifying
humans were intended to provide the best preservation possible. The
materials used, techniques employed, and objects that accompanied
mummified bodies are all important and should be considered.
In Dynastic Egypt (3000-332 BCE), coffins appeared to arrest
body decay from the artificial process of mummification.^'" In order to
prepare bodies for the afterlife, the lungs, intestines, stomach, and liver
were removed and preserved in jars, and linen wrappings were tightly
fastened to the whole body. The heart was also removed from the chest
cavity, but it was treated with unguents, and returned to its anatomical
location, usually shielded by a scarab depicting Chapter 30 from the Book
of the Dead, for protection in the afterlife.
Up to 12 or more layers of linen bandages can be found on an
Egyptian mummy. An optimal mummification procedure would involve
changing the linen several times up to 70 days^"^ to eliminate all moisture
from the body.
Natural factors and ingredients such as dry soil, wind and salt
contribute to preserving a dead body from deterioration. The salt used to
intentionally dry up bodies in ancient Egypt was natron^ ^ retrieved from
the regions of Wadi Natrun and el-Kab in Egypt, which have natural
deposits of this desiccation material.
Summer 2012
4
Liquid resin was then poured into the lying-down body which
drained into cavities and solidified there. In Ptolemaic times (332-30
BCE), pitch was also found mixed with the resin in mummies that were
analyzed.
Also, it is typical for many bone fragments to be found inside the
body vaults and abdomens. Small bones break as the bodies are handled,
and they scatter along the large body cavities.
The embalming ritual is described in two Papyri, probably copied
from the same ancient source dating from the Greco-Roman period:
Papyrus Bulaq 3 preserved in Cairo and Papyrus 5158 preserved at the
Louvre. The Apis embalming ritual, the Vienna Papyrus Vindobonensis
3873 used for bull embalming, was also a reference for the priests’
1 8
practices during mummification of humans.
These ancient Egyptian sources stated that sacred texts were read
out loud and rituals chanted while ingredients such as cinnamon, animal
fat, and minerals were applied during the mummification process.
Embalmers used incense oil, and the resin worked as glue to make the
linen bandages stick well. According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, medicine
and magic were a bundled concept and the chanting of rituals was
necessary during the mummification process.
The role of the priests and their sacred blessings will not be
described here in detail^^ except to add that the priests in charge of
mummification procedures felt that what was missing in life could not be
missing in the afterlife. Therefore, mummified bodies would have
artificial body parts attached to them. These artifacts were created to make
the bodies whole.
For example, bodies not identified according to their sex could
have attached to them fake sexual organs (such as a female thought to be
male), false eyes, or prosthetics. A toe may have been added if one
were missing.^^ A toe was added to a mummy preserved at the British
Museum (British Museum EA 29996). An incisive tooth may have been
replaced,^"' or even an entire limb or hand.^"^ An example of this is the
‘prosthetic’ forearm of the Darlington (Durham) mummy (no number);
and the fake feet and penis on a mummy in the Manchester Museum (no.
1770).^^ Similarly, a foot prosthetic is displayed in the Cairo Museum (no
number). Yet another example of such restoration was found in Mummy
2343 in the Naples Archaeological Museum, where an x-ray test showed
Washington Academy of Sciences
5
two wooden feet to be present. These types of restorations date back to the
Ptolemaic Period.
Modern Techniques for Analyzing Mummies
The ingredients that were applied by the ancient Egyptians allowed
the bodies to be preserved sufficiently to enable modern-day studies.
However, we cannot study mummies in detail without modem
technologies. We can now scan human bodies and body parts using non-
invasive techniques.
Radiology was one of the biggest inventions to advance the
medical observation of both living and deceased humans . With the
discovery of x-rays by Roentgen in 1 895 and the subsequent development
of radiology, a fundamental step was made in medical diagnosis
possibilities. Since its invention, radiology has been used to study ancient
human remains, including ancient Egyptian bodies. We can learn about
historical factors such as what happened at the time of death, the cause of
death (e.g. blunt force trauma), and weapons used in case of violent death
(e.g. axes, arrows, swords).^^
We can also use endoscopy"^ and microscopy (histological
analysis) to examine what is found inside a mummified body.
Contemporary computerized software allows scientists and
historians to delve into the depths of a 3,000-year-old body either without
destroying it or with minimal impact. We can learn how a person lived,
suffered, and died - and what kinds of materials were used to preserve the
body. Many forensic techniques can be used to examine human fragments.
In addition to radiology and the other techniques noted above, these
include histology, serology, ancient DNA (aDNA) identification,''^
osteology, as well as paleopathology techniques such as chemistry, isotope
and carbon tests. A macroscopic examination should always be performed
prior to any such laboratory tests.
Identification of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), developed in 1985,
helps show family relationships and genetic correlation between
individuals.^^ What we can learn from aDNA samples^"^ about kinship and
paleopathological conditions is limitless. In the aDNA of Egyptian
mummies, even the pathogens can be studied,^^ as exemplified by a recent
study directed by Zink et al?^
DNA retrieval methods were improved in 1991 with the
application of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques, which allow
Summer 2012
6
DNA to be cloned and produce multiple copies of specific sections of
DNA. The long bones of a body tend to provide viable sample material, as
they have more bone marrow which can be used for DNA testing. The
genetic material — sometimes presumed lost over time — may still be
viable and valid, and PCR techniques multiply the probability of getting
positive results from tests on genetic material.
Some biomedical analysis techniques (e.g. computer tomography-
CT scans^^ and traditional radiology"^) have developed very rapidly in
recent years. However, they only complement DNA tests.
Uses and Applications for Mummy Research
Through advanced forensic techniques we can learn about: ancient
diet;^^ diseases;"^^ causes of death (such as plagues infesting crops);
climate changes"^^ and famines (as shown in bone markers);"^^ hemorrhagic
fevers caused by bacteria; animals bites and stings; inflammation
processes from trauma; genetic disorders, as shown in ancient DNA
samples; hair lice; blindness caused by sand,"^^ wind or stone quarrying;
water worms in the Nile River;"^"^ and battles.
In general, we can say that many diseases afflicted ancient
Egyptians,"^^ mostly dental and pulmonary diseases, as their diet contained
large amounts of sand. The excessive consumption of meat by high-
ranking Egyptian officials may have provoked other diseases such as
calcification of the aorta, arteriosclerosis,"^^ atheroma,"^^ fibrosis in muscle
tissues, and aneurysms.
Bone diseases and trauma were also common in human remains
40
from ancient Egypt, although researchers examining the royal mummies
concluded that inflammatory bone diseases were rarely seen in ancient
Egyptian skeletons. Skeletal conditions included intra-vertebral disc
disease and fractures."^^ Bones were subjected to stress from carrying
heavy loads,^^ trauma inflicted in battle,^ ^ horseback riding, boating
accidents, and sports. The most common result was osteoarthritis^^ and
c'y CA
bone tumours, ^ although the number of occurrences was not high.
Nutritional stress and the lack of certain minerals^^ in the diet contributed
to these osteological conditions in adolescents and young adults.
More recent tests^^ also show severe infectious diseases. These
may have resulted from working in or near the Nile River and its effluents,
channels, and ponds; fishing; and interacting with wild animals. Infections
_ like schistosomiasis and leishmaniasis have been identified. Parasites,
such as helmintic ova, were found in the PUM II mummy at the Royal
Washington Academy of Sciences
7
Ontario Museum^^ in Toronto. Other parasites, such as pulmonary
6 1 62
silicosis, pneumoconiosis, and malaria have also been found.
Dental diseases^^ were extensive,^"^ including dental abrasions,
caries, and periodontal disease.^^ Additional conditions that existed
include diabetes and heart disease. There were many cases of Harris lines,
which are growth-arrest lines.^^
Various research projects have focused on hair in ancient
Egyptian mummies. Researchers have reached astonishing conclusions
about hairdressing and the ingredients in cones and unguents used for hair
and wigs. Their results show that hair was treated separately from the
body, sometimes with different mummification procedures and
substances.^^
As noted, it is common to find objects buried with human remains.
Even in a non-funerary context, the excavation of plant remains can be
crucial. According to ancient texts, plants were used as medicine in
ancient Egypt. This helps explain how ancient diseases may offer answers
for contemporary ailments, thus pointing the way to the production of new
medicines, perhaps with the help of genetic research.^^
The study of DNA in ancient bodies is particularly relevant if the
intent is to diagram a disease’s evolution. An individual’s digital genetic
imprint is influenced by the genes of his or her relatives. The genes can
provide precise information about a family’s inherited malignancies and
genetic diseases. This is important since royal members in ancient Egypt
tended to intermarry among themselves. There are two types of aDNA that
can be retrieved from a specimen: mitochondrial DNA is inherited from
the mother; nuclear DNA is inherited from both parents and is a more
difficult sample to get.^^
According to Dr. Angelique Corthals,^^ genotype defines
phenotype (appearance). The application of DNA testing can help to
determine, for instance, whether the strange physiognomy observed in
pharaoh Akhenaten and his offspring, possibly including Tutankhamun,
derives from a genetic “corridor” (genetically-inherited feature) set up by
his ancestors.^^ During the New Kingdom period, the environment did not
change substantially enough where this pharaoh and his family lived to
disrupt the genetic trace, making it possible to confirm the differentiation
of a genetic character in Akhenaten and subsequent passage to his
offspring.
Summer 2012
8
Mummy Storage and Museum Display
Mummies can be damaged through: improper display or storage;
inadequate humidity level, air movement, and light; and also by fungal
spores and insects present in bodies and coffins.
Mummified human remains cannot be stored the same way as
77 78
other museum artifacts. , Humidity in the air and moisture inside the
case must be controlled, and dehumidifiers are considered essential, as
mummy cases can decay almost as much as their contents, the bodies.
Further, the size of the display cases must be adequate to
accommodate the human remains. Being displayed in physically-correct
positions - with minimum stress to joints - can ensure that a mummy is
displayed without damage. Skulls and other bone fragments must be
supported when they are loose from the body. Aluminum splints can be
used in broken limbs. Re-bandaging, or re-wrapping, is another option.
Paper or other base tissue must be replaced periodically. Foam beds, like
the ones used for the Manchester Museum mummies, are also advisable.
Mortuary-type trolleys can provide easy movement around museum
displays and storage rooms.
Covering human remains has been an issue in some countries. An
example of this is a Manchester Museum mummy named Asm who was
displayed uncovered until 2008. Following the polemic debate in the
United Kingdom, the mummy was covered in May 2008 and later
uncovered again.^^
Challenges in Studying Mummies
Several challenges arise in the study of mummies. One challenge
relates to the availability of biomedical techniques. When appropriate
techniques do exist, there is also the question as to whether the financial
means are available to use those biomedical techniques. There is also the
question as to whether the necessary administrative permissions (from
museums and other authorities) are in place to allow scientists and
historians to do sampling tests.
A factor influencing mummy preservation and museum display is
the state in which the mummy is found. Some mummies are very well
preserved. In others, contamination may prevent scientists from getting
positive results. The majority of disturbances and attacks destroying
mummified bodies and skeletons take place post-mortem (after death).
Washington Academy of Sciences
9
In ancient Egypt, mummies were reburied, misplaced, unidentified,
transferred, and housed in different sarcophagi. In antiquity, disruptions
occurred mainly due to robbers’ activities, political changes, and natural
elements that caused the loss of body identification. When moved from
Egypt, they were also handled by many people, most not knowing they
were handling human remains, or not paying the attention needed.
Most of the findings in archaeological contexts involve bodies that
are already disarticulated and groups of bones that are not placed in their
original anatomical position. It is common for bones to be missing.
Fingers and toes, for instance, are small and easily disarticulated. They get
lost on the ground, or in the coffin, and many times they are lost while
handling the mummy. When coffins were used that did not fit the size of
the mummy,^'' the feet and skulls were often broken.
Once these issues are resolved, analysis of a mummy is not unlike
that of a modem day autopsy.
Between the layers of linen wrappings, we may also find amulets,
insects, solidified resin, and fungi. The original mummification procedures
and ritual chanting allowed time for flies to lay eggs, a factor altering the
mummification, and creating disturbing conditions as the body desiccated.
Another cause for mold or fungi found in mummies may be re-used
linen, as not all ancient Egyptians had the financial means to ensure a
“pure” mummification without recycled materials. Some mummies are
completely “naked,” as illustrated by a female specimen in an Egyptian
collection housed at the Faculty of Sciences in Porto, Portugal.
OQ
Pollen is also found in mummies, due to the fact that the plants
used for oils (used in mummification) carry pollen. This pollen can alter
the skin tone sometimes causing the appearance of dark spots. Pollen also
appears in coprolites (fossilized feces).
oq
In the absence of contamination, it is possible to sequence DNA.
Various types of mummification techniques can impair aDNA retrieval.^^
Some ingredients used during mummification (oils, resins) degrade the
tissue to such an extent that aDNA retrieval is almost impossible. As the
samples degrade over time, their chemical substances impair any
conclusive results. The important issue before taking a sample from a
mummy is to try to determinate what materials were used during the
mummification process. Alkaloids commonly found in bandages and
bodies only reveal some substances, and others are common to various
Summer 2012
10
plants and resins used. Therefore, we cannot confirm with total certainty
which ones were used in each case.^^
Q9
In terms of DNA extraction, some authors have raised doubts
about the conservation of DNA over long periods of time. Studies^^ have
been conducted on Egyptian tissue material in order to produce more
convincing data. Researchers are attempting to refine information in order
to determine when the last DNA molecules vanished. Present results
indicate that the preservation limit for archaeological DNA in Egypt is less
than 1,000 years. The high temperature levels in the Egyptian environment
seem to be the prevailing cause of DNA degradation.^"^
Mummified human remains from ancient Egypt have reached our
present time in excellent conditions. There are some extraordinary
examples still waiting for complete scanning and DNA tests. These
include the “Tutankhamun’s fetuses” (1336-1327 BCE) - two girls
thought to be sisters (maybe twins, as suggested by Connolly),^^ and who
have different body shapes. He believes their differences are symptoms of
a rare event in which one twin consumed more nutrients from the mother
than the other twin, and was therefore bom much bigger and stronger.^^
Premature or severely ill newborn babies rarely survived in antiquity, and
often a child died in the mother’s womb. It is probable that
Tutankhamun’s daughters are an example of this, as they were far from
full-grown babies who died at five and six month’s gestation.
Conclusions
What we can learn from studying human remains is important for
both history and science. The study of mummified material allows us to
search for diseases that existed in ancient Egypt. The medical,
biographical, phenotypal data and accessory information that can be
retrieved from mummies on a macroscopic or molecular level is
important. Researchers studying mummies must perform detailed analyses
of not only the bodies, but also the items surrounding the bodies -
including bandages, amulets, prosthetics, false body parts, plants, insects,
dyes, and inscriptions. The detailed study of these materials may provide
researchers clues about ancient civilization and their scientific and
technical knowledge and concerns. Religion and magic were science then.
This reminds me of Clarke’s third law: "'Any sufficiently advanced
technology is indistinguishable from magic.''
Modem non-invasive techniques for analysis provide ample
information without destroying the surrounding artifacts. DNA
Washington Academy of Sciences
11
identification is a powerful instrument, although there are disagreements
among scientists about the limitations of DNA preservation. However, the
most helpful findings and conclusions are drawn from specific tests that
require samples which are destroyed in the process. An example: Tests on
a tooth’s root which requires smashing it, but which can be decisive to
prove age at the time of death. For such analyses, special permissions from
the museums and institutions housing the mummies are of the essence.
Not all museum authorities are sensitive to the urgency of taking samples
from human remains.
Ancient human remains come from times when pollution from
industry and vehicles, tobacco, genetically-modified foods, chemical
drugs, stress, and trauma caused by machines did not exist. This may be
relevant from the pharmaceutical point of view. The cores of active
substances in our modem medicines are chemical copies of their vegetable
counterparts. Those same vegetable substances used with confirmed
results by ancient people may point the direction to find better medicines
for today.
Bureaucracy and the fear of damaging artifacts should not impede
scientific tests that might result in scientific progress today. Contemporary
technologies used to diagnose and cure the living should also be made
available to address the dead in order to bring history and facts into closer
alignment. The texts that survived from ancient Egypt - medical, magical,
personal letters, religious or simply funerary - contain information that
can be compared with the findings from human remains to confirm
treatments and prophylaxis and identify ingredients used.
This information can enlighten our understanding of ancient
medicine when brought together in multidisciplinary research projects
involving specialists from different fields such as medicine, botany,
linguistics, history and imaging. It could change history.
Acknowledgements
This article is a revision of a paper presented under a similar title at
the International Symposium for Ancient Cadaver - Protection and
Research, held in Changsha City, Hunan Province, China, September 16-
20, 2011.
I would like to thank Dr. Claire Derriks, Presidente of CIPEG at
the International Commission of Museums (ICOM), and co-chairperson of
the 1st International Symposium for Ancient Cadaver Protection and
Summer 2012
12
Research held in Changsha, China, September 2011. I was not able to
attend the meeting, but Dr. Derriks introduced me to the event and
presented my paper for me.
I also thank Professor Terry Brown from the Faculty of Sciences at
the University of Manchester, who heads the project on Ancient DNA and
Biomolecular Archaeology. Prof. Brown encouraged me on this topic,
overall, and particularly on aDNA.
I would also like to thank Dr. Emanuela Appetiti, CEO of the
Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions, a research institution
hosted by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., for her
friendship and assistance in drafting this article.
Bibliography
Antoine, D., (2010), The Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum,
Ancient Egypt Magazine, Manchester Empire Publications: 46-51.
Aufderheide, A. C., (1998), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology,
Cambridge University Press.
Aufderheide, A. C., (2003), The Scientific Study of Mummies, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press.
Bauduer, F., (2005), Diseases and Therapies in Ancient Egypt: What Mummies and
Other Human Remains Tell Us? in Massa, E. R. (Ed.), Proceedings of the V World
Congress on Mummy Studies, Torino, Compagnia di San Paolo: 69-72.
Bernhardt, C. E., Horton, B. P., Stanley, J. D., (2012), Nile Delta Vegetation Response to
Holocene Climate Variability, Geology, 40, 7: 615-618.
Brancaglion, Jr., A., De Souza, S., (2005), The Egyptian Collection of Museu Nacional,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the Conservation of Mummies in a Tropical Environment
in Massa, E. R. (Ed.), Proceedings of the V World Mummy Congress, Torino,
Compagnia di San Paolo: 129-131.
Cesarani, F., Martina, M. C., Ferraris, A., Grilletto, R., Boano, R., Marochetti, E. F.,
Donadoni, A. M., Gandini, G., (2003), Whole-Body Three-Dimensional
Multidetector CT of 13 Egyptian Human Mummies, American Journal
Roentgenology, 180: 597-606.
Cesarani, F., Martina, M. C., Ferraris, A., Grilletto, R., Boano, R., Colombini, M. P.,
Modugno, F., Silvano, F., Onor, M., (2000) Characterization of the Balm of an
Egyptian Mummy from the Seventh Century B.C., Studies in Conservation, 45: 19-
29.
Cockbum, A., Barraco, R. A., Reyman, T. A., Peck, W. H., (1975), Autopsy of an
Egyptian Mummy, Science, 187: 1 155-1160.
Cockbum, A., Cockbum, E., Reyman, T. A., (1980), Mummies, Disease & Ancient
Cultures, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Washington Academy of Sciences
13
Cosmacini, P., Piacentini, P., (June 2011), Egyptian Mummies and Radiology: A Closer
Link in Zink, A., Rosendahl, W., Gill-Frerking, H. (Eds.), Yearbook of Mummy
Studies 7, Miinchen, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil: 37-44.
Counsell, D. J., (2006), Intoxicants in Ancient Egypt: The Application of Modern
Forensic Analytical Techniques to Ancient Artifacts and Mummified Remains in the
Evaluation of Drug Use by an Ancient Society; A Historical and Scientific
Investigation, Thesis submitted to the University of Manchester.
Counsell, D. J., (October-November 2008), Tutankhamun’s Murder: Case Reopened?
Ancient Egypt Magazine, 9: 34-40.
David, R., Tapp, E., (1993), The Mummy’s Tale, The Scientific and Medical Investigation
ofNatsefAmun, Priest in the Temple at Karnak, New York, St. Martin’s Press.
David, R., David, A., (1995), Preservation of Human Mummified Specimens in Collins,
Chris (ed.). Care and Conservation of Paleontological Material, Oxford,
Butterworth: 73-88.
David, R., (2000), 5000 Years of Schistosomiasis in Egypt, Chungara Revista de
Antropologia Chilena, 32, 1: 133-135.
David, R., (2001), The Tomb of Two Brothers at Rifeh, Egypt: Paleopathological and
Archaeological Studies in Lynnerup, N. (Ed.), Proceedings of the IV World Mummy
Congress, Greenland, Greenland National Museum and Archives and Danish Polar
Centre: 169-173.
David, R., (2001), Benefits and Disadvantages of Some Conservation Treatments for
Egyptian Mummies, Chungara Revista de Antropologia Chilena, 33, 1 : 113-115.
David, R., (2005), Natsef-Amun, Keeper of the Bulls, A Comparative Study of the
Palaeopathology and Archaeology of an Egyptian Mummy, in Massa, E. R. (Ed.),
Proceedings of the V World Mummy Congress, Torino, Compagnia di San Paolo:
175-178.
David, R., (2007), The Two Brothers: Death and the Afterlife in Middle Kingdom Egypt,
Exeter, U.K., Rutherford Press Limited.
David, R., (2008), Egyptian Mummies and Modem Science, Cambridge University Press.
David, R. A., Kershaw, A., Heagerty, A., (2010), Atherosclerosis and Diet in Ancient
Egypt, The Lancet -21 February 2010, 375, 9716: 718-719.
Davies, E., (201 1), Mummified Remains from Egypt and Beyond Hold Chemical
Information about the Daily Lives of Ancient Civilisations, Chemistry World: 48-5 1 .
De Souza, S., (2005), The Egyptian Mummy Hori: A Conservation Assessment of
Brazil’s Museum Nacional’s Egyptian Mummy Hori for Exhibition in Massa, E. R.
(Ed.), V World Mummy Congress, Torino, Compagnia di San Paolo: 132-135.
Donoghue, H., et al, (2010), Tuberculosis in Dr. Granville’s mummy: A Molecular Re-
examination of the Earliest Known Egyptian Mummy to be Scientifically Examined
and Given a Medical Diagnosis, Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological
Sciences, 1, 111, 1678: 51-56.
Summer 2012
14
Ebeid, N. L, (1999), Egyptian Medicine in the Days of the Pharaohs^ Cairo, General
Egyptian Book Organization.
Filce Leek, F., (1972), Bite, Attrition and Associated Oral Conditions as Seen in Ancient
Egyptian Skulls, Journal of Human Evolution, 1 : 289-295.
Fomaciari, G., Giuffra, V., (2005), Paleopathological Study of the Egyptian Mummies
Collected in Italy: The Anubis Project in Massa, E. R. (Ed.), Proceedings of the V
World Mummy Congress, Torino, Compagnia di San Paolo: 255-257.
Fomaciari, G., Giuffra, V., Ciranni, R., (2006), A New Case of Ancient Restoration on an
Egyptian Mummy, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 92: 274-278.
Forshaw, R., Corthals, A., (June 2011), Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Manchester
Elliot Smith Skulls in Zink, A., Rosendahl, W., Gill-Frerking, H., Yearbook of
Mummy Studies 1, Munchen, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil: 57-62.
Forshaw, R., (June-July 2009), Dental Flealth and Dentistry in Ancient Egypt, Ancient
Egypt Magazine, 9: 24-28.
Fulcheri, E., Boano, R., Grilletto, R., Ferrari, L., Leospo. E., Donnadoni Roveri, A. M.,
Rabino Massa, E., (2001), Ancient Egyptian Mummies: Histological Examinations
to Assess the Presence of Contaminants or Pollutants in Lynnerup, N. (Ed.),
Proceedings of the IV World Mummy Congress, Greenland, Greenland National
Museum and Archives and Danish Polar Centre: 89-91.
Galan, J. M., (Autumn 2009), An Intact Eleventh Dynasty Burial in Dra Abu el-Naga,
Egyptian Archaeology: 32-35.
Gray, P. H. K., (December 1966), Embalmers’ ‘Restorations,’ The Journal of Egyptian
Archaeology, 52: 138-140.
Gray, P. H. K., (1967), Radiography of Ancient Egyptian Mummies, Medical
Radiography and Photography, 43: 34-44.
Gray, P. H. K., (1971), Artificial Eyes in Mummies, The Journal of Egyptian
Archaeology, 51: 125-126.
Harer, W. B., (September-October 2007), Chariots, Horses or Hippos: What Killed
Tutankhamun? M?^erv<3, 18: 8-10.
Hawass, Z., (October-November 2007), Meeting Tutankhamun, Ancient Egypt Magazine,
8: 29-36.
Home, P., (2001), Disease in Mummies from Two Sites in Ancient Egypt in Lynnerup,
N. (Ed.), Proceedings of the IV World Mummy Congress, Greenland, Greenland
National Museum and Archives and Danish Polar Centre: 111-112. .
Irish, J. D., (2004), A 5,500-Year Old Artificial Human Tooth From Egypt: A Historical
Note, The International Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Implants, 19: 645-647.
Janot, F., (2005), The Mummies of Kha and Merit: Embalming Ritual and Restoration
Work in Massa, E. R. (Ed.), Proceedings of the V World Mummy Congress, Torino,
Compagnia di San Paolo: 243-247.
Kemp, B., (2010), Tell el-Amama, 2010, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 96: 1-29.
Washington Academy of Sciences
15
Kloos, H., David, R., (2002), The Paleoepidemiology of Schistosomiasis in Ancient
Egypt, Research in Human Ecology, Human Ecology Review, 9: 14-25.
Lambert-Zazulak, P., Rutherford, P., David, R., (2003), The International Ancient
Egyptian Mummy Tissue Bank at the Manchester Museum as a Resource for the
Palaeoepidemiological Study of Schistosomiasis, World Archaeology, 35, 2,
Archaeology of Epidemic and Infectious Disease (Oct. 2003): 223-240.
Lucas, A., (1914), The Question of the Use of Bitumen or Pitch by the Ancient Egyptians
in Mummification, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology!, 4, Oct., 1914: 241-245.
Maes, F., (January-February 2005), Egyptian Mummies at the National Museum of
Antiquities, Lcidm, Minerva, 16: 8-12.
Marota, I., Basile, C., Ubaldi, M., Rollo, F., (2002), DNA Decay Rate in Papyri and
Human Remains from Egyptian Archaeological Sites, American Journal of Physical
Anthropology, 1 17, 4: 310-318.
McCreesh, N. C., Gize, A. P., Denton, J., David, R., (June 2011), Hair Analysis: A Tool
for Identifying Pathological and Social Information in Zink, A., Rosendahl, W., Gill-
Frerking, H., Yearbook of Mummy Studies 1, Munchen, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil:
95-98.
McCreesh, N., C., Gize, A., P., David, A., R., (December 2011), Ancient Egyptian Hair
Gel: New Insight into Ancient Egyptian Mummification Procedures through
Chemical km\ys\s. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38, 12: 3432-3434.
Micozzi, M. S., (1992), Post-Mortem Preservation of Human Remains: Natural and
Technical Processes, Proceedings of the I World Mummy Congress, Tenerife, Museo
Arqueologico y Etnografico de Tenerife: 759-764.
Minnikin, D. E., Besra, G. S., Lee, Oona Y-C, Spiegelman, M., Donoghue, H. D., (June
201 l),The Interplay of DNA and Lipid Biomarkers in the Detection of Tuberculosis
and Leprosy in Mummies and Other Skeletal Remains, in Zink, A., Rosendahl, W.,
Gill-Frerking, H., (Eds.) Yearbook of Mummy Studies 1, Munchen, Verlag Dr.
Friedrich Pfeil: 109-1 14.
Morimoto, I., (1985), Series of Studies in Egyptian Culture, 2, The Human Mummies
from the 1983 Excavations at Qiirna, Egypt, Institute of Archaeology, Waseda
University, Tokyo.
Murray, M. A., (1910), The Tomb of Two Brothers, Manchester, Sherratt & Hughes.
Nelson, A. J., Chhem, R., Cunningham, I. A., Friedman, S. N., Garvin, G., Gibson, G.,
Granton, P. V., Holdsworth, D. W., Holowka, S., Longstaffe, F., Lywood, V.,
Nguyen, N., Shaw, R., Trumpour, M., Wade, A. D., White, C., D., (June 2011), The
ROM/UWO Mummy Project: A Microcosm of Progress in Mummy Research, in
Zink, A., Rosendahl, W., Gill-Frerking, H., (Eds.) Yearbook of Mummy Studies 1,
Munchen, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil: 127-132.
Nerlich, A. G., Haas, C. J., Zink, A., Szeimies, U., Hagedom, H. G., (1997), Molecular
Evidence for Tuberculosis in an Ancient Egyptian Mummy, The Lancet, 350, 9088:
1404.
Summer 2012
16
Paabo, S. (1985), Molecular Cloning of Ancient Egyptian Mummy DNA, Nature, 314,
6012:644-645.
Paabo, S., (1989), Ancient DNA: Extraction, Characterization, Molecular Cloning, and
Enzymatic Amplification, Proceedings National Academy of Sciences, USA, 86,
Genetics: 1939-1943.
Pahor, A., (1992) Ear, Nose and Throat in Ancient Egypt, The Journal of Laryngology
and Otology, 106: 773-779.
Parsche, F., (1992), A Contribution to the Problem of Beetle Attacks in Egyptian
Mummies, Proceedings of the I World Mummy Congress, Tenerife, Museo
Arqueologico y Etnografico de Tenerife: 877.
Pettigrew, T. J., ( 1 838), Account of the Examination of the Mummy of Pet-maut-ioh-mes,
London, J. B. Nichols & Son.
Pope, F., (1992), After the Autopsy: The Continuing Conservation, Research and
Interpretation of an Egyptian Mummy, Nakht ROM 1, Proceedings of the I World
Mummy Congress, Tenerife, Museo Arqueologico y Etnografico de Tenerife: 231-
235.
Prates, C., Sousa, S., Oliveira, C., Ikram, S., (201 1), Prostate Metastatic Bone Cancer in
an Egyptian Ptolemaic Mummy, A Proposed Radiological Diagnosis, International
Journal of Paleopathology, 1, 2: 98-103.
Rabino Massa, E., Boano, R., Meaglia, D., Dutto, G., Costa, E., (June 2011), The
Biological Archive of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of Turin:
Microscopic Analysis to Assess the Preservation of Ancient Human Hair in Zink, A.,
Rosendahl, W., Gill-Frerking, H., (Eds.) Yearbook of Mummy Studies 1, Munchen,
Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil: 29-32.
Rabino Massa, E., (2005), Detection of Plasmodium Falciparum Ancient DNA in
Egyptian Mummies in Massa, E. R. (Ed.), Proceedings of the V World Mummy
Congress, Torino: 88-90.
Ruffer, M. A., (1921), Studies in the Palaeopathology of Egypt, Chicago, University of
Chicago Press.
Rutherford, P., (2000), The Diagnosis of Schistosomiasis in Modem and Ancient Tissues
by Means of Immunocytochemistry, Chungara Revista de Antropologla Chilena, 32,
1: 127-131.
Rutherford, P., (2005), Schistosomiasis in Modem and Ancient Tissues in Massa, E. R.
(Ed.), Proceedings of the V World Mummy Congress, Torino, Compagnia di San
Paolo: 80-83.
Samuel, D. W., (1997), Cereal Foods and Nutrition in Ancient Egypt, Nutrition, 13: 579-
580.
Sandison, A. T., (1963), The Use of Natron in Mummification in Ancient Egypt, Journal
of Near Eastern Studies, 22: 259-267.
Smith, G. E., (1914), Egyptian Mummies, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1: 189-
196.
Washington Academy of Sciences
17
Spigelman, M. (2005), Preliminary Findings on the Paleomicrobiological Study of 400
Naturally Mummified Human Remains from Upper Nubia in Massa, E. R. (Ed.),
Proceedings of the V World Mummy Congress, Torino, Compagnia di San Paolo: 91-
95.
SCA, Supreme Council of Antiquities, (June-July 2005), The Mummy of Tutankhamun:
The CT Scan Report, Ancient Egypt Magazine, 5: 34-37.
Schultz, M., (1992), The First Evidence of Microfilariasis in an old Egyptian Mummy,
Proceedings of the I World Mummy Congress, Tenerife, Museo Arqueologico y
Etnografico de Tenerife: 317-320.
Strouhal, E., Thurzo, M., Hudec, J., Sefcakova, A., (2005), A New Egyptian Human
Mummified Head in the Slovak National Museum, Bratislava, The Journal of
Egyptian Archaeology, 91:1 90- 1 97.
Strouhal, E., (2005), Examination of Mummies from the Tomb of lufaa at Abusir (Egypt)
in Massa, E. R. (Ed.), Proceedings of the V World Congress on Mummy Studies,
Torino, Compagnia di San Paolo: 179-183.
Taher, A. W., (October-November 2007), The Mummy of Queen Hatshepsut Identified,
Ancient Egypt Magazine, 8 : 10-13.
Van Tiggelen, R., (2004), Ancient Egypt and Radiology, A Future for the Past! Nuclear
Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with
Materials and Atoms, 226: 10-14.
Vass, A., (November 2001), Beyond the Grave - Understanding Human Decomposition,
Microbiology Today, Spencers Wood Society for General Microbiology, 28: 190-
192.
Veiga, P. (2012), Some Prevalent Pathologies in Ancient Egypt, Hathor - Studies of
Egyptology I, Institute Oriental, Faculdade de Ciencias Socials e Humanas da
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, pp. 63-83.
Veiga, P. A., (2009), Oncology and Infectious Diseases in Ancient Egypt: The Ebers
Papyrus? Treatise on Tumours 857-877 and the Cases Found in Ancient Egyptian
Human Material, Saarbriicken, VDM Verlag.
Veiga, P. A., (2009b), Health and Medicine in Ancient Egypt; Magic and Science,
(2009), BAR (British Archaeological Reports) Archaeopress. Oxford.
Ventura, L., Mercurio, C., Guidotti, C., Fomaciari, G., (2005), Tissue Identification and
Histologic Findings in Four Specimens from Egyptian Canopic Jars, Journal of
Biological Research, LXXX, 1 , Proceedings of the V World Congress on Mummy
Studies, Pisa.
Waldron, T., (1992), Some Mummies from Theban Tombs 253, 254 and 294,
Proceedings of the I World Mummy Congress, Tenerife, Museo Arqueologico y
Etnografico de Tenerife: 847-852.
Wayne, R. K., Leonard, J. A., Cooper, A., (1999), Full of Sound and Fury: History of
Ancient DNA, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 30: 457-477.
Summer 2012
18
Zink, A., Reischl, U., Wolf, H., Nerlich, A. G., (2000), Molecular Evidence of
Bacteremia by Gastrointestinal Pathogenic Bacteria in an Infant Mummy from
Ancient Egypt, Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine^ 124, 11: 1614-1618.
Zink, A., et al, (2003), Characterization of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Complex DNAs
from Egyptian Mummies by Spoligotyping, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 359-
367.
Zink, A., (2010), Der DNA-Detektiv, Der Fall Tutanchamun, National Geographic
Deutschland, Hamburg: 30-61.
Online Resources
Microbial Growth in Pharaoh’s Tomb Suggests Burial Was a Rush Job:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub releases/20 1 1 -06/hu-ttm0608 1 1 .php [accessed July
20, 2011]
Mummies, Smithsonian Magazine: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/historv-
archaeology/Fascinating Relics.html [accessed July 15, 201 1]
Tutankhamun Foetuses: http://www.dailvmail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-
1 05 1 230/Foetuses-King-Tutankhamuns-tomb-twin-daughters-savs-expert.html
[accessed July 10, 201 1]
^ In Latin, to lie down in aromatic resins, one of the last stages of mummification
procedures; Ebeid, (1999):422.
^ David and Tapp, (1993): 37; Cosmacini et al., (2011): 37.
^ Vass, (2001): 190-192.
^ Aufderheide, 2003: 44.
^ David, (1995): 77.
^ David, (1995): 78; Parsche, (1992): 877.
'David, 1995:73.
^ Such as the examples kept at the British Museum, excavated from Gebelein, Egypt; the
most famous which is on display being ‘Ginger’, EA 32751; Micozzi, (1992): 760;
Gray, (1967): 34; Aufderheide, (2003): 220; Cesarani et al, (2003): 597.
^ As depicted by ‘Ginger’ in the British Museum.
My personal work in collaboration with the team studying the human remains from
TT37, under the supervision of Dr. Tiradritti, has enriched my knowledge of how the
Egyptian climate can preserve human remains.
Murray, (1910), The Tomb of Two Brothers, Manchester, Sherratt & Hughes; David,
(2007), The Two Brothers: Death and the Afterlife in Middle Kingdom Egypt, Exeter,
U.K., Rutherford Press Limited.
Cosmacini et al., (2011): 37.
Veiga, (2009b): 20.
Gray, (1967): 36.
Sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, impurities as salts of iron, calcium and silicon;
Gray, (1967) 34-44: 35.
Sandison, (1963): 259-267.
•'Lucas, (1914): 32.
Washington Academy of Sciences
19
“(•••) The Embalming Ritual is described in two Papyri, probably copied from the same
ancient source, dating from the Greco-Roman period, and housed in Cairo: Papyrus
Bulaq 3, and at the Louvre, Papyrus 5158. In this last one, the embalming is said to
begin only four days after death, the linen bandaging 46 days after, so 42 days are left
for the rituals. They used incense oil and the used resin worked as glue so it should be
sticky to make the linen bandages stick well. (...) from Veiga, (2009): 22.
Veiga, (2009b).
Van Tiggelen, (2004): 10-14; Gray, (1971): 125-126; Gray, (1967): 36.
Bauduer, (2005): 69-72; Fomaciari et al, (2006): 274-278.
British Museum: EA 29996; Gray, 1966: 138-9, Plates XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV. The
work of my colleague Dr. Jacky Finch, from Manchester has developed around
prosthetic medicine in ancient Egypt.
Irish, (2004): 645.
Gray, (1966): 138 and Plate XXXIII.
As Dr. Jacky Finch, who is conducting the research on prosthetics in ancient Egypt v/as
my colleague and is a personal friend. I have followed her research, but there are
some scientific publications on that, available at: New Light on Ancient Egyptian
Prosthetic Medicine:
http://www.nicholasreeves.com/item.aspx?categorv=Writing&id=75: World’s First
Prosthetic: Egyptian Mummy’s Fake Toe: http://www.livescience.com/4555-world-
prosthetic-egvptian-mummv-fake-toe.html; The ancient origins of prosthetic
medicine: http://www.thelancet.com/ioumals/lancet/article/PIISO 1 40-
6736%28 1 1 %2960 1 90-6/fulltext
Fomaciari et al, (2006): 274-278.
Strouhal et al, (2005): 190-191.
Cosmacini et al, (2011): 37-44.
Cosmacini et al, (2011): 38.
Waldron, (1992): 847-852; King Seqenenre Tao suffered an injury to his nose resulting
in fracture of both nasal bones and destruction of the supra-orbital margin, inflicted by
a blunt instrument such as a stick or an axe; Pahor, (1992): 775.
Fomaciari et al, (2005): 255-257; Lambert-Zazulak et al, (2003): 223-240.
I owe my specific knowledge in this field to Dr. Angelique Corthals, now in New
York, previously at the KNH Center, Manchester, U.K..; Lambert-Zazulak, (2003):
223-240.
When studying the biomedical techniques for Egyptology at Manchester, U.K., I
learned about aDNA retrieval and experienced lab work on it.
First published by Paabo, (1985): 644-645.
Zink, (2003): 359.
Published in paper version of National Geographic Deutschland, Zink, A., (2010), Der
Dna-Detektiv, Der Fall Tutanchamun, National Geographic Deutschland, Hamburg:
30-61.
SCA, (June July 2005): 34-37; Taher, (October November 2007): 10-13; Hawass,
(October November 2007): 29-36; Harer, (September October 2007): 8-10; MAES, F.
(January February 2005): 8-12; Nelson, (201 1): 129.
Too many studies have been conducted so far, in Europe and North America, to
mention here. As other references in this article, there are already many cases studied
and, if interested, the reader can contact the author for further bibliographic material:
veigapau@gmail.com
Summer 2012
20
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
David etal, 2010:718-719.
Prates e/ a/, 20 1 1 : 98- 1 03 .
Bernhardt et al, 2012: 615-618.
Dental hypoplasia and Harris lines on long bones.
Presence of pulmonary silicoanthracosis confirmation in Ventura et al, (2005): 355-
356.
Kloos, David, (2002): 14-22.
Veiga, (2009b), chapter 3; Veiga, 2012:63-83.
Bauduer, (2005): 69-72; David, (2005): 175-178.
David, (2005): 175-178.
Smith, (1914): 189-196.
Gray, (1967): 41; Counsell, (October November 2008): 41.
Dr. Jerome Rose has found many cases among the individuals found at the Amama
site; Kemp, (2010): 29.
Bauduer, (2005): 69-72; Galan, (Autumn 2009): 32-35.
David, (2002): 169-173; Gray, (1967): 41.
Strouhal, (2005): 179-183; Fomaciari et al, (2005): 255-257.
Bauduer, (2005): 69-72; Veiga, (2009): 21, 34, 82, 83, 84, 91, 1 13.
Spigelman, (2005): 91-95.
Cockbum et al., (1980): 59-67.
Home, (2001): 111-112; David, (2002): 169-173; Bauduer, (2005): 69-72; Rutherford,
(2005): 80-83; Kloos et al, (2002): 14-25; Rutherford, (2000): 127-131; David, (2000):
133-135; Kloos et al, (2002): 14-25; Lambert-Zazulak et al (2003): 223-240.
Spigelman, (2005): 91-95.
Cockbum et al (1975): 1 155-1160.
Schultz, (1992): 317-320.
David, (2002): 169-173.; Bauduer, (2005): 69-72.
Ibid.
Forshaw, Corthals, (201 1): 61.
I owe my knowledge in this specific field to Dr. Roger Forshaw, Honorary Research
Associate in Dental Studies at the KNH Center, Manchester, U.K., who helped me with
the literature and the examples, as he was a dentist before specializing in medicine in
ancient Egypt; Samuel, (1997): 579-580; Filce Leek, (1972): 289-295; Forshaw, (June
July 2009): 24-28.
Bauduer, (2005): 69-72; Gray, (1967): 43.
Gray, (1967): 41.
Rabino Massa, (2011): 29-32; McCreesh, (2011): 95-98.
Examples of ancient Egyptian hair exist in several museums, the British Museum being
one of those; as proven by BM 54059, BM 6729, BM 22004, BM 6727, BM 6722, BM
6719.
Davies, (2011): 48-51; Personal communications from Dr. McCreesh, October 2007-
September 2008, and also on her published work: McCreesh, 2011: 3432-3434.
I am presently working on this subject for my PhD.
The way ancient civilizations dealt with their afflictions and their disturbances of
natural order and health might inform the research of today’s pharmacological
substances, which are chemically altered from plants’ natural active substances. Except
for some unidentified and extinct plants, the majority of the flora found in ancient
Washington Academy of Sciences
21
times still exists, and has the potential to be applied to modem medicine, thus
permitting a closer encounter between science and history.
David, (2001): 169-173.
Prof. Eugenia Cunha in a seminar of Forensic Anthropology, at the Lisboa Forensic
Institute, February 2007.
Dr. Angelique Corthals, CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Department of
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
Sciences, N.Y., U.S.A.
Zink, (2010): 30-61.
Brancaglion, J. R., et al, (2005): 129-131; De Souza, (2005): 132-135.
Antoine, (2010): 46-51.
David, (1995): 80-86; David, (2001): 243-247.
Pope, (1992): 231-235.
Ibid.
The great mummy cover-up:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/artblog/2008/mav/23/maevkennedvfriampic:
‘Uncover the mummies’:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2008/05/22/220508 mummies egyp
t feature, shtml: Museums avoid displaying human remains ‘out of respect’:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/oct/25/museums-human-remains-displav
Morimoto, I., (1983): 1.
Janot, (2005): 243-247; Gray, 1966: 138.
Gray, (1967): 41.
Fulcheri et al, (2001): 89-91; Strouhal, (2005): 180; Janot, (2005): 243-247.
Ibid.
Preliminary report published by the author at: How to Look Ten Years Older: Photos
From the Scanning of a Mummy in Porto, http://heritage-
kev.com/blogs/veigapaula/how-look-ten-vears-older-photos-scanning-mummv-porto
Spigelman, (2005): 93.
Wayne et al,(1999): 457-477.
Paabo,(1989): 1939.
Counsell, (2006): 112-116; Colombini et al, (2000): 19-29.
David, 2001: 113-115.
Paabo, 1985; Paabo, 1989; Nerlich et al, 1997; Zink et al, 2000; Zink et al, 2003;
Marota et al, 2002; David, 2008; Donoghue et al, 2010; Aufderheide, 1998;
Aufderheide, 2003, and so many others.
Marota et al, (2002): 310-318.
As I have learned this directly from Dr. Connolly, and saw the x-rays at Manchester
taken by him and his team, I can point here to several scholarly sources for the subject;
Harrison et al, (1979), A Mummified Foetus from the Tomb of Tutankhamun,
Antiquity, 53, 207: 19-21;A Re-assessment of the Larger Fetus Found in
Tutankhamen’s Tomb, Une Nouvelle Etude du Plus Grand des Foetus Trouves dans la
Tombe de Toutankhamon, (2009), Antiquity, 83, 319: 165-173. More recently a new
article may provide additional information; Hawass, Z., Saleem, S. N., (2011),
Mummified Daughters of King Tutankhamun: Archeologic and CT StudiQS, American
Journal of Roentgenology, 197, 5, W829-W836.
Dr. Connolly explained this theory to me himself, at Manchester’s KNH Centre for
Biomedical Egyptology in 2008.
Summer 2012
.22
!K > i *
* Hi ao Jr /j.Vjii-- Ti . -i«4^t
:’f.-. A]
.A *"•»-,- -l|
•, c fVi !«<'.• :. ^ liiSK -JESCoii * .
Wfi
Kr
i(bf -H
iio '. ■ ;' " ' ? ^’d'4« v;*^ r;vWt!iiii?'-4..
'Sar';.
,->^''*# ^py9^.^0^’^^‘>■
’'*Ka,^*^f- - I »'. -.• ••’■ r'* .t -. ,>t Ji. Jioi^r . ;i-M,?-7
* ‘Us: 'f>- ' ' ■"« • ■-'i.V;’- vis#’ . J, I''. 'J.'iA^' i!
• • ‘<1%. . - rO,, ?, «!’■
g V •• ' .’'i-.*' -til'" •
® " Hr. f - -i- ^^■ •- oam. smx^ -■• -. ..... ■ . •■.« ' i .".^i
' . I'.'ivy.
* . ■ 'WVW'. :q;^o , , ■
Cl^:\Nt." • ?>'*<«) .’•'WJ .; . -■ i I • t ■rOf'.-ri i>^ ;i
’ :i.:. .,..■ a.f;;-, fi'i-n’*- a-.- rd. : wT»S-^-r.
*.TS.^ t^'^i '>\ \ Jg 10ltu*i ’<> ■ . :'>1v_-)'> / r#.\’' j rnwBitrifoi?^^^
‘ .■■■:/-' •*^s V • . .... ^'V • i’ ' .>•." V' ' ■•. Vi Vi - ■'i‘..>l 'r . «HtWa ,!
*'5 H .'.I >'||.. .fiv-T’ . ? ** ^
’- -It
TTM^ . ■• *• '< vt
- ^ -.. . j.i.v.-’*; • ' .'-- 1'- •._ ,s* • ••
' .'r ^‘■'»?i‘J-'H<3‘'t.(<'i: ■ .i9ri«i(-*-.,!.>..o-<,'.' *3 '
if <:'.*.'vv * . w-.;,'.vi4'» - n» 'V:wi. tli(.^ ‘ ■ . ..,.^''.1> ■'■ i.iij£Cfei»<>iQ>**
_^r’ •' • jf’jS'i -.Jiii.'jf:, y.jiv. ,.' hu ,Ii; f» #|®i .tiycQ ;' -i?. .la '•»
• ■"'- ’ ■ ■''r^.,V?'^‘-'» >J, .<«•**,«(’ «*.tr i /;’. ,3j..')!lv*'tii/
. ^ ’ ! -<U ^ tl )■: *;
L4iS^'^ 'va SP7 ‘ss ■ '.'ift' <i(|i • • .j.
.^V'-
•f» A . ■ > " . . ' ‘-i i ■ V -, r ■■ '> 4- , *v A' “ 1 ? ‘‘f >■ • ■
.Si^*^'>v'.. ■■ ei[kLr.- . ■iai^^u'..I->SJ‘>€. cr.V / ^ - -‘K
• r‘.'^ S^iyLilhi>; ^ >/skw (/-vnn^ *
* .■ * ^/7 / . 7 'fi.® tn^t V :*".? > t • n
Washington Academy of Sciences
?■-
f£
rie-.
Perspectives on Student Problem Solving and 21^*
Century Skills Developed at the Precollege Level
23
Bruce Furino
College of Engineering and Computer Science
University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
Abstract
Changing young students’ perceptions and attitudes towards
engineering as a profession is an intended outcome of engineering
outreach programs administered by colleges of engineering,
professional engineering societies and a host of other organizations
involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
education. The University of Central Florida through its College of
Engineering and Computer Science’s Outreach Office has for 15 years
administered the Internet Science and Technology Fair (ISTF) to
inspire students to consider engineering and other STEM careers and
better understand the innovation process. It incorporates both problem
solving and the development of century learning skills through the
use of problem-based learning. This article provides an analysis based
on 2011-2012 ISTF program data regarding the student teams’ research
focus, feedback from their Final Process Evaluation and team
assessments (via their final research projects) that addressed thinking
skills developed by the students.
Introduction
Problem solving is one of the most popular terms used to describe
what engineers do while applying principles of science and mathematics to
solve technical problems. Too often, the technical requirements of the
process obscure most laypersons from seeing or much less understanding
its significance or contributions regarding the profession. Chuck Vest,
President of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), best conveyed
this sentiment at the NAE Changing the Conversation website where he
said. “Our economy, national security, and quality of life depend on
engineers, so it is disturbing to see how few Americans, particularly young
people, understand the importance and excitement of engineering.” [1]
Changing young students’ perceptions and attitudes towards
engineering as a profession is an intended outcome of engineering
outreach programs administered by colleges of engineering, professional
engineering societies and a host of other organizations involved in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Measuring
Summer 2012
24
their effectiveness continues to be a challenge whether the programs are
formally integrated into the precollege classroom or offered as an informal
activity. In 2009, NAE published the report “Engineering in K-12
Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects.” It
acknowledged that “K12 engineering education is still in its infancy in the
United States,” but went on to conclude, “The available evidence shows
that engaging elementary and secondary students in learning engineering
ideas and practices is not only possible, but can lead to positive learning
outcomes”. [2]
Engineers develop problem solving skills that enable them to solve
authentic problems. To replicate this process at the precollege level, the
use of problem-based learning is an effective tool that affords young
students an opportunity to experience some of what engineers encounter.
Problem-based learning “teaches students 2U^ century skills as well as
content. These skills include communication and presentation skills,
organization and time management skills, research and inquiry skills, self-
assessment and reflection skills, and group participation and leadership
skills.” [3]
Internet Science and Technology Fair
For the past fifteen years, the University of Central Florida has
incorporated problem-based learning into the design of a small, but
growing national technology literacy program that challenges young
students to explore STEM fields of study while developing 2U^ century
skills. It is called the Internet Science and Technology Fair (ISTF) and is
housed at UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS)
Outreach Office. The ISTF program’s primary goal is to inspire students
to consider engineering and other STEM careers and better understand the
innovation process.
ISTF student teams in grades 3-12 explore how National Critical
Technologies [4] may be used to solve real world problems. For a period
of four months, they use information technology (IT) tools to
communicate, research, collaborate, and design innovative solutions while
adhering to content guidelines based on national science content standards.
They are required to locate an engineer, scientist or technical professional
as an online mentor for the duration of their work. Each team presents
their research findings in a website format for preliminary and final rounds
of judging. During the last 6 years, 600 to 900 students have participated
each year from schools in as many as eight states and three countries.
Washington Academy of Sciences
25
The framework used to guide students through problem solving is
predicated on the first four steps of the engineering design process. While
acknowledging there are variations on the multiple steps in the
engineering design process, for purposes of the ISTF, the steps include:
• identify the need or problem;
• research the need or problem;
• develop possible solutions; and
• select the best possible solution.
In addition to the student teams’ numerous screens of research
using hyperlink documentation to notate original sources, each team is
required to provide a digital design of their innovation. They are also
required to complete a team assessment of skills they developed relating to
teaming and communication and research and innovation. Finally, they
must identify important lessons learned.
Table 1 is a synopsis of key data that provides some perspective on
the problem-solving experiences of student teams that participated during
the 2011-2012 ISTF competition cycle. Originally, 157 student teams
began the process with only 120 completing their research projects, for a
76% completion rate. Most of the student teams were high school level
teams, as noted below.
Table 1. Grade Levels of Students and Teams
I The subsequent analysis presented here is based on the student
teams that finished the competition, and relating to their:
I
I • research focus and technology selections;
I • feedback from students who responded to the ISTF Final
I Process Evaluation (that each student is required to complete);
I and
• student team assessments that addressed thinking skills
developed.
Summer 2012
26
Research Focus and Technology Selections
The National Critical Technologies list used by ISTF consists of
seven major categories and a multitude of sub-technology categories.
Student teams must select a category and subcategory as the focus of their
ISTF research project and explore how it might be used to solve a real
world problem.
Table 2 shows the technology categories the students selected and
some of the more popular sub-technology areas they researched during the
2011-2012 ISTF competition cycle.
Table 2. Student Team Technology Areas
Student Feedback from Final Process Evaluation j
More than 200 students completed the ISTF Final Process i
Evaluation. In teaming up, 45% of those students determined who would
be on their team, while 28% selected teams based on project focus, with
the remainder assigned to a team by their teacher. Narrowing the project
focus was a problem for 38% of the student teams. During the
competition, 35% of the student teams changed their research focus
because their interests changed.
Washington Academy of Sciences
u
27
The following are some anecdotal comments the students made on
the process of organizing:
• “We discussed a particular topic and narrowed out ideas to a
select few that could possibly work. After, we chose one
particular idea as our project focus and split work amongst the
group members. ’’
• “We gathered in our science teacher's room after school,
regularly met on weekends to work on our project, talked about
it on our free time, and had asked our science teacher for
minor, final suggestions. ”
• “We wanted to do a project related to a problem the world was
facing today. We asked our teacher and he told us that the
three problems the world was facing was energy shortage,
water scarcity and global warming. We decided to do a project
that will help with global warming and since fossil fuels are a
major contributor to pollution so we wanted to obtain a fuel
that is very eco-friendly without killing anything. "
The student teams identified three main problem areas: (1) locating
useful information on the Internet; (2) delegating responsibilities; and (3)
finding time to work together. Regarding advisors, 68% of the student
teams located online technical advisors. These were the key contributions
of the advisors: (1) explaining how the project would or would not work;
(2) asking important questions to help teams stay on focus; and (3)
providing information and useful websites. Some 91% of the students
reported being mostly or completely satisfied with their final ISTF project
websites, with 75% of the students receiving a grade for their project.
Overall, the ISTF program continues to meet its primary goal of
inspiring students to consider engineering and other STEM careers and
better understand the innovation process, while enabling students to
develop important 2E^ century skills:
• 67% reported they learned how to work as a part of a team;
• 64% learned time management skills; and
• 46% said the ISTF was helpful in developing research skills.
We continue to witness the impact the program had on students’
perceptions related to what they learned about future technical careers, as
follows:
Summer 2012
28
• 44% indicated they learned about interesting careers in science
and technology;
• 40% felt better prepared to enter mathematics, science, and/or
technology courses in the future;
• 37% became more aware of the importance of a specific
technical field; and
• 23% believed the ISTF influenced their future career decisions.
The following comments exemplify student perceptions of their
future technical careers:
• ‘7 want to pursue a career in civil engineering because I like to
solve problems for people on a larger scale, and as a civil
engineer I will get that chance to help people with certain
problems they might have. ”
• 'dt showed me how vast science is and how interesting it is.
Before this project, I was not that interested in science, but
now I want to establish a career in science. ”
• ‘dt helped me understand that, in the science world, there are
so many possibilities and careers. Looking at all the other
projects from the previous year and working on our own ISTF
made me realize how interesting science and technology could
actually be. ”
• ‘‘The ISTF has offered a wide variety of topics available from
science and engineering programs. When we select one, we
had to solve the problem we stated so we can propose a new
product and send it to the company we chose via email. This
will affect a possible career. ”
• “This project enabled me to learn more about fields in
technology, and how they influence our world. It allowed me to
use a creative way to develop a new piece of technology, and I
found this very intriguing. I am considering this field to be my
future career field. “
Student Team Assessments: Developing 21^* Century Skills
The following discussion provides a closer look at century
skills students developed relating to: (1) teaming and communication; (2)
research and innovation; and (3) lessons learned.
This analysis was made possible via funding from the Florida
Space Grant Consortium [5] to integrate NAE’s Grand Challenges for
Washington Academy of Sciences
I
29
Engineering [6] into the ISTF and to analyze what the student teams
reported in the assessment portion of each team’s final project website.
The analysis below is predicated on key areas that represent a majority of
student team responses.
Teaming and Communication: The first portion of each team’s
assessment addressed Teaming and Communication. The teams first
identified factors contributing to teamwork, then factors contributing to
communication.
High school team comments on Teamwork related to the
delegation of responsibilities and functioning as a team:
• Delegation of responsibilities - ‘'By dividing different tasks
among us according to our individual talents we created a very
productive work environment”. - “While we all had our own
separate jobs, we made sure to consistently check up on
others. ”
• Functioning as a team - “We all had different interests and
trying to agree on a final topic was probably the hardest part
for us. ” - “We started to work as a team and got to know the
strengths and weaknesses of each other. ”
Middle school team comments on teamwork related to developing
a sense of respect and learning the importance of meeting deadlines:
• Developing a sense of respect - “Respect for each other can
lead to success. If we had not respected all of our ideas, we
would not have gotten our work done as efficiently. ” - “We
learned on the journey of working together to respect each
other’s views and create a good communication internally
within the group. ”
• Learning the importance of meeting deadlines - “There
were times some of the team members would not do what was
needed and complete the tasks by the deadlines we set for
ourselves. ” - “As a resolution, a list was created to assign and
record which group member was in charge of completing
which task. With this new list and better understanding of
expectations, work was done in a much more timely and
efficient fashion.'"
Elementary school team comments on teamwork related to
learning to work together and the importance of technical support:
Summer 2012
30
• Learning to work together - ‘‘When we first started working
on our project, it was pretty hard to work as a team. We were
quite clueless. We didn't work together, we worked
independently. ” - ''Since we have been working together for a
long time, we have new friends and have grown to help each
other. ”
• Importance of technical support - "Since we didn Y know the
technical advisor personally, we had to be very detailed when
we wrote to him. He helped us a lot with improving our design.
It was new and interesting to actually talk to an engineer. It
made us feel very 'sciency.
The students identified a number of factors related to Communication.
High school team comments on communication related to using
technology to manage communication and the role of the teacher/mentor
in communicating:
• Using technology to manage communication - "Together we
came to a consensus that we would use Google© Documents as
a medium of communication for this project'’ - "One way was
through Moodle, an online document sharing program through
Google and Anoka-Hennepin school district. "
• Role of teacher/mentor in communicating - "The
communication between our group and our teacher was open,
and we could ask questions when needed. ” - "Also,
communication with our mentor helped us to refine our ideas
and set goals for our project. "
Middle school team comments on communication related to the
cost of not communicating and using multiple forms of communication:
• Cost of not communicating - "Our communication was a
little off in the beginning because we didn't communicate as
much as we needed to. ” - "The lack of proper communication
between team members led to high levels of dysfunction. "
• Using multiple forms of communication - "Our team
communicated by using text messages, Facebook, and
communicating in school. " — "Outside school, our group
members and our teacher mentor were in touch through phone,
email, and sometimes Skype. "
Elementary school team comments on communication related to
learning how to listen and staying focused:
Washington Academy of Sciences
31
• Learning how to listen - ''In the beginning, we had a hard
time listening to each other but things have changed so we
could get work done. ” - "At first, we were afraid to share
ideas that might not make sense or be accepted by the group. ”
• Staying focused - "Sometimes we would get off-topic because
we were having so much fun with each other. ” - "We had
never worked together on research before so we wanted to talk
about fun things. ”
Research and Innovation: It was more difficult for the teams to assess
Research and Innovation, as many of the teams were working on research
projects for the first time, with innovative designs being an outcome.
High school team comments on research and innovation related to
the importance of locating dependable information and learning how to
innovate:
• The importance of locating dependable information - "The
hardest part was probably finding sufficient, true information
from trustworthy sites. ” - "We spent countless hours checking
and rechecking sources for accuracy, and got a real taste of
the grueling work that goes behind scientific investigation. ”
• Learning how to innovate - "We also learned that when
you’re innovating a solution to a real world problem, that you
don Y always have to solve a huge problem; sometimes solving
a smaller problem will help solve the huge problem later on. "
- "Just because it seems impossible, doesn Y mean that it won Y
be possible in the future. There is years of research and trial
and error, which most people do not really consider until you
are put in the situation. ”
Middle school team comments on research and innovation related
to learning research skills and problem solving:
• Learning research skills - "Our research was not only done
through internet but also from interviewing different people
who knew something about our related topic. " - "Researching
is a skill that is needed all throughout life. ”
• On problem solving - "When starting this project, we did not
realize how unrealistic our idea was and how many gaps were
in our design. ” — "One thing that our team learned was that in
order to solve a real world problem, it takes a lot of time and
Summer 2012
32
focus to combine all of the sources that we gathered to create a
working solution. ”
Elementary school tearh comments on research and innovation
related to finding useful information and developing solutions:
• Finding useful information - 'We learned many things about
researching through the ISTF program. Our knowledge of safe
and appropriate websites helped us learn where to find the
right information. ” - 'We didn't always know what to search
for and when we tried searching for specific things all sorts of
random stuff would come up. "
• Developing solutions - "When it came to innovating a
solution, we had a lot of fun coming up with ideas. The only
problem was we had too many ideas and just kept adding to
them. We finally decided to mash our best five ideas together. "
- "Many of our ideas were not possible with the technology we
have today. Our design changed many times in this process,
and we are proud of our final product. ”
Lessons Learned: Identifying lessons learned provided insights into what
the student teams’ valued most from their ISTF experience. Almost every
student team cited the value of “teamwork” and “communication” in their
team assessments. The teams also related the following as important
lessons learned.
High school teams reported lessons learned on the cost of
procrastination. They also noted that managing time and organization are
keys to success:
• Cost of procrastination - "If everything is left until the last
minute, then it looks sloppy and seems like little effort is put
into it. " - "In the beginning, we procrastinated, and it was
very stressful. It is best to get things done as quickly and
efficiently as possible. "
• Managing time and organization is key to success - "We
wasted time that could have been used more wisely. As a result,
it took us longer than it should have to complete each task. ” -
"For the project to succeed, everyone needs to be organized.
They need to know what their tasks are, and complete them. "
Middle school students reported lessons learned on being persistent
and the value of collaboration, as follows:
Washington Academy of Sciences
33
• Being persistent - “The second lesson we learned was the
need to stay on topic. As 9th graders, we tended to get very off
topic, very quickly. This project required us to stay focused and
on topic. - “A research project takes time and focus, it can ’t
be rushed. ”
• Value of collaboration - “Collaboration is what we need to
make our ideas come together. ” - “Without the collaboration
and communication of group members, half the people in the
group would not even understand the concept of our
invention. ”
Elementary school teams reported these lessons learned on the
value of science content and contributions of technical professionals:
• Value of science content - “The most important lesson we
gained knowledge on was probably the science content we
needed to solve our problem. ” - “One of the three lessons that
we learned is some of the science behind polymers and a little
bit about chemistry. ”
• Contributions of technical professionals - ""We only worked
for a short time compared to the engineers and scientists. They
experiment and change solutions over years sometimes. ”
Conclusion
As one student reported in the final process evaluation, ""To
conclude, the ISTF project was very beneficial to essential skills that we
must learn in life.''
Inasmuch as problem solving, teaming and communication are
important skills used in engineering, they must be incorporated into the
learning process for young students to develop century skills they will
need for the workplace and to function in society. To this end, the ISTF
will continue to provide an informal learning opportunity for precollege
students in and outside the classroom. We are most grateful to the many
teachers and technical professionals who have dedicated their time and
talents in support of the program.
Summer 2012
34
Citations
1. “Engineers: How are you Changing the Conversation?” National Academy of
Engineering of the National Academies, Web n.d.
2. National Research Council. “6 Findings and Recommendations.” Engineering in K-
12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects. Washington,
DC: The National Academies Press, 2009. 1. Print.
3. “Project Based Learning.” The Buck Institute for Education and Boise State
University, Department of Education Technology, Web n.d.
4. “National Critical Technologies List,” National Science and Technology Council,
Web. 5 August 1993.
5. “Florida Space Grant Consortium,” NASA sponsored program administered by the
University of Central Florida, Web. 25 April 2012.
6. National Academy of Engineering, Grand Challenges for Engineering, n.p. Web. 10
May 2012.
i
Washington Academy of Sciences
Analysis of the Motion of a Ball
in the Barrel of a Musket
35
Carl E. Mungan and John S. Denker
U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
Abstract
The one-dimensional motion of a particle is analyzed when the force on
it is inversely proportional to its displacement and directly proportional
to the elapsed time. Such a force law describes a projectile in a musket
barrel that is propelled by a hot ideal gas where either the number of
moles or the temperature increases linearly with time due to the burning
gunpowder. A particular solution to Newton’s second law is found
analytically for the case of zero initial position and velocity. For more
general initial conditions, numerical integration is used to find the
position of the particle as a function of time. A scaling argument shows
that at long times, these numerical general solutions all converge to the
analytic particular solution. Further analysis reveals how that
convergence occurs: the general solutions slowly oscillate about the
particular solution with a predictable period and amplitude. In addition
to the dynamics, the energetics of the motion are analyzed.
Basic Dynamics of the Ball in a Musket
A LEAD BALL of mass m is tamped down the barrel of a musket of cross-
sectional area^, so that it rests against a layer of black powder with initial
position Xq =0 and velocity as sketched in Figure 1. Model the
system by making three assumptions that simplify the analysis and bring
out its essential features. First, suppose [1] the powder bums at a constant
rate r, creating n moles of hot gas at temperature T as a function of time t,
so that
n-rt. (1)
Second, assume that the gas expands isothermally [2] as the ball proceeds
down the barrel, so that T is constant. Third, neglect the losses: Suppose
that there is no friction between the barrel and the sliding ball, but at the
same time assume the ball fits tightly enough that there is no leakage of
gas around it [3]. (Historically, lead shot would often be wrapped with
linen to prevent gas from escaping while minimizing the coefficient of
Summer 2012
36
friction.) Also suppose that the atmospheric back pressure on the ball can
be ignored compared to the forward gas pressure.
powder ^ ball of mass m
Figure 1. Ball in the Barrel of a Musket.
The gas pressure P is then related to the net force F on the ball by
the definition of pressure as force per unit area, P -F ! A-ma! A, where
a is the acceleration of the ball along the barrel using Newton’s second
law. Furthermore, the volume of the gas is given V - Ax where x is the
displacement of the ball (cf. Figure 1), and thus PV - max . Treating the
gas as ideal, z.e., PV = nRT where R is the gas constant, it follows that
xa - kt
using Equation (1), where k is the positive constant
k =
rRT
m
(2)
(3)
2 2
Substituting a = d x I dt , Equation (2) becomes a nonlinear
inhomogeneous differential equation for the position of the ball as a
function of time, x{t) . A particular solution of it can be immediately
found using the trial form
x = Bt
N
(4)
where B and N are constants to be determined. By substituting Equation
(4) into (2) and equating both the powers and prefactors of t on the two
sides of the equation, one finds
(5)
Washington Academy of Sciences
37
SO that
X = (6)
The first and second time derivatives of this result give the velocity and
acceleration of the ball as a function of time,
v = 4^t (7)
and
(8)
Equation (6) is not the general solution of Equation (2) because it does not
include two arbitrary integration constants. Instead it is the particular
solution corresponding to Xq = 0 and ^ (which happily is the case
most relevant to a ball in a musket). Later in this article we will consider
how to find solutions for other initial conditions (see the section, “General
Solution of the Differential Equation,” below).
The ball is in the barrel during the time interval from r = 0 until
some later time t = . Equations (6) and (7) then imply that the length
of the barrel is
^ = . (9)
and the muzzle velocity of the ball is
(10)
Equations (9) and (10) are two equations in two unknowns {k and
^max) if ^ ^max measured. For example, the 58 Springfield musket
[4] has a barrel length of 1 m and a muzzle velocity of 290 m/s, from
which one deduces that ^ = 5.4 km /s and =5.2 ms. Equations (6)
to (8) are plotted in Figure 2 for these values. Although the acceleration
initially diverges, the velocity and position are nevertheless well defined at
all times. The rise in the velocity quickly tapers off, demonstrating that
there is little advantage in increasing the barrel length past a certain point.
(In particular, if losses were included, there would be some definite
optimal length for a given powder charge.)
Summer 2012
38
0 1 2 3 4 5
Figure 2. Graphs of x (in m), v (in km/s), and a (in m/ms^)
versus t ranging from 0 to 5.2 ms if ^ = 5.4 km^ /s^ for the initial
conditions xq = 0 and Vq=0 .
Energetics of the Powder, Gas, and Projectile
The derivation of Equation (2) above depends on the fact that nRT
increases linearly with time t. Specifically, it was assumed that T is
constant and that n = rt . Hot gas is created (starting from zero moles) by
chemical conversion of the solid powder. For simplicity, consider the gas
to be monatomic. An alternative way to model the system is to take n to be
constant, while T = rt, z.e., the temperature is no longer constant. One
could now think of the gas atoms as initially existing latently in the
gunpowder in condensed form (which classically corresponds to absolute
zero temperature) and that they get rapidly warmed up by thermal energy
transfer Q from the burning charge.
Reversible thermodynamics can be used in the analysis because the
gas expansion is quasistatic and there are no dissipative losses. Appendix
A shows that the gas is always in quasi-equilibrium by treating the
expansion of the gas behind the ball like the familiar example of a piston
Washington Academy of Sciences
39
in a frictionless cylinder. The piston slides slowly compared to the speed
of sound, provided that its mass is much larger than that of the gas.
n = constant amount of gas (initially condensed)
burning
powder
. Q into gas
^ -
irjout of gas into ball
E = —nRT internal energy of gas
Figure 3. Relevant energy transfers between the gunpowder,
propelling gas, and musket ball in the model where the number
of moles n of the gas is taken to be constant and its temperature
T increases linearly.
The energetics of the musket are now analyzed by reference to
Figure 3. Consider an arbitrary interval of time between 0 and t. During
this interval, the monatomic gas ends up with an internal energy [5] of
E(t) = \.5nRT{t) , whereas it started with no internal energy when
condensed. Thus the change in internal energy of the propellant gas is
AE^-nRT. (11)
2
During this time, the gas does work W on the ball, calculated from
W = jFclx = mjadx (12)
(or equivalently from J PdV .) One could proceed by substituting
Equations (6) and (8) to convert the last result into a time integral that can
be performed. A simpler and more general approach is to use the
definitions of velocity and acceleration to rewrite Equation (12) as
W = mj^vdt=^mA(v^) = AK (13)
where K = ^mi/ is the kinetic energy of the ball. Equation (13) is
Summer 2012
40
simply a derivation of the work-kinetic-energy theorem of the ball since it
is treated here as a particle. For the particular solution of interest (which is
also the asymptotic solution for large times for any choice of initial
conditions, as is proven in the section below, “Scaling Argument to Find
the Asymptotic Behavior”), Equations (1), (3), and (7) can be substituted
into this result to obtain
(14)
Finally, the first law of thermodynamics applied to the gas implies that
AE = Q-W ^ Q = 3nRT (15)
using Equations (11) and (14). In words, these results prove that energy is
being transferred from the powder to the gas and projectile at the constant
rate dQ I dt = 3nRr . Half of that added energy goes into warming up the
gas, increasing its internal energy, while the other half goes into
accelerating the ball, increasing its translational kinetic energy. Thus the
energy transfer efficiency from the powder to the ball is 50% even for this
ideal musket.
General Solution of the Differential Equation
In this section we explore the nonlinear differential equation
xa = kt from a more general mathematical point of view. The physical
application presented above helps interpret these general numerical
results.
Reparameterizing the Equation
Equation (2) is second order and so its general solution must
contain two constants of integration, corresponding to the initial position
Xq and initial velocity in addition to the adjustable value of k. In total,
there are thus three parameters in the family of solutions. However, some
of these parameters can be eliminated by rescaling the units of length and
time. This reparameterization is performed in different ways, depending
on the initial conditions.
Choose the +x axis to point in the direction of motion of the
particle at long times. Then for A: > 0 , the position of the particle can
never be negative. Appendix B discusses what happens if the ball is
launched toward the origin and shows that x cannot reach (or cross) zero
Washington Academy of Sciences
41
no matter how large the initial speed is. The particle is repelled from the
origin and must eventually move in the positive x direction, either because
it initially started moving in that direction or because it reversed direction
after exactly one bounce.
Therefore, at times t other than zero, the position x must always be
strictly positive. In contrast, at / = 0 the initial position Xq can be either
positive or zero. For example. Equation (2) indicates that Xq can be
nonzero if the initial acceleration is zero, whereas Equation (6) applies to
the special case Xq = 0 . If Xq = 0 , then the initial velocity Vq cannot be
negative, because otherwise the particle would thereafter move in the
direction of negative x, contrary to our choice of axis. The various possible
initial conditions can therefore be divided into three classes.
Class A: Xq is positive and Vq is arbitrary
Define a characteristic length x = Xq and a characteristic time
t =Xq k . These two quantities can be used to define a characteristic
speed v = x / 1 = and a characteristic acceleration
/^2 1 /S 9/S
t =Xq k .In effect, the units of distance and time have been
chosen to scale away Xq and k, reducing the three-parameter family of
solutions to a form that depends only on v^.
Class B: Xq is zero but is positive
o _1
Now define the characteristic length as x = VQk and the
characteristic time as t =vlk~^ . Then the characteristic speed is
v = x/t =Vq and the characteristic acceleration is a = x/f^ =VQ^k . That
is, the units of distance and time have been chosen to eliminate Vq and k.
Given that Xq = 0 , the family of solutions to Equation (2) reduces to zero
adjustable parameters with two specified initial conditions.
Class C: both Xq and are zero
In this case, there is only one parameter in the original problem
and so we cannot independently define both a characteristic length and
~2/3 —1/3
time. Arbitrarily choosing x = 1 m in base SI units, then t = x k ,
v = x^'^k^'^, and a = x~^'^k^'^ . This class corresponds to the particular
Summer 2012
42
solution already found in the first section of this paper, “Basic Dynamics
of the Ball in a Musket.”
For any of the three classes, dimensionless kinematic variables can
be introduced as t' = t It , x = x / x , v =v I V , and a = a ! a . In terms of
these dimensionless variables. Equation (2) becomes
xa=t' (16)
where v = dx / dt' and a -dv ! dt' . The initial conditions for class A are
Xq = 1 and Vq = . The differential equation has thus been
recast in a form that only depends on the single combined value . That
makes it easier to investigate and plot its family of solutions. For class B,
the initial conditions are uniquely specified as Xq =0 and Vq =1. Using
I’Hopital’s rule, the initial acceleration is then aQ = l .
Numerical Solution
Equation (16) has no discernible closed-form analytic solution in
general, but one can numerically integrate it. Different methods can be
used for this purpose, depending on the desired accuracy and ease of
calculations. To start with, the first-order Euler-Cromer method [6] can be
implemented in a spreadsheet. Given values x- and v'l at any time t\ ,
their values at the next time step (where Af = 0.1 say,
corresponding to a time step in real units of f/10) are sequentially
calculated as
= y; + a\M' = v\ + {t\l x'i )At'
with starting values for class A of tQ=0, Xq = 1 , and any chosen value of
Vq . The results are plotted as the solid curves in Figure 4 for four values
of Vq. A similar numerical integration for class B (when Xq = 0 , Vq=1,
and = 1 ) results in a curve that is almost indistinguishable from the
dashed curve (corresponding to class C).
The equation for x-^j involves the updated velocity vj_^^ rather than
the previous value v- , in contrast to the equation for v-^^ which uses the
previous value of the acceleration a'l. That is the hallmark of Cromer’s
Washington Academy of Sciences
43
modification of the standard Euler method, classified as a symplectic
integrator. Symplectic methods are the preferred choice when the
Lagrangian L has no explicit time dependence, but they can be used even
when L is time dependent (as is shown in Appendix C to be the case here).
By comparison with the results of the second-order leapfrog integration in
Appendix D, the Euler-Cromer method obtains values of position and
velocity that are found to be accurate to 0.4% or better, so Equation (17)
suffices to generate Figure 4.
Figure 4. Graphs of x versus f . The four solid curves were
calculated numerically using Equation (17) for xq^I and Vq
equal to 2, 1, 0, and -1 (from top to bottom at f = 1 ). The dashed
curve is a plot of Equation (18).
Scaling Argument to Find the Asymptotic Behavior
The dashed curve in Figure 4 is a plot of the solution represented
by Equation (6) in dimensionless form,
which is the particular solution of Equation (16) for class C, i.e., initial
Summer 2012
44
values Xq =0 and = 0 . To investigate how Equation (18) relates to the
numerical results in the “Numerical Solution” section above, introduce
new variables x" = x ! and = where ^ is an arbitrary positive
scaling factor that zooms Figure 4 in or out (albeit not equally for the two
axes). Defining v" = dx" ! dt" and o' = d^ x" ! df^ , Equation (16) becomes
= r (19)
with initial conditions Xq = Xq / and Vq =Vq / s . Then if .y ^ oo , the
solution corresponding to Xq=0 and Vq=0 is obtained, namely
x" = (4 / 3)^^^ . Therefore Equation (18) is an asymptotic solution of
Equation (16) at large times for any initial values. To verify that
conclusion. Figure 4 was replotted with the range of d values increased
25-fold. On this expanded scale, the solid curves are indistinguishable by
eye from the dashed curve.
Oscillations about the Asymptotic Solution
To quantify the manner in which the general solutions approach
the asymptotic curve, dimensionless residuals Ax' are computed by
subtracting the analytic particular solution given by Equation (18) from
any solution x\d) computed numerically. Whenever a numerical solution
has a smaller value of x (at a given d ) than the asymptotic solution, it
has a larger acceleration {i.e., second derivative), and vice-versa,
according to Equation (16). The numerical solution thus repeatedly
catches up to and crosses the asymptotic curve, oscillating about it. It is
found that these oscillations have both increasing period and increasing
absolute amplitude.
A physical explanation for these oscillations can be found in the
ballistic situation of the first section, “Basic Dynamics of the Ball in a
Musket.” If the ball gets ahead of the position it has in the particular
solution at the same time, the gas becomes under-pressured in comparison
and the ball’s acceleration drops. That permits the gas pressure to “catch
up,” but the inertia of the ball leads to an overcorrection, and the cycle
now reverses.
Returning to the residuals, the amplitude of Ax' is proportional to
4? as d ^oo ^ according to the analysis in Appendix D. Therefore the
relative amplitude of the oscillations, Ax'/x', decreases to zero in
Washington Academy of Sciences
45
proportion to 1//' for large times. In this relative sense, solutions of
Equation (16) for any initial conditions converge onto the asymptotic
solution, Equation (18).
Conclusions
The force law described by xa = kt has a simple form but exhibits
rich behavior. Physically, it describes the idealized motion of a ball in an
unrifled musket. Another situation that gives rise to Equation (2) is the
radial motion of a particle (of mass m and charge q) in the electric field of
a long straight wire whose linear charge density is proportional to time,
A = at . Then k = aq ! iKe^m (where is the permittivity of free space),
which allows the possibility of a negative value of k that the ballistic
application does not. Investigation of the motion for /: < 0 could make an
interesting student project. Further study of the equation a^tlx may
uncover additional applications and intriguing behavior.
Mathematically, the solution of Equation (2) involves power-law
behavior (of the particular solution), oscillatory behavior (of the
residuals), and exponential behavior (of the intervals between zero
crossings of the oscillations). It calls for a diverse combination of analysis
techniques, including insights from physics, trial solutions of differential
equations, scaling laws, graphical methods, algebraic approximations, and
computational algorithms.
Appendix A: Quasistatic Expansion of the Gas
Pushing the Ball in the Barrel
At long times (if not initially), the speed of the musket ball is given
by the slope of the dashed curve in Figure 4, obtained by substituting
Equation (3) into (7) to get
(AT)
after replacing n-rt from Equation (1). Here the subscript “ball” has
been added to v and m to emphasize that those two variables refer to the
speed and mass of the projectile specifically. On the other hand, the root-
mean-square speed of the atoms in a monatomic ideal gas is known from
kinetic theory or equipartition [5] to be
Summer 2012
46
3nRT
(A.2)
where is the total mass of the gas in the musket. (The speed of sound
has almost the same value, obtained by replacing the factor of 3 in this
equation by the adiabatic exponent ^=5/3.) Comparing Eqs. (A.l) and
(A.2), one sees that the speed of the ball will always be small compared to
typical molecular speeds provided that the mass of the ball is much larger
than the total mass of the gas. In that case, the gas expansion is said to be
quasistatically slow.
Appendix B: Motion of the Ball for Negative Initial Velocities
One cannot compress the volume of the gas in the barrel to zero (at
nonzero temperatures). However, if one runs the Euler-Cromer simulation
specified by Equation (17) with say Vq =-3 and Af = 0.1, the trajectory
appears to cross the horizontal axis (near f = 0.34) and become
increasingly negative thereafter. This zero crossing is an artifact of
inaccurate numerical integration. It only occurs when the time step is large
enough that the simulation can “jump” over the divergence in the
repulsion that occurs at x' = 0 . We can prove that such a jump does not
occur for infinitesimally fine time steps as follows.
Consider the specific work, i.e., work per unit mass, J a'dx^ as the
ball approaches x' = 0 . Then f is approximately constant (for example at
about 0.34 if Vq--3) during the small time interval that x is smaller
than some initial value xf, say 0.1. Now according to the work-kinetic-
energy theorem.
V
/2
-A. r
v[^ =2[ adx ~ 2f In-^
j -V*.
(B.l)
using Equation (16). The right-hand side of this equation is negative
(because x < x[ ) and thus the ball slows down as it approaches x' = 0 . But
it can never reach x' = 0 because the left-hand side can never get smaller
than -v-^ in value. Consequently, even if the negative initial velocity is
very large in magnitude, the ball will necessarily bounce off the (infinite)
potential barrier at the origin, as occurs for the curve corresponding to
Washington Academy of Sciences
47
Vq = -1 in Figure 4.
Appendix C: Canonical Mechanics of the System
An explicitly time-dependent Lagrangian L and Hamiltonian H can
be constructed as follows. Equation (B.l) suggests a potential energy U{t)
that is logarithmic in the position and thus
L = K-U = ^mx^ +mkt\nx (C.l)
where x = v. The momentum conjugate to the position x is
dL
p = — = mx
dx
(C.2)
and thus the Hamiltonian is
H = px-L-]^m^ -mktlnx .
(C.3)
Then the equation of motion is obtained from Hamilton’s equation as
P = -
dH
dx
mkt
mx =
X
(C.4)
which rearranges into xa = kt . Alternatively, this equation of motion can
be obtained from Equation (C.l) using the Lagrange equation
d dL _dL
dt dx dx
(C.5)
Appendix D: Harmonic Oscillations of the Residuals
Dropping the primes so as to unclutter the notation, the
dimensionless force law is
X
(D.l)
from Equation (16), with a particular solution of
(D.2)
Define the residual Ax as the difference between a general solution of
Summer 2012
48
Equation (D.l) for x and the right-hand side of Equation (D.2).
Examination of numerical results from Equation (17) suggests that the
residual (for any value of the dimensionless initial velocity Vq) oscillates
harmonically in the logarithm of the elapsed time t with an amplitude that
increases in proportion to the square root of the time. To verify this
suggestion, let the scaled residual z be defined as Ax divided by yft , so
that
z = xr^'^ -^t (D.3)
which can be solved for x to get
J/2 ^
X = Zt -H
i^3/2
(D.4)
Take the second derivative of this equation with respect to time, and
substitute both it and Equation (D.4) into (D.l) to obtain
(l + ^z/?) =l + ^(z/ + z-|z/f).
(D.5)
Since it will be shown that the amplitude of the scaled residual z levels off
in value asymptotically (cf. Figure 5), z / 1 must approach zero for large t.
Thus the left-hand side of Equation (D.5) can be approximated using the
binomial expansion to first order. The result can be rearranged to get
zf' +zt = -^z . (D.6)
The left-hand side of this equation can be identified as the logarithmic
second derivative
d^z
= zt'^ +zt .
(D.7)
Therefore Equation (D.6) implies that the (logarithmic) second derivative
of z is proportional to -z, characteristic of simple harmonic motion.
Consequently the residual oscillates semi-logarithmically with a period of
iTtyJl , i.e., a half-period corresponds to a ratio of adjacent zero-crossings
of z{t) that equals exp|;rV2j ~ 85.02 .
Washington Academy of Sciences
49
dimensionless time
Figure 5. Semi-logarithmic plots of the scaled residual Ax'l^f?
against the dimensionless time t' for the three indicated values
of Vq with Xq = \ .
Figure 5 plots the scaled residual z as a function of time on semi-
logarithmic axes for Xq = 1 . The three curves correspond to different
values of Vq between 0 and -1. Zero crossings for these three curves are
listed in Table 1. For large t, the ratio between successive zero crossings is
in excellent agreement with the asymptotic value 85.02 predicted by
Equation (D.6).
The results in Table 1 require x values accurate to better than 1 part
in 10^, because z is a small difference between large numbers. To achieve
that level of accuracy, a C++ program [7] was written to calculate the
residuals over a longer range of times and with higher accuracy than can
be done using the spreadsheet solution. The program replaces the first-
order calculations of Equation (17) with the second-order leapfrog
calculations
Summer 2012
50
An adaptive time step size is used; A/ is gradually increased as t increases,
to keep pace with the exponential increase in the period of oscillations. An
even higher-order symplectic integrator [8] was used as a further check on
the results.
Table 1. Zero-crossing times in Figure 5 and their ratios, accurate to
1 part in 10^, for three different values of the dimensionless velocity.
Acknowledgment
We thank John Mallinckrodt for discovering that the numerical
solutions oscillate about the asymptotic curve and for the ideas presented
in Appendix B.
This paper won the Frank R. Haig prize at the Chesapeake Section
of the American Association of Physics Teachers at the Spring 2012
Capital Science meeting
Washington Academy of Sciences
51
References
[1] M. Denny, Their Arrows Will Darken the Sun: The Evolution and Science of
Ballistics (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011) Technical Note 7.
[2] M. Denny, “The internal ballistics of an air gun,” Phys. Teach. 49, 81-83 (201 1).
[3] C.E. Mungan, “Internal ballistics of a pneumatic potato cannon,” Eur. J Phys. 30,
453-457 (2009).
[4] http://www.hackman-adams.com/guns/58musket.htm .
[5] R. Feynman, R.B. Leighton, and M.L. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics
(Reading, Addison- Wesley, 1963) Vol. I.
[6] A. Cromer, “Stable solutions using the Euler approximation,” Am. J. Phys. 49, 455-
459(1981).
[7] http://usna.edU/Users/phvsics/mungan/Publications/ratio-gun-eom.c .
[8] E. Hairer, C. Lubich, and G. Wanner, Geometric Numerical Integration: Structure-
Preserving Algorithms for Ordinary Differential Equations, 2nd ed. (Berlin,
Springer, 2006) with codes online at http://www.unige.ch/~hairer/software.html.
Summer 2012
52
trh>
■■ T
•'■WL
-■^^■‘v^ 'A.
ii^ .,T»rr>->-
■V ■ ■ , ■
■ . *
^ ■ '^* •i^
lU lhr‘
- '' i»Jii!)LfFi '•‘T ' t .^O^nilifljSrf ^
!',. .-J^^' - '.-i'?*' - ■ -.% '*■ "V' ' r -.^^^-^-f-
.5SC ’
Ct-.5l!J' Jil
4.- V i Ji'ja^'v? .. ‘ “^ !iicrnf?‘$.^
vj
:*>
^'■;-
j *■«•„■.• vV *.'*i ^ .- .'-
iWH! '■'^* iJ.''iifl#?> - - ■
-■ ■•'?_. „-. i
^ . .^h'‘4 -■ • ' .:* ^»'‘''
^ ' I -- V ’•.•'jjij/v-v™--^^ -3
B •'^ • • <■. /> -.- j>*- OJma iljtjdii .D '{*) -q
. -.f
■;■ /
F- ifl
la
^ ^’1^
F<j
■■f ' ■' *
* k - .'t? • ■
■ . ‘ ■*
•r, - I-''. -•^'■
• • ' ■ -
.V ‘try
. '->"■
. , . .- '^; ’■s^
■ ni
. ' :•-=!»
;.-oi»« ;g4, -?
,e end
■,A«
^ V'--'
’v-
-'i"' W’"
' \1
ifjf
.-1. -r’
' P. '.-A ,; '
^ .M V-
o. -j ^ ■•’*• ■ I -
■ . :rtA, v'A-'%t;: .;7 : .>
Washington Academy of Sciences
Outgoing President’s Remarks:
State of the Academy
53
Gerard Christman
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as President of the
Washington Academy of Sciences from May 2011 to May 2012. It has
been a wonderful year for the Academy on all fronts: membership,
benefits, affiliates, finances, the Junior Academy, and a terrifically vibrant
program.
You may not be aware that there has been a downturn in
membership in a great many science and engineering societies. With the
downturn in the economy, people cut back in memberships and activities.
For the past few years the Academy’s membership remained stable. This
year we experienced an increase in our membership and an accompanying
interest in an active role through service on the Board or one of our
committees. This was a welcome and refreshing turn of events as it takes a
great deal of effort by our volunteers to maintain the Academy as a
relevant umbrella organization for our Affiliates.
This year, the Board approved a self-publishing member benefit
where interested authors can get their work published with the Academy’s
imprimatur as a result of rigorous peer review by Academy members who
have specialized expertise. The Academy will leverage the lessons learned
by its members who have engaged in self-publishing and promulgate
guidelines for submitting work for review in the near future.
The Academy added additional Affiliates that have added greatly
to our ability to offer members a quality program. Most notable is the
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) located in
Ballston. With their generous donations in kind, we were able to use their
facilities for CapScil2 and for the Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet.
I am pleased to report that the Academy’s finances are sound. I am
grateful to the Audit Committee for their rigorous review. I am also
grateful to those who have graciously donated to one of our many causes
or to the Academy generally. I would like to underscore the Academy’s
gratitude for the generous donation by the Haig estate done in loving
memory of General Alexander Haig who passed away in 2010. This was
provided for the expressed purpose of payment of office rental expenses at
the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS)
Summer 2012
54
building in Washington DC. The Living Oceans Foundation provided a
very sizable donation to serve as seed money for CapSci. I would also like
to recognize the generosity of Peg Kay who also made a sizeable donation
to the Academy this year. The Academy received wonderful donations in
kind from the George Washington University, Marymount University, and
the Virginia Tech Research Institute through the use of the educational
facilities on Glebe Road for CapSci 12. The Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE) were generous benefactors this year through
their support of the Junior Academy. Additionally, Meadowlark Gardens
generously donated free admission passes to their marvelous gardens to all
CapSci 12 attendees.
I am grateful to Dick Davies for the Junior Academy involvement
in a record number of Science Fairs. This resulted in issuing a record
number of award certificates to Washington area children for their
outstanding science projects. Let us hope that our engagement translates
into children becoming interested in a career in science and engineering.
The Academy executed a vibrant program this year. In the Fall we
had our annual Affiliates Reception at the National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association (NRECA). In late Fall, we enjoyed another
installment of Science is Murder at the AAAS building. We thoroughly
enjoyed the panel of authors who explained how they became writers and
their association with science. The Academy sponsored the fifth biennial
CapSci conference with the support of the unprecedented three-university
consortium of the George Washington University, Marymount University,
and the Virginia Tech Research Institute. I cannot adequately express my
gratitude to the many volunteers and the CapSci Committee for
conducting the best ever iteration of CapSci. Our plenary and luncheon
speakers gave outstanding talks on a range of issues including the science
of climate change by Dr. Compton “Jim” Tucker from NASA. Lastly, the
Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet was bittersweet in that we
recognized Peg Kay on her retirement from Executive Directorship of the
Academy but we were honored to be able recognize a giant in the field of
Astronomy, Dr. Vera Rubin with an award for her lifetime of
achievements and contributions. Despite being in her 80s now, she
continues to work and contribute to our understanding of the Universe. I
would like to express a special word of gratitude to Dr. Terrell Erikson for
Chairing the Banquet Committee and for making it such an outstanding
event.
Washington Academy of Sciences
55
In summary, it has been a great year for the Academy and for me. I
have learned a great deal and I am grateful to the Board, our members, and
our volunteers for their friendship, comity, and their contributions. I wish
the incoming Board every success for the coming year.
Incoming Board of Managers, Washington Academy of Sciences
(from left to right): Frank Haig (member at large), Richard Hill (VP
affiliated societies), Sethanne Howard (VP membership), Terrell Erickson
(secretary), Gerard Christman (immediate past president), Neal
Schmeidler (member at large), Jim Cole (incoming president), Jim
Egenreider (president-elect), Cathy With (member at large). Missing from
photo: Ron Heitala (treasurer), Jim Disbrow (VP administration), Dick
Davies (VP junior academy), Michael Cohen (member at large), Paul
Arveson (member at large), and Sally Rood (ex officio journal editor).
Summer 2012
56
c *
''*'■ !v''
■>.. • v“
V. a
■ |I«1 #i|4jHvi 4^; ■<»t?«iis)*!
. ■ ‘ t'*-' ■•r*ii3|^'ri*rvg i54a».'«bai^$fi .•
-' f-;>^>-; Y'!^!^.;*'- 4«'V*'W'5‘J>^se bife5iJt4^^afc ,
i| ■¥•': ■ - . ' ,s'''i’- '■ •» live u’t*f!C ‘idUifedSo^-^'
jdifV. L" ■
~ ■<>■■ .*♦ if •< 11- 1' '-
'r. jn: *i‘- 7 Iji-is, ■ *?T»i>,i,
.UttS ,;< . '-i-
i' ■
'.fv: .-%.>«^"f i-y1»Vr' ^<^,<fe'■:»^4•'v4^>!!^-'^/ii!li»^
*fc-ir:fls> *Ci>]
■ '-*'1^. jmmmm '
jf ir
Washington Academy of Sciences
^ ■ ■
Incoming President’s Remarks:
Next Year at the Academy
57
James Cole
First, I want to personally congratulate our 2012 award recipients.
The selection process is difficult because of the high caliber of all the
nominees. Let us all thank our awards committee for their efforts.
All of you in attendance tonight are invited to participate in the
academy’s other activities by attending our scientific programs,
volunteering to judge science fairs for the junior academy or joining one
or more of our committees, and please encourage your fellow Affiliate
Society members and co-workers to join the academy and to participate in
our activities.
Now bear with me as I use my personal history with the Academy
as an example that demonstrates the numerous activities of the Academy.
At CapSci 2004, I presented a paper in a session sponsored by the
National Capital Section of the Optical Society of America and IEEE Eeos
which is now the IEEE Photonics Society.
I found that CapSci exposed me to diverse scientific subject matter
of high quality. I wanted more!
As an example of the excellent quality of the presentations, at a
later CapSci NIST sponsored an excellent session on Quantum Computing
which occurred well before the explosion of interest in that field.
Following my first CapSci, Vary Coates, the Academy journal
editor at the time, contacted me about including my CapSci paper in the
Journal.
My thoughts: “Wow, the Academy has a peer reviewed journal as
well!”
I wanted to learn more about the Academy and became an affiliate
representative to the Board and a member of the Academy. From there, I
learned about the other great programs including the Junior Academy.
As a side note, while cleaning out the long-time New Hampshire
home of my step-father’s family, I found out that my step-grandfather was
a member of the Academy; I always knew he was a smart man!
Summer 2012
58
I find it hard to believe that I have been associated with the
Academy for over 8 years!
Now I want to move on to the coming year.
Recently, my predecessors Mark Holland and Gerry Christman
have begun an initiative to increase the Academy’s activities with
undergraduate university students.
This includes forming student chapters of the Academy and
encouraging student participation in CapSci.
This year, in addition to our regular programs, the academy will
focus on expanding and solidifying Mark and Gerry’s efforts.
Finally, as Gerry has already done, I must once again thank Peg
Kay for all she has done for the Academy over many years. The Academy
would not be in the strong position it is today without her efforts.
Washington Academy of Sciences
59
Awardees,
Washington Academy of Sciences
Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet
May 10, 2012
Arlington, Virginia
The Washington Academy of Sciences awarded Vera Cooper Rubin
(left) with a Distinguished Career in Science award. Rubin is a Senior
Fellow at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of
Washington. Also shown in the photo is award presenter Sethanne
Howard of the Washington Academy of Sciences Board of Managers.
Summer 2012
60
Behavioral Sciences and Social Sciences award recipient Robert M.
Groves (right), Director of the U.S. Census Bureau. Shown with Groves is
award presenter A1 Teich, Research Professor of Science, Technology and
International Affairs, George Washington University (filling in for Cora
Marrett, Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation).
Biological Sciences award recipient Jeeseong Hwang (right). Research
Biophysicist and Project Leader at the Radiation and Biomolecular
Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Shown with Hwang is award presenter Kimberley Briggman of NIST.
Washington Academy of Sciences
61
Engineering Sciences award recipient Jeffrey E. Fernandez (center),
Managing Principal at JF Associates and Mrs. Fernandez shown with
award presenter Neal Schmeidler of the Washington Academy of
Sciences Board of Managers.
History of Science award recipient Adrianne Noe (left), Director of the
National Museum of Health and Medicine shown with award presenter
Catherine With of the Washington Academy of Sciences Board of
Managers.
Summer 2012
62
Lamberton Award for Elementary and Secondary Education awardee
Myra Lynn Koops Thayer (right), Science Coordinator for Fairfax
County Public Schools shown with award presenter James Egenreider of
the Washington Academy of Sciences Board of Managers.
Mathematics and Computer Sciences awardee Roderick J. Little (right),
Associate Director for Research & Methodology and Chief Scientist, U.S.
Census Bureau shown with award presenter Michael Cohen of the
Washington Academy of Sciences Board of Managers.
Washington Academy of Sciences
63
Mathematics and Computer Sciences award recipient Geoffrey B.
McFadden (left), NIST Fellow. Shown presenting the award is Charles
Romine, Director of the NIST Information Technology Laboratory.
Physical Sciences awardee James K. Olthoff (left), Deputy Director of
the Physical Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST). Shown presenting the award is
Katharine Gebbie, Director of the NIST Physics Laboratory.
i
Summer 2012
64
Service to Science awardee David S. Leckrone (left), Senior Project
Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope Program (ret.), NASA. Shown
with Leckrone is award presenter Paul Arveson of the Washington
Academy of Sciences Board of Managers.
Washington Academy of Sciences
65
Washington Academy of Sciences
1200 New York Avenue
Rm 113
Washington, DC 20005
Please fill in the blanks and send your application to the address above. We will
contact you as soon as your application has been reviewed by the Membership
Committee. Thank you for your interest in the Washington Academy of Sciences.
(Dr. Mrs. Mr. Ms)
Business Address
Home Address
Email
Phone
Cell Phone
Preferred mailing address Type of membership
Business Home Regular Student
Present Occupation or Professional Position
Please list memberships in scientific societies - include office held:
I
Summer 2012
66
Instructions to Authors
1. Manuscripts must be in Word (Office 03/07/10) and not PDF.
2. They should be 6,000 words or fewer (Editor may make exceptions).
If there are 7 or more graphics, reduce the number of words.
3. Manuscripts must include an abstract of 150-200 words, maximum.
4. Graphics (photographs, drawings, figures, tables) must be in graytone
only (no color accepted), and be easily resizable by the editors to fit
the Journal’s page size. Do not wrap text around the graphics.
5. References (and bibliography, if included) may be in the format
generally acceptable for the disciplinary or professional field
represented by the manuscript. They must be accurate, complete, and
consistent in format throughout the paper. Use endnotes.
6. Include both an e-mail address and a postal address for the author (or
primary author) including title and institutional affiliation if any.
7. Deadlines for the 4 annual issues are: Spring - March 15; Summer -
June 15; Fall - September 15; and Winter - December 15.
8. Manuscripts are peer reviewed and become the property of the
Washington Academy of Sciences.
9. Send manuscripts by e-mail as an attachment, or on a CD, to
Joumal@washacadsci.org or directly to the editor. Dr. Sally Rood -
sally.rood@cox.net. Hard copy cannot be accepted. Manuscripts can
be accepted by any of the Board of Discipline Editors.
Board of Discipline Editors
Anthropology
Atmospheric Studies
Biology
Botany
Computer Sciences
Engineering
Emanuela Appetiti eappetiti@hotmail.com
Steve Tracton straction@hotmail.com
Jean Mielczarek mielczar@phvsics.gmu.edu
Mark Holland maholland@salisburv.edu
Kent Miller kent.l.miller@alumni.cmu.edu
Kiki Ikossi ikossi@ieee.org
Raj Madhaven raj .madhaven@nist.gov
Environmental Natural
Sciences
Terrell Erickson terrell.ericksonl@wdc.nsda.gov
Robin Stombler rstombler@aubumstrat.com
Alain Touwaide atouwaide@hotmail.com
Carol Lacampagne clacampagne@earthlink.net
Jean Mielczarek (see email above)
Jim Eigenreider i im@deepwater.org
Elizabeth Corona elizabethcorona@gmail.com
Health
History of Medicine
Mathematics
Physics
Science Education
Systems Science
Washington Academy of Sciences
Washington Academy of Sciences
Affiliated Institutions
National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST)
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
The John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress
Potomac Overlook Regional Park
Koshland Science Museum
American Registry of Pathology
Living Oceans Foundation
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
Summer 2012
68
Delegates to the Washington Academy of Sciences
Representing Affiliated Scientific Societies
Acoustical Society of America
American/Intemational Association of Dental Research
American Association of Physics Teachers, Chesapeake
Section
American Astronomical Society
American Fisheries Society
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
American Meteorological Society
American Nuclear Society
American Phytopathological Society
American Society for Cybernetics
American Society for Microbiology
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
American Society of Plant Physiology
Anthropological Society of Washington
ASM International
Association for Women in Science
Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Science, Technology, and Innovation
Association of Information Technology Professionals
Biological Society of Washington
Botanical Society of Washington
Capital Area Food Protection Association
Chemical Society of Washington
District of Columbia Institute of Chemists
District of Columbia Psychology Association
Eastern Sociological Society
Electrochemical Society
Entomological Society of Washington
Geological Society of Washington
Flistorical Society of Washington DC
Human Factors and Ergonomic Society
Paul Arveson
J. Terrell Hoffeld
Frank R. Haig, S. J.
Sethanne Howard
Lee Benaka
David W. Brandt
E. Lee Bray
Vacant
Charles Martin
Vacant
Stuart Umpleby
Vacant
Vacant
Daniel J. Vavrick
Mark Holland
Vacant
Toni Marechaux
Jodi Wesemann
Vacant
F. Douglas
Witherspoon
Vacant
Vacant
Chris Puttock
Keith Lempel
Jim Zwolenlk
Jim Zwolenlk
Vacant
Ronald W.
Mandersheid
Vacant
Vacant
Jeff Plescia
Jurate Landwehr
Vacant
Gerald Krueger
(continued on back cover)
Washington Academy of Sciences
Delegates to the Washington Academy of Sciences
Representing Affiliated Scientific Societies
(continued from previous page)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Washington DC Section
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Northern Virginia Section
Institute of Food Technologies
Institute of Industrial Engineers
International Society of Automation
Marine Technology Society
Mathematical Association of America
Medical Society of the District of Columbia
National Capital Astronomers
National Geographic Society
Optical Society of America
Pest Science Society of America
Philosophical Society of Washington
Society of American Foresters
Society of American Military Engineers
Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Soil and Water Conservation Society
Technology Transfer Society
Virginia Native Plant Society, Potomac Chapter
Washington Evolutionary Systems Society
Washington History of Science Club
Washington Chapter of the Institute for
Operations Research and Management
Washington Paint Technology Group
Washington Society of Engineers
Washington Society for the History of Medicine
Washington Statistical Society
World Future Society
Richard Hill
Murty Polavarapu
Vacant
Neal F. Schmeidler
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Jay Miller
Vacant
Jim Cole
Vacant
Eugenie Mielczarek
Daina Apple
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Terrell Erickson
Clifford Lanham
Vacant
Vacant
Albert G. Gluckman
Russell Wooten
Vacant
Alvin Reiner
Vacant
Mike Cohen
Jim Honig
Washington Academy of Sciences
Room 1 1 3
1200 New York Ave. NW
NONPROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PAID
MERRIFIELDVA 22081
PERMIT# 888
Washington, DC 20005
Return Postage Guaranteed
!'"!'miii'i'''ill'llll!*l'l'l"’'ili'iiiii'n*'i"!""'i'l*'i
3*^^*«»«*»*»««224*****^*******”AU i O'TViiXtU ADC 207
ERNST MAVR L]BPv.ARY
MUSEUM COMP ZOOLOGY
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
26 OXFORD ST
CAMBRIDGE MA 02138-2902
Volume 98
Number 3
Fall 2012
( h s
Journal of the
WASHINGTON
ACADEMY OF
MC2
LIBRARY
DEC 1 1 2012
SCIENCES HARVAr O
UNiVERSiTv
Editor’s Comments S. Rood i
Obituary Arthur S. Jensen Hi
Guest Editorial L. Baines 1
Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual D. Byrd 19
Strategic Management of Scientific Research Organizations P. Arveson 31
Addressing Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay Environmental Issues and Economic
Development S. Rood 45
Membership Application 77
Instructions to Authors 79
Affiliated Institutions 81
Affiliated Societies and Delegates 82
ISSN 0043-0439
Issued Quarterly at Washington DC
Washington Academy of Sciences
, Founded in 1898
Board of Managers
Elected Officers
President
James Cole
President Elect
James Egenrieder
Treasurer
Ronald Hietala
Secretary
Terrell Erickson
Vice President, Administration
Jim Disbrow
Vice President, Membership
Sethanne Howard
Vice President, Junior Academy
Dick Davies
Vice President, Affiliated Societies
Richard Hill
Members at Large
Paul Arveson
Michael Cohen
Frank Haig, SJ.
Mark Holland
Neal Schmeidler
Catherine With
Past President Gerard Christman
Affiliated Society Delegates
Shown on back cover
The Journal of the Washington Academy of
Sciences
The Journal is the official organ of the Academy.
It publishes articles on science policy, the history
of science, critical reviews, original science
research, proceedings of scholarly meetings of
its Affiliated Societies, and other items of interest
to its members. It is published quarterly. The last
issue of the year contains a directory of the
current membership of the Academy.
Subscription Rates
Members, fellows, and life members in good
standing receive the Journal free of charge.
Subscriptions are available on a calendar year
basis, payable in advance. Payment must be
made in US currency at the following rates.
US and Canada $30.00
Other Countries $35.00
Single Copies (when available) $15.00
Claims for Missing Issues
Claims must be received within 65 days of
mailing. Claims will not be allowed if non-
delivery was the result of failure to notify the
Academy of a change of address.
Notification of Change of Address
Address changes should be sent promptly to
the Academy Office. Notification should
contain both old and new addresses and zip
codes.
Editor of the Journal
Sally A. Rood
Associate Editors
Sethanne Howard
Peg Kay
Academy Office
Washington Academy of Sciences
Room 113
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202/326-8975
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to WAS, Rm 113,
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Journal of the Washington Academy of
Sciences (ISSN 0043-0439)
Published by the Washington Academy of
Sciences 202/326-8975
email: journal@washacadsci.org
website: www.washacadsci.org
MCZ
library
1
ncj 1 1 2012
^^ilors Comments
harvard
We are pleas^^^\/(^Efet^-“^W this Fall issue of the Journal three
papers and one guest editorial. The papers are eclectic, ranging from
cognitive psychology to the environment of the Eastern Shore with a stop
at management science, a benefit of an interdisciplinary journal such as
ours. The editorial is a continuation of an interesting discussion begun at
the Academy’s Capital Science 2012 conference. Editorials offer our
readers a chance to contribute to the discussion through Letters to the
Editor.
The guest editorial by Lawrence Baines continues our CapSci
discussion on modern-day communication. If we assume that that
machines are becoming our basic units of communication, then v/e’re
experiencing a shift from words to sensations, which Baines feels has
implications for more than just how we communicate. As noted, our
Journal readers are encouraged to continue further the discussion.
In this issue, we also welcome a new faculty member to our author
list. Dana Byrd recently finished her first year at her first academic
position! She said she’s excited about publishing in our Journal, and
added, “What a great place to share research with a broader scientific
community!” She has been - and wants to continue - studying the
cognitive and brain differences in bilingual populations, as there’s
evidence they may be more cognitively-fiexible. She also noted that the
paper presented in this issue is a bit more of a cognitive psychology paper
with some neuroscience explanation, rather than a neuroscience only
paper.
The paper by Paul Arveson takes management science theory and
overlays it onto the task of strategically managing scientific research
organizations. This leads to a discussion of the performance measurement
aspect of management, which continues to be a hot topic for scientific
organizations. The exploratory and long-term nature of scientific research
makes it difficult to identify discrete objective metrics. The article nicely
links the social sciences {e.g. management science) with scientific theory
and science policy.
My own contribution to this issue addresses a couple of topics I’m
passionate about: the environment of the Eastern Shore/Chesapeake Bay
area, and leveraging existing scientific and technical resources to improve
our quality of life - that is, not only the environment, but also the
economy ... which is, by nature, another cross-disciplinary conversation! I
Fall 2012
11
feel we can leam from other regional innovation clusters in this country
(and around the world) and apply the lessons of ecosystem-based
economic development to the Eastern Shore area.
Sally A. Rood. PhD
Editor, Journal of the Washington
Academy of Sciences
Washington Academy of Sciences
Ill
Obituary for Dr. Arthur S. Jensen, P.E.
A life member of the Academy, Dr. Jensen passed away on
September 25, 2012. He was 94 years of age.
Dr. Arthur S. Jensen was bom in Trenton, NJ, 24 December 1917,
and became an Eagle Scout in 1934 in Troop 20, of Greenwood Avenue
Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Jensen was granted by the University of
Pennsylvania the degrees of BS in Ed (physics) 1938, MS (physics) 1939
and PhD (physics) 1941. On 9 August 1941 he married Lillian Elizabeth
“Betty” Reed, whom he fondly calls “Bess”; they had twin sons, Deane
Ellsworth and Alan Forrest in 1942 and a daughter, Nancy Lorraine in
1959.
On 1 August 1941 he reported for active duty as a Naval Reserve
Officer on the faculty of the US Naval Academy to teach physics and
physics of aviation in the Department of Electrical Engineering until
December 1945 with terminal leave until March 1946.
At RCA Laboratories, Princeton, NJ, as an Engineering Research
Physicist Dr. Jensen invented the first practical, high-density, compact
random access memory, the Radechon tube [which was used as binary
digital memory in second generation computers, such as in the DEW-line
radar and the first all electronic telephone central office, and as an analog
image memory device in over-the-horizon radar and airborne moving
target radar, the first applications of computer aided tomography (CAT
scan using radar) to computer process image data to improve resolution].
For this he was elected Fellow in the Institute for Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE).
After the war CAPT Jensen served as training officer in USNR
Organized Surface Battalion 4-22 in Trenton, NJ, and later as
commanding officer of Naval Reserve Research Company 5-4 in
Baltimore, MD. With 22 years of satisfactory service he earned the
American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, World
War II Victory Medal, Naval Reserve Medal, and Armed Forces Reserve
Medal, and retired in the U.S. Navy December 1977.
In 1957 Dr. Jensen was invited to establish the Special Electron
Devices Laboratory at the Westinghouse Defense and Space Center in
Baltimore, MD, where the Jensen family lived in the North Homeland
community. From 1965 to retirement in 1994, Dr. Jensen served as a
Consulting Physicist on the management staff. During this time Dr. Jensen
Fall 2012
IV
invented a high brightness display storage tube that was used for radar
display in high altitude aircraft, an infrared camera tube that aided
aerodynamic design of the SR71 aircraft, and low noise integrated circuits.
He contributed to the Defense Meteorological Satellite and other
reconnaissance programs.
In the 1960s at the instigation of Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr., who was
at the time developing the concepts for the NASA Hubble Telescope, Dr.
Jensen invented the Grating Storage Camera Tube (Westinghouse
WX5074) which proved that long-exposure time analog visible-light
photos could be taken electronically with multiple read-outs for
transmission to a TV display. Dr. Jensen recalls a cold, February night
watching Dr. Spitzer’ s team use this camera tube to take electronic photos
of star fields at Princeton University’s Observatory.
About 1973 Dr. Jensen was co-inventor with Dr. Harvey C.
Nathanson, Westinghouse Research Labs, of the micromirror digital TV
and movie projection system which was later developed and now
manufactured by Texas Instruments for movie theaters - and, since 2003,
manufactured by several companies as DLP-HDTV (digital light
processing, high definition television) projection sets for home use.
Dr. Jensen’s inventions resulted in 25 US patents, about sixty
articles in physics and engineering journals and conferences, election to
Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
and inclusion in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Science and
Technology, Who’s Who in Aviation and Aerospace, and Who’s Who in
Engineering.
Dr. Jensen’s lectures at universities in England and Germany
resulted in his inclusion in the Dictionary of International Biography and
the Royal Blue Book. His service as the electrical engineer on the
Maryland State Board for Professional Engineers earned him the
Maryland Governor’s Citation and the Engineers’ Council of Maryland’s
Outstanding Service Award in 1986. He is a life member of Sigma Xi, the
American Physical Society, the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, the American Eegion, and the Military Officers
Association of America.
In 2007 CAPT Jensen published a novel “Persian Gulf Jeopardy”
of the fictional adventures of two women naval officers (the electronic
■ department head and her mechanical section head) of the repair ship
U.S.S. Vulcan which went to the rescue of the destroyer U.S.S. Stark
Washington Academy of Sciences
V
during the Iraq-Iran War, who on day shore liberty with other officers
were kidnapped and had exciting adventures in the mountain valleys of
southern Arabia.
Having met as fellow commuters on a train in 1939, he and his
wife enjoyed traveling and adventure. Together they visited all seven
continents, the Caribbean and Oceania including over fifty foreign
countries in 2 1 of the 24 time zones, as well as visiting forty-nine of the
United States, flying over the fiftieth, and visiting eight Canadian
Provinces, tent camping in many of these in North America.
Their daughter, Nancy Torraine Jensen, who received her degree in
chemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park, and whom
Goddard Space Flight Center (where she was an aerospace
engineer/chemist) awarded its Exceptional Achievement Award for her
bright nickel chemical coating for the pointing mirror of its weather
satellite cameras - and which now get the cloud cover pictures used in TV
weather broadcasts - died at age 35 in 1994. The following year Dr. and
Mrs. Jensen endowed the Sons of Norway Foundation with the Nancy
Lorraine Jensen Memorial Scholarship for young ladies who are studying
chemistry, physics or mechanical, chemical or electrical engineering.
Their son, Alan Forrest, a First Class Scout and musician, was
struck and killed by a car in 1956 at age 13. Their other twin son, Deane
Ellsworth, an audio electronic engineer and entrepreneur who established
and owned Jensen Transformers, Inc., with four buildings on Burbank
Blvd., North Hollywood, CA (where he invented, designed and marketed
the highest fidelity audio transformers), died at age 47 in 1989.
Dr. Jensen’s marriage lasted for 63 happy years until 25 September
2004 when Bess died at age 82 of stroke and cancer in Art’s arms while he
sang love songs to her.
The foundation of Dr. Jensen’s career was his training as an Eagle
Scout with five palms, 48 merit badges and Vigil Honor in the Order of
the Arrow. In return he served 25 years as an Assistant Scoutmaster,
Explorer Advisor, Cubmaster and District Commissioner mostly in the
George Washington Council, Princeton, NJ.
Fall 2012
VI
::ii.
W^--
^9tSm '■ LL' ^. ■ X
>: • 4ii««iXM|^'
io' ^ss«#!&v i%;-f-'.' ;f f ^'SJpiiwaAj^
V »Cvv-^aa,v f^t^{^,>^^;}tf
V'^'
»-'4s;^hO)?-X1: 'viai 'fHi <v .. iS. iii-5tirt<Ji>!iii!‘‘T*^?fe!?JlSl
, »;- V- tv .U; .ii 'is»ritrtAi*p.E:i3"<tffci>e 3»’b
r.!^Tr4«i5p. .■4?jf A ^' ’
J 'ii^ re- .ii-ax* of f\yo wfimw •‘fv;*i iifcers: (Uk
?4;^y tjcf .07echajik«J s'S.i.'/& 4‘^‘U-U vf -1®*? /'C****?
y . '’ ‘ • H. -^ VK^ -U; t^ 'remk. »hc. tksttrg'^ -iiSiS. ^lari
Washington Academy of Sciences
1
Guest Editorial
by
Lawrence A. Baines
The University of Oklahoma
Editor's Introduction: The Washington Academy of Sciences’ Capital
Science 2012 conference featured the panel session, “English as a
Second Language: Analog Communication in a Digital World.” At this
session, there was no question that computer-mediated communication
(CMC) - everything from blogs to tweets - is contributing to the
change and growth of language. Modem day communication often
relies on context, acronyms, and variations in spelling, punctuation,
syntax to avoid ambiguous meanings. Members of the panel and
audience considered whether, in the long term, CMC will cause a
seismic shift in how we speak and write. In short, they felt it’s hard to
tell at this point, and disagreed as to whether this is the “end of the
analog world as we know it.” They agreed, however, that it’s
interesting to speculate about the possibilities!
The guest editorial presented here is from the perspective that
sociocultural changes may be coming so fast and furious that no one
really understands the implications for self and society. “Sensations,
Not Words” offers a snapshot of where we are now and explores where
we might be headed. In the spirit of communication, we’d like to
encourage follow-up letters from our readers on this topic.
Sensations, Not Words
The written word has served as an important mode of communication
for thousands of years. The twenty-first century promises to deliver
increasingly sophisticated, always-on machines that use sensory stimuli
such as images and sound, not words, as basic units of communication. As
people write and read less, while watching television and using
telephones, computers, and other visual and aural electronic modes of
communication more and more, reading books is ceasing to be the primary
way of knowing something in our society. (Keman, 1992, p. 140). This
shift from words to sensations has implications for how we think, what we
think, and how we feel about what we think. This essay describes the
current state of the transition from words to sensations, and explores some
potential gains and losses.
Imagine you are male, around 16-years-old, bom into a middle
class family. It is Saturday around 4:30 p.m. and you are at home, bored.
Fall 2012
2
You have the vague sense that you have homework, but you do not feel
particularly “in the mood” to do it. You want to have fun this Saturday
afternoon, and do something that you want to do.
Like most adolescents today, you carry a phone and you have the
choice of several hundred television stations, a small library of DVDs, and
a TV set in your bedroom. Chances are that at least one additional large-
screen television is located somewhere else in the house, as well as at least
one computer with Internet access. (Rideout et al, 2010).
If your leisure time could be represented by 10 tokens and you had
to distribute these 10 tokens across the activities you wanted to pursue
over the weekend, the probable results would be as follows:
4 tokens = watching television
2 tokens = socializing and communicating
2 tokens = playing around on the computer
1 token = travel and other
1 token = playing sports or working out
0 tokens = reading
In actuality, this distribution of tokens mirrors the average time
spent in leisure time activities by male and female students, aged 15-19,
during 2011. Although time spent reading would not be sufficient to
constitute a token, teens confessed to spending about 7 minutes per day
reading, or about 1/10 of the time spent surfing on the computer and 1/23
of the time spent watching television. (Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS),
2012).
Table 1. How teens, aged 15-19, spend their leisure time on weekends (daily averages)
Source: BLS, 2012.
Although teens have less leisure time on weekdays, particularly if
they are enrolled in high school or college, the percentage of time spent in
various activities is roughly the same as on weekends. Time spent in either
Washington Academy of Sciences
3
reading or relaxing remains far short of the time necessary to warrant a
token. The rarity of reading during the school week might seem surprising
to those who assume that homework might still involve reading required
texts outside of school hours. Apparently, reading is not a popular choice,
even when homework is assigned. Indeed, a recent study of adolescents in
a literature course found that most students read literary summaries on the
Internet and took notes during discussions in class in lieu of actually
reading the text. (Krieger, 2012). This quick and easy way of learning
about a text, sometimes called “fake reading,” has become de rigueur in
high schools. (Tenters, 2006).
Obviously, for most of their leisure time, teens are not reading
books, but are using electronic devices — television, the computer, or a
phone — as a way of mediating experience. Playing around with electronic
media provides instant gratification and an interactive experience, while
reading a book requires both work and focus. While the outcome of the
interaction with electronic media is fairly certain — some pleasing sounds
and images, perhaps a message from a friend, the outcome of reading a
book is anything but assured. With a book, interactions take place inside
the head; with electronic media, interactions are externalized and
dependent on the characteristics of the machine.
The Portable, Ubiquitous Brain
No device better represents the 2T^ century’ than today’s handy,
multi-use, smart phone. Carrying along a phone is like having a portable,
powerful brain in your pocket. Even if you are sitting on a beach in
California, within seconds, a phone can bring up images of ancient
Chinese scrolls, translate a chunk of text from Urdu to English, remind
you of an appointment, check the facts behind a recent political speech,
and shoot and transport a photo instantaneously to the other side of the
world. Magic.
On the college campus where I work, about half of the students on
their way to class walk while gazing at their phones; the other half wear
earbuds. Of course, one of the most popular uses for phones these days is
texting, which can and does occur any time and any place. Texting always
delivers the message, even if no one is on the receiving end. Although
texts are, by nature, written comments, they share characteristics
associated with the spontaneous and casual utterances of oral language.
However, texts also carry a sense of urgency, and, when a text is received,
real pressure exists to respond as quickly as humanly possible. A heavy
Fall 2012
4
texter can appear to be perpetually staring at his/her phone, trying to avoid
getting too far behind.
On average, adolescents send and receive more than 100 texts per
day. (Nielsen, 2011). Of course, some people text more often, such as the
high school student in Sacramento who recently sent and received over
300,000 texts in a single month, an average of 10,000 texts a day, or seven
messages a minute. {NBC Bay Area, 2009).
The centrality of the phone to contemporary life is difficult to
overstate. For most adolescents, the phone has become indispensable — it
is the first thing they grab in the morning and the last thing that they touch
before going to sleep at night. {Time, 2012, p. 34). Eighty-four percent of
teens sleep with their phones within easy reach of their beds. (Lenhart et
al, 2010).
In addition to keeping up with texts, emails, and voicemail, teens
feel compelled to monitor their status and the status of their friends on
social networking websites, such as Facebook. As it has been noted by
self-proclaimed Cyborg Anthropologist Amber Case, students today must
assiduously keep up with multiple identities — on social websites, for
online gaming, with various virtual acquaintances, and also in school
among peers, on a sports team, among friends, and within the family unit
(Case, 2012). A disparaging post, especially within a public group can be
damaging, and a few teens have had extreme responses to derogatory
remarks, including withdrawal, retaliation, and suicide. (Robers et al,
2012).
Keeping up with multiple identities within manifold groups takes
dedication and vigilance. The seemingly endless stream of news, gossip,
and “urgent messages” is one of the reasons adolescents have stopped
reading. Indeed, when queried about the lack of time devoted to reading
books, most adolescents respond, “I just don’t have the time.” (Mullen,
2010).
When Faster is Not Fast Enough
Certainly, a distinguishing feature of contemporary life is its sheer
speed. The time span that most humans consider an intolerable waiting
period continues to shorten. A laptop computer that takes more than ten
seconds to boot up seems antiquated; webpage that takes more than four
, seconds to load is unbearable. (ACM, 2007, p. 9).
Washington Academy of Sciences
5
Indeed, to wade through the information deluge at any moment in
time, to keep up with trends through Twitter and Pinterest; to read the
news on various websites; to peruse the most recent journals, magazines,
or books (300,000 new books or editions are published every year in the
United States); could take untold hours. Thus, multi-tasking has become a
necessary and expected way for humans to keep up. When watching TV,
for example, most viewers also operate at least one other device, such as a
phone, tablet, or laptop computer. (Nielsen, 2012).
James Gleick terms the obsession with speed, “hurry sickness,”
and classifies it as a kind of psychosis.
We — those of us in the faster cities and faster societies and
faster mass culture of the technocratic dawn of the third
millennium C.E. — are manic. The symptoms of mania are
all too familiar: volubility and fast speech; restlessness and
decreased need for sleep; heightened motor activity and
increased self-confidence. (Gleick, 1999, p. 36).
Unfortunately, one of the casualties of an always-on lifestyle is
that little time remains at the end of the day to sit back and think — about
what is important, what is superfluous, and what is worth pursuing. Quiet
moments of reflection that have traditionally accompanied reading seem
fewer and far between. George Steiner notes, “there is a fierce privacy to
print and claim on silence ... the traits of sensibility now most suspect.”
(Steiner, 1984, p. 435). Recall from Table 1 that adolescents spend only 12
minutes per day thinking and relaxing. Apparently, most teens must “hurry
up and relax” if they are going to relax at all.
Although technology can improve efficiency and speed, it is not a
panacea for all problems. Yet, the belief that any field can achieve
economies of scale with the proper application of technology and a
concomitant reduction in costs has become widespread. Educational
reformers compress four years of teacher preparation into five weeks
(Teach for America), the formerly fifth grade math curriculum wends its
way into the third grade (Common Core Curriculum), and the senior year
of high school becomes the ideal time for taking college-credit courses.
It has become blasphemous to suggest the possibility that certain
endeavors cannot be accelerated. Are there really short-cuts for becoming
a world class violinist, qualifying for the Olympics in the 10,000 meter
run, performing heart surgery, or teaching 30 rambunctious six-year-olds?
Fall 2012
6
Indeed, many endeavors, by their very nature, require years of practice,
unwavering discipline, and a laser-like, intensive focus.
Yet, these time-consuming, energy-depleting habits — practice,
discipline, focus — are precisely the habits that the electronic media does
not encourage. Electronic media offer quick, sensory joyrides; endless
distractions; and the ability to log on or shut off whenever and wherever
you feel like it. Unquestionably, a tension exists between the time
necessary for “slow-build” endeavors, such as building expertise and
frenetic “fastpitch” endeavors, such as making the rounds in chatroulette.
(chatroulette.com).
In a hurry-up world, there may be little time to reflect, so decisions
have to be made spontaneously, in the heat of the moment. To understand
how decisions are made under pressure, research on speed-dating can help.
In a speed-dating situation, participants gather in a room, then half sit at a
table (usually the women), while the other half (usually the men) move
from table to table every few minutes. A commercial website known as
“slow dating” offers the following rationale for extending the time for
actual conversation to a whopping four minutes:
We feel that three minutes is too short a time with all the
moving between tables and the note taking. We strongly
believe that four minutes is the right amount of time to
decide whether you’re prepared to invest more time in
follow up emails and phone calls to land a real date with
someone you meet at one of our events. Four minutes per
date also enables you to meet 15-20 dates in one night
without getting completely worn out. (Slow dating, 2012).
In speed-dating situations, even under conditions that promise a
full extra minute of interaction, most participants make up their minds
about the other party within the first seconds of contact. That is, most
participants make the decision to “like” or “dislike” instantaneously,
without regard to what the other person might actually say or do during
the conversation. (Houser et al, 2008).
When stakes are high and decisions must be immediate, stress
increases. A human being under stress, such as a person under attack by a
grizzly bear (at a national park or at a speed-dating event), may not have
time to think rationally. In most cases, stress invokes a “fight or flight”
reaction.
Washington Academy of Sciences
7
The Social Milieu of Words
In a hurry-up, high-stress world, words become, as William
Burroughs suggested, “an oxcart way of doing things, awkward
instruments.” (Burroughs, 1965). The challenge from the grizzly bear
evokes a scream, not an eloquent proclamation.
The form factor of the portable ubiquitous brain (phone), with its
tiny keys and small display makes images and abbreviations much more
practical than long passages of pure grammatically-correct text. Few
individuals are going to type a precise polysyllabic word when an
emoticon or short word with approximate meaning will suffice. As the
functions of phones become integrated into clothing and eyewear (a
contact lens that connects with the Internet has already been developed),
language will become ever more simplified.
Using emoticons and Internet acronyms slow the wear and tear on
thumb muscles (from typing too much) and can still manage to
communicate the gist of a message.
Example: u found digs (°n°). imho re good S. hope u not nifoc.
lol. Ttfn.
Translation: You found a new home? I am so happy for you. In my
humble opinion, real estate is an excellent value in today’s market. I
just hope that you are not naked in front of the computer right now. Oh,
I am Just trying to be funny (laugh out loud). Let’s talk to each other
again soon (ta-ta for now).
The condensed simplistic plainspeak of txtg (texting) aligns well
with the language of other electronic media. Scripts for television shows
and films are imagined transcriptions of conversations, and are written to
mimic human speech, which means the inclusion of inflections (like),
short words (hey), and simple sentences (Run for your life!). The more
complex language found in the exposition of books gets left behind when
content gets adapted for electronic media. (Baines, 1996).
Websites are dominated by images and plainspeak for many
reasons — to insure readability among visitors of all ages and reading
levels, to make comprehension easier for international visitors (or
translating machines), and to avoid alienating the multitudes, who by-and-
large shun text-heavy websites. (Teach, 2011). Most adolescents use the
Internet to view videos or images, play games, go shopping, or
visit/update their webpages. (J. Nielsen, 2012). It is a rare event when an
adolescent goes online to download and read one of the millions of free e-
Fall 2012
8
books available through Gutenberg.org, Bartleby.com. or other book-
related sites.
So. in re-examining the activities from Table 1, there seems to be
no time, save the few minutes spent relaxing or reading, when an
adolescent might possibly encounter an unfamiliar word.
Yet, literacy researchers insist that knowledge of words is most
often acquired informally, outside of school, principally through voluntary
reading. (Mason et al, 1991, p. 728). Free reading has been shown to be
the most accurate predictor of vocabulary growth in school-age children.
(Fielding et aL 1986). Encountering an unfamiliar word while free reading
does not mean that a student will automatically comprehend it, though
foggy notions about the meanings of words eventually lead to more
complete knowledge. (Nagy et aL 1985, 1987b). It turns out that having
partial knowledge of a word is advantageous-an essential step in
increasing one’s vocabulary . (Stanovich, 1991).
Although a student might have a 5-10% chance of learning the
meaning of any particular word from context, an encounter w ith 20,000
unfamiliar w^ords translates into an increased vocabulary of up to 2,000
words. (Nagy, 1988, p. 30). In recent years, it has been estimated that
school-age children’s vocabularies increase at the rate of approximately
3,000 words a year, until they reach their mid-teens. (Nagy & Herman,
1987; Miller &Gildea. 1987).
However, if reading continues to falter as a leisure time activity,
the amount of words that students wall know^ seems likely to fall. Books
are the repositories of language, and if students stop reading books, w here
wall they encounter new w^ords?
Words and the Intellect
About the importance of language, Swiss linguist Ferdinand de
Saussure wrote, '‘Without language, thought is a vague, uncharted nebula.
There are no pre-existing ideas and nothing is distinct before the
appearance of language.” (DeSaussure, 1974, p. 112). Certainly, words are
tools for organizing experience, interpreting sensory^ perceptions, and
giving meaning to life events. Typically, a person’s knowledge of words
corresponds with the measure of his/her general intelligence. Although
one cannot determine the causal complexities in the relationships among
reading comprehension, intelligence, and vocabulary^ knowledge with
unequivocal precision, the preponderance of research suggests a strong
Washington Academy of Sciences
9
correlation. To be sure, “the relationship between vocabulary and general
intelligence is one of the most robust findings in the history of
intelligence-testing.” (Beck et al, 1987, p. 147).
In a study involving more than 100,000 students from fifteen
different countries, the median correlations between a student’s
knowledge of vocabulary and reading performance ranged from .66 (18-
year-olds) to .75 (14-year-olds). (Thorndike & Lorge, 1972). Other
research has found that students with extensive vocabularies also seem to
possess an impressive semantic understanding of the connections among
words, an understanding that further aids in reading comprehension.
(Baker & Brown, 1984).
When students fail in school, it usually has more to do with their
lack of exposure to words and their inability to comprehend on-grade-level
texts than other factors, such as behavior, socio-economic status, or family
background. (Heath, 1982, 1983; Hart & Risley, 1995). Titeracy
researchers Healy and Barr write.
The use of one’s own words as one is learning subject
matter relieves the abstract nature of school knowledge,
causing reverberations and establishing resonances between
what is to be learned and what is already known. When
students of any background must foreshorten this natural
process, which they have used since birth to make sense of
their experiences, their achievement suffers. (Healy & Barr,
1991, p. 825).
Robert Marzano discerns three relationships between words and
thoughts:
1) Words are a form of thought,
2) Words are mediators of thought, and
3) Words are tools for enhancing thought.
According to Marzano, Words as a form of thought means that
language acts as the root of human cognition, supplementing and
synthesizing linguistic and nonlinguistic codes over time. Words as
mediators of thought has to do with the self-talk (or covert talk) that a
person uses to clarify and control his or her own thinking. Finally, because
spoken and written words are the very basic tools of learning, words
enhance thought. In Marzano ’s formulation, a person with low vocabulary
knowledge may find it difficult to understand a text, and difficulties may
Fall 2012
10
be exacerbated by limitations in thinking and the inability to self-reflect.
(Marzano, 1991, p. 563).
At the least, having a meager knowledge of words may be a
warning of sorts, as it is demonstrated by the fact that 60% of prisoners,
75% of welfare recipients, and 85% of unwed mothers can be classified as
poor or dysfunctional readers. (NCES, 2009; IRA 2012). Obviously, a lack
of word knowledge does not necessarily lead to a life of crime,
unemployment, and sex at an early age, but poor reading and writing skills
are serious impediments to academic success at all levels. (Radunzel &
Noble, 2012).
Towards an Electronically-Mediated Oral and Visual Culture
The current fashion is to insert voice recognition capabilities into
more and more machines. Today, the driver of a car can change the radio
station by simply telling the car to choose another station; a son can speak
to his mother by telling his phone, “Call mom;” a journalist can record and
transcribe an interview in real time with the help of a computer.
In his book Orality and Literacy, Walter Ong makes the claim that
the structure of the brain, itself, is dependent upon how much a person
reads and writes in comparison with how much a person listens and
speaks. The languages of oral cultures, for example, typically contain less
than five thousand words, while chirographic cultures (those based upon a
written alphabet) typically contain hundreds of thousands of words. For
example, there exist over a million and a half words in print in English.
(Ong, 1982, p. 107).
The ability to capture thought into succinct written language,
according to Ong, provided the impetus for the development of modem
science. (Ong, 1982, p. 114). That is, the sophisticated tools of language
made possible the expression of complex thoughts, ideas, and intuitions,
which otherwise would have gone unrecorded. Words in an oral culture
are fewer and the meanings may be less precise. In an oral culture, one
word may serve many functions. For example, a single word might signify
all objects that fly-be it a mosquito, bird, airplane, rocket, or pilot. (Whorf,
1974).
In an oral culture, communication is often done in the presence of
the group. At a fundamental level, oral culture relies upon sound, image,
and the immediacy of the group experience, while a chirographic culture is
built upon the written word and individual experience.
Washington Academy of Sciences
11
From this perspective, the popularity of social networking sites that
are predicated on an ongoing group experience, such as Facebook, could
be construed as a sign of a shift towards an oral society. The one-
dimensional unifying themes and crowdsourcing on display at recent
political conventions also highlight the tendency towards groupthink and
the valorization of perception over rational thought. Although most
societies represent a blend of the oral and chirographic, lately, the United
States seems to be moving its chirographic culture to the cloud so it can
free up more space to experience the now of electronically-mediated
information.
Words and Biology
Although Walter Ong was a professor of English literature and
philosopher, his theories have been confirmed by neuroscientists who
measure physical changes and blood flow differentials in the brain through
various technologies, such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET). In a
recent experiment, pictures of the brains of a group of struggling readers
were taken as part of a pretest. Then, the struggling readers were given
1 00 hours of intensive, “word therapy” to help them improve their reading
comprehension. After 100 hours of word therapy, pictures of the
struggling readers’ brains revealed that, as their reading comprehension
improved, their brains physically changed.
Lev Vygotsky, the Russian educator who died in 1934, postulated
that words were crucial to the cognitive development of children to such
an extent that they could influence behavior in nonlinguistic, as well as
linguistic, ways. The final sentence of Vygotsky’s book Mind in Society
declares that “a word is a microcosm of human consciousness.”
(Vygotsky, 1978).
Since the 1980s, Yale University Psychiatrist Ralph Hoffman has
adapted aspects of Vygotsky’s theories to explore the causes of
schizophrenia. (Hoffman, 1986a, 1986b, 1986c, 1991, 2012). One of
Hoffman’s major breakthroughs has been the hypothesis that verbal
hallucinations or “voices” heard by schizophrenics may result from the
inability to regulate their own discourse plans. Consequently, the voices
that schizophrenics hear may be ideas that have somehow wandered off
from their conscious brains.
Through Hoffman’s version of “word therapy,” a program that
teaches schizophrenics to gain control over ideas and their overt
expression, verbal hallucinations have been almost totally eradicated.
Fall 2012
12
Thus, from two different perspectives, Vygotsky and Hoffman
demonstrate the power of words. to not only capture thoughts, but to direct
thoughts as well.
When she encounters words. Temple Grandin, the renowned
equipment designer for the livestock industry, translates “both spoken and
written words into full-color movies, complete with sound, which run like
a VCR tape in my head.” (Grandin, 2006a). Grandin, who is autistic, is
able to visualize complete facilities for animals without invoking words.
(Grandin, 2006b). However, when communicating her ideas to others,
Grandin still must translate the images in her head into words. That she
has written ten books would seem strong evidence that, even in the mind
of an image-dominated savant like Temple Grandin, words play a critical
role.
Goldfish in a Bowl
Conjecture concerning how a transformation from words to
sensations will affect how we think and live is necessarily speculative.
E.M. Forster has said that “it is a mistake to think that books have come to
stay. The human race did without them for thousands of years and may
decide to do without them again.” (Forster cited in Plimpton, 1990, p.
351).
However, from the time of the pre-Socratic societies of Greece to
the bounty on the head of Salman Rushdie, and every war and love affair
in between, the degree to which words can empower or incapacitate has
depended upon the linguistic dexterity of the user. Alfred North
Whitehead has suggested that language was the primary force in the
creation of the soul - “The mentality of mankind and the language of
mankind created each other. The account of the sixth day should be
written, ‘He gave them speech, and they became souls.’” (Shrodes et al,
1974, p. 76).
Ernst Cassirer, in his studies of language and mythology, often
wrote about the sacrosanct quality of words. “There must be some
particular, essentially unchanging function that endows the Word with this
extraordinary, religious character, and exalts it ab initio to the religious
sphere, the sphere of the ‘holy.’ In the creation accounts of almost all great
cultural religions, the Word appears in league with the highest Ford of
creation; either as the tool which he employs or actually as the primary
source from which He, like all other Being and order of Being, is derived.”
(Cassirer, 1925, pp. 45-46).
Washington Academy of Sciences
13
The medium is not only the message as Marshall MacLuhan
alleged, but the propensities and constraints of media affect both the
content of the message and how the message will be received. Every new
medium — cars, railroads, computers, telephones, electric lights —
reorganizes our consciousness, but like goldfish in a bowl, we remain
unaware of the transformation.
In a culture biased towards image and sound, in a culture that has
little need for words to symbolically represent social reality, the possibility
exists that an individual may not possess the resources with which to
express what is in the mind. If that possibility is indeed a reality, then, as
the corpus of language shrinks, so shrinks human capacity for intelligent
thought. One wonders what can exist in the mind to express without the
language with which to express it.
In the book Crisis of Our Age, Pitirim Sorokin contends that ours is
an age obsessed with the sensate-the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, and
leisure, at the expense of social responsibility, virtue, and truth. For
humans enraptured by the sensate, only the present moment is real and
desirable; consequently the impulse is to “snatch the present kiss; get rich
quick; seize the power, popularity, fame, and opportunity of the moment.”
(Sorokin, 1943, p. 97).
Electronic media offer an endless array of sensuous experiences
and they offer them right here, right now, and without strings — no need to
decode text, or even, to think rationally. Today it is possible to spend more
time in the vicarious realms of electronic media than in the “real world.”
Many people do.
In twenty-first century society, electronic media, not religion,
serves as the ''opium des volkesC (Marx, 1843). It is not a religious
artifact, but the big-screen television that has become the dominant artifact
in contemporary homes. Adolescents do not carry around pocket-size
religious texts; they carry phones.
It is well known that Plato wanted to banish the poets from his
Republic. Eric Havelock in his book Preface to Plato explains why.
During the time in which Plato lived, poets roamed from town to town,
telling long, elaborate tales from memory in front of large crowds.
Plato did not want the poets in his Republic because he thought his
fellow citizens should think for themselves. The rambling poets of Ancient
Greek times were not renowned thinkers. They recited; they pandered;
they performed. Havelock writes that ancient Greek poetry, “far from
Fall 2012
14
disclosing the true relations of things or the true definitions of the moral
virtues, forms a kind of refracting screen which disguises and distorts
reality and at the same time distracts us and plays tricks with us by
appealing to the shallowest of our sensibilities.” (Havelock, 1963, p. 26).
Havelock’s message about the threats posed by distraction,
distortion, and superficiality seems prescient. The problem is that many of
us are reticent to read such a challenging text. We may lack either the
vocabulary to understand it or the time to read and reflect on it. An easier
course of action would be to wait for the film adaptation and maybe order
it through Netflix.
References
Association for Computing Machinery (2007, January). Four second
warning. Communications of the ACM 561(1).
Cassirer, E. (1925). Sprache und Mythos: Bin Beitrag zum Problem der
Gotternamen. Leipzig, Germany: B. G. Teubner. English Translation
by Susanne Langer: Language and Myth. 1946. New York and
London: Harpers & Brothers. (Edition consulted: Unabridged and
unaltered republication by Dover Publications, 1953, pp. 45-46).
Baines, L. (1996). From page to screen. Journal of adolescent and adult
literacy 59(8): 612-622.
Baker, L. & Brown, A. (1984). Metacognitive skills and reading. In P.
Pearson, R. Barr, M. Karmi 1, & P. Mosenthal (Eds.), Handbook of
reading research (pp. 353-394). White Plains, NY: Longman.
Beck, T, McKeown, M. & Omanson, R. (1987). The effects and uses of
diverse vocabulary instructional techniques. In M. McKeown & M.
Curtis (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition (pp. 147-163).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012). American time use survey. Retrieved
from www.bls.gov/tus.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012). Table 11: Time spent in leisure and
sports activities for the civilian population by selected
characteristics, 2011 annual averages. Retrieved from
www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.tl 1 .htm.
Burroughs, W. (1965). The Art of Fiction No. 36. Interview by Conrad
Knickerbocker. The Paris Review, 55, Fall 1965, pp. 13-45.
Washington Academy of Sciences
15
Case, A. (2012). Cyborg anthropology. Retrieved from
http://caseorganic.com/blog/
DeSaussure, F. (1974). Course in general linguistics. New York, N.Y.:
McGraw Hill.
Fielding, L., Wilson, P. & Anderson, R. (1986). A new focus on free
reading: The role of trade books in reading instruction. In T. Raphael
(Ed.), The contexts of school-based literacy (pp. 149-160). New
York, N.Y.: Random House.
Forster, E., cited in Plimpton, G. (1990). The writer's chapbook, New
York: Viking.
Gleick, J. (1999) Faster. New York, N.Y.: Pantheon.
Grandin, T. (2006). Thinking in pictures. Retrieved from
www.grandin.com/incvisual.thinking.html
Grandin, T. (2006). Animals in translation. New York, N.Y.: Mariner
Books.
Hart. B. & Risley, T. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday
experience of young American children. Baltimore: Brookes
Publishing.
Healy, M. & Barr, M. (1991). Language across the curriculum. In J. Flood,
J. Jensen, D. Lapp & J. Squire (Eds.), Handbook of research on
teaching the English language arts (pp. 820-825). New York, N.Y.:
MacMillan, p. 825.
Heath, S. (1982). What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at school
and home. Language in society, If 49-75.
Heath, S. (1983). Ways with words. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Hoffman, R. (1986a, September). What can schizophrenic “voices” tell
us? Behavior and Brain P(3), 535-548.
Hoffman, R. (1986b, September). Verbal hallucinations and language
production processes in schizophrenia. Behavioral and Brain 9(3),
503-517.
Hoffman, R. (1986c, September). A comparative study of manic vs.
schizophrenic speech disorganization. Archives of General
Psychiatry 43(9), 831-838.
Fall 2012
16
Hoffman, R. (1991, November-December). The Duphar lecture: On the
etiology of alien, nonself attributes of schizophrenic “voices.”
Psychopathology 24(6), 347-355.
Hoffman, R. (2012). Yale medical group. Retrieved from
www.yalemedicalgroup.org.
Houser, M., Horan, S. & Purler, L. (2008). Dating in the fast lane. Journal
of social and personal relationships 25(5), 749-768.
International Reading Association (2012). Literacy facts. Retrieved from
www.reading.org/downloads/meetings/ILD2007 literacv-facts.pdf.
Keman, A. (1992). The Death of Literature. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press.
Krieger, C. (2012). What strategies do resistive readers use to fake their
way through school assigned texts! (Unpublished doctoral
dissertation). The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.
Leach, A. (2011, March 20). Website redesign: A design for strife. The
Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-
style/gadgets-and-tech/features/website-redesign-a-design-for-strife-
2248852.html.
Lenhart, A., Ling, R., Campbell, S. & Purcell, K. (2010). Sleeping with the
phone on or near the bed. Retrieved from
http://www.pewintemet.org/Reports/20 1 0/Teens-and-Mobile-
Phones/Chapter-3/Sleeping-with-the-phone-on-or-near-the-bed.aspx
Tenters, K. (2006). Resistance, stmggle, and the adolescent reader.
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(2), 136-146.
Marx, K. (1843). A contribution to the critique ofHegeTs Philosophy of
Right. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-
hpr/intro.htm.
Marzano, R. (1991). Language, the language arts and the teaching of
thinking. In J. Flood, J. Jensen, D. Lapp & J. Squire (Eds.),
Handbook of research in teaching the English language arts (pp.
559-586). New York, N.Y.: MacMillan.
Mason, J., Herman, P. & Au, K. (1991). Children’s developing knowledge
of words. In Flood, J., Jensen, J., Lapp, D. & Squire, J. (Eds.)
Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts (pp.
721-731). New York, N.Y.: MacMillan.
Washington Academy of Sciences
17
Miller, G. & Gildea, P. (1987). How children learn words. Scientific
American 2S7(3), 94-99.
Mullan, K. (2010). Families that read: A time-diary analysis of young
people’s and parents’ reading. Journal of research in reading, ii(4),
414-430.
Nagy, W. (1988). Teaching vocabulary to improve reading
comprehension. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
Nagy, W. & Herman, P. (1987a). Breadth and depth of vocabulary
knowledge: Implications for acquisition and instruction. In M.
McKeown & M. Curtis (Eds.) The nature of vocabulary acquisition.
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Nagy, W., Anderson, R. & Herman, P. (1987b). Eeaming word meanings
from context during normal reading. American Educational
Research Journal 24, 237-270.
Nagy, W., Herman, P. & Anderson, R. (1985). Eeaming words from
context. Reading research quarterly 29, 233-253.
National Center for Education Statistics (2009). Basic reading skills and
the literacy of the America ’s least literate adults. Washington D.C.:
Institute of Education Statistics.
NBC Bay Area (2009, May 5). Teen texts 300,000 times in month.
Retrieved from www.nbcbayarea. com/ne wsbusiness/T een-T exts-
30Q0QQ-Times-In-Month.html.
Nielsen (2011). The mobile media report: State of the media. Retrieved
from http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports-
downloads/20 1 1/state-of-the-media— mobile-media-report-q3-
2011.html
Nielsen (2012). State of the media: U.S. Digital Consumer Report.
Retrieved from http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports-
downloads/20 1 2/us-digital-consumer-report.html
Nielsen, J. (2012). Writing for the web. Retrieved from
www.useit.com/papers/webwriting.
Ong, W. (1982). Orality and literacy. New Haven, CT: Yale University
Press.
Radunzel, J. & Noble, J. (2012). High school graduates: College
readiness, enrollment, and long-term success. Iowa City, lA: ACT.
Fall 2012
18
Rideout, V., Foehr, U. & Roberts, D. (2010). Generation M2. Washington,
D.C.: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Robers, S., Truman, J. & Zhang, J. (2012). Indicators of school crime and
safety: 2011. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
Slow dating (2012). Is four minutes per date long enough? Retrieved from
http://www.slowdating.com/faq.aspx
Sorokin, P. (1943). Crisis of our age. New York, N.Y.: Dutton.
Stanovich, K. (1991). Word recognition: Changing perspectives. In Barr,
R., Kamil, M., Mosenthal, P. & Pearson, P. (Eds. ) Handbook of
reading research (pp. 418-452). New York: Longman.
Steiner, G. (1984). George Steiner: A reader. New York, N.Y.: Penguin.
Thorndike, E. & Lorge, I. (1972). The teacher’s word book of words. New
York, N.Y.: Teachers College Press.
Time (2012, August 27). How has wireless technology changed how you
live your life? p. 34.
Whitehead, A. (1974). Modes of thought. In C. Shrodes, H. Finestone &
M. Shugrue (Eds.), The Conscious Reader, New York, N.Y.:
MacMillan.
Whorf, B. (1974). Language, thought and reality. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T.
Press.
Vygotsky, L (1978). Mind in society. Boston, MA: Harvard Press.
Bio
Lawrence Baines serves as chair of Instructional Leadership and
Academic Curriculum at The University of Oklahoma. Previously, he has
held positions as The Judith Daso Herb Endowed Chair at University of
Toledo and The G. Leland Green Endowed Chair at Berry College
(Georgia). His webpage is www.lawrencebaines.com.
Washington Academy of Sciences
19
Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual
Dana Byrd
Texas A & M University at Kingsville
Abstract
Most language research has focused on monolingual speakers. However,
bilingualism/multilingualism is far from unusual. Recent studies reveal that 50%
of the world is multilingual and about 20% of households in the U.S. speak more
than one language, with the majority using Spanish. Previously, researchers
perceived bilingualism as a burden rather than a benefit, especially in children.
The burden involves having to learn multiple vocabularies, grammars, and
nuances, creating a potential for a smaller vocabulary and weaker associations
between actual words and their meaning, as reflected in slower response in
naming objects. However, under the right circumstances, many bilinguals are
fully functional in both languages, so deficits are not necessarily permanent or
profound. In fact, evidence indicates that bilinguals not only have differences in
non-language thinking and brain functioning from monolinguals, but also
benefits over monolinguals. Research suggests that being bilingual has an effect
if both languages are presented from an early age, changing the way bilinguals
process and react to information. Being bilingual in childhood seems to
accelerate complex cognitive processing. While this advantage appears less
marked during the peak of cognitive ability (young adulthood), underlying
changes in cognitive abilities and neurological structure carry forward into older
adulthood, slowing cognitive decline. Interesting questions remain about the
nature of the bilingualism and how it plays a role in generating benefits.
Introduction
The development and use of language is arguably the most important
characteristic that separates humans from other species. To date, however,
most language research has focused on monolingual subjects, in spite of
the fact that bilingualism/multilingualism in today’s world is far from
unusual. Recent studies have revealed that 50% of the world is
multilingual (Grosjean, 2010), and that approximately 20% of households
in the United States speak more than one language, with the majority of
U.S. bilingual speakers using Spanish (Shin & Kominshi, 2010).
But how do bilinguals manage the different languages that they
use? How is it that they select one language to use in one setting and then
switch to another in another language in another context? How do they
switch from one language to the other casually as they converse with a
fellow bilingual? These questions all boil down to the question of how
Fall 2012
20
bilinguals store, activate, and produce their languages. By extension, how
has becoming bilingual/multilingual affected the development of their
overall development of the mind? In recent years, knowledge about how
our minds work has expanded greatly as the result of improved research
techniques. Advances in verbal and nonverbal assessments provide much
more specific information about cognitive development in areas of
interest. Similarly neuroscientific research of the mind has been greatly
enhanced through electroencephalographic (EEG) and functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. Together these research approaches
have yielded important information about the cognitive and linguistic
development of bilingual speakers.
‘‘Activation” of Listening and Production
in More Than One Language
It may not seem surprising that bilinguals, when spoken to, are
listening for words in both languages, making themselves “open” to
receiving information in either language. What is surprising, however, is
that there is evidence that both languages are activated for language
production at the same time, even for production of just a single word
(Martin, Dering, Thomas, & Thierry, 2009). The convention for labeling a
speaker’s first, often stronger language is “El,” whereas the speaker’s
second language is labeled “L2.” Hatzidaki, Branigan and Pickering
(2011) reported that the degree of activation is stronger in the more
dominant language (typically El). Bilinguals may also be activating both
grammar systems when generating language in an interchange, or at least
when they are switching back and forth between the two languages
(Hatzidaki, Branigan, & Pickering, 2011), as some bilinguals do
automatically when interacting with their bilingual peers (Gollan &
Ferreira, 2009).
How do bilinguals handle this dual activation of languages? With
this dual activation there may be largely unconscious, though in some
cases conscious cognitive control that allows selection. This control may
be activation of one language or inhibition of the other, or even the
controlled alternating activation and inhibition upon switching back and
forth between languages when speaking with someone who is equally
bilingual (Kroll, Bobb, Misra, & Guo, 2008). This ability to switch
between languages with such ease has been demonstrated through
functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or IMRI, a measure of the blood
flow in the brain during certain tasks. These images show that in
Washington Academy of Sciences
21
bilinguals the areas of the brain used for each of the two languages are the
same (Wang, Xue, Chen, Xue, & Dong, 2007).
The Burdens of Being Bilingual
In past decades, and perhaps even today, researchers have
perceived bilingualism as a burden rather than a benefit, especially in
children. The burden involves having to learn multiple vocabularies,
grammars, and even cultural nuances. As a result, there is the potential for
a smaller vocabulary (Bialystok & Luk, 2011, Bialystok, Luk, Peets, &
Yang, 2010) and “weaker links” or associations between actual words and
meaning they represent, resulting in slower object naming (Bialystok,
Craik, Green, & Gollan, 2009). Depending on their circumstances, many
bilinguals are fully functional in both languages. Clearly, these deficits are
not permanent or profound. Bilingualism, if so common that half the
world population is bilingual, is not an abnormal state of brain
development. In fact, there is a long-standing body of evidence that
bilinguals have differences in their non-language thinking and brain
functioning that show not only variation from monolinguals, but also
benefits over monolinguals.
The Benefits of Being Bilingual
The benefits of bilingualism can appear as early as infancy,
resulting in an improved early ability to form categories and interpersonal
associations. Infants exposed to bilingual environments begin to use
acoustic information to distinguish their two languages, a step toward
understanding that there are cognitive categories that must be
distinguished. Once past the pre-lingual state of development, young
children being raised in bilingual environments learn to use the language
appropriate to the person to whom they are speaking. Such
accommodation to individual speakers may be the result of simple trial-
and-error learning. In other words, young bilingual children learn that if
they correctly match the language with their conversational partner, they
get positive results, but if they mismatch the language to the person, they
get no results. Therefore, for early bilingual language learners, this
learning is the beginning of understanding interpersonal association and
context not yet acquired by their monolingual peers (Werker & Byers-
Heinlein, 2008). Putting it differently, early bilingual language learners
may have an advantage over monolinguals in understanding others’ states
of mind. These preschoolers show evidence that they know that certain
people will understand certain languages. This cognitive ability to
Fall 2012
22
1
understand that there are differences in others’ understanding is referred to
as “Theory of Mind.”
Theory of Mind
Emergence of Theory of Mind (ToM) is a major milestone for a
preschooler: realizing that other persons can think, and that these other
people think differently than the child does. For example, a young child
without ToM might stand directly in front of the TV thinking, ‘T can see
the TV, so everyone else in the house can see the TV too.” A child
achieves a more sophisticated state of Theory of Mind upon realizing that
someone else can not only think differently than the child about the world,
but that the other person may hold a false belief.
This point can be illustrated using a standard ToM assessment. A
preschool child is shown a box labeled for crayons and asked what he
thinks is inside. The child predictably answers, “crayons.” Next the child
is shown that the box contains ribbons. A new person whom the child has
never met comes into the room and the experimenter asks the child to
name what the new person think is in the box. If the child answers
“crayons,” he has achieved ToM. The preschooler recognizes that the new
person has a state of mind different than his own, and that the new person
will reach the same conclusion about the crayon box that the child did in
the past: that it contains crayons. If the child has not achieved ToM, he
will think that the new person must share the same “state of mind” or
knowledge as the child. In this situation, the child will reply that the box
contains ribbons.
How do Monolingual and Bilingual Preschoolers
Compare in the Acquisition of ToM?
Young monolingual preschoolers, about 3 years of age, usually fail
ToM tests such as the one described above, whereas older preschoolers,
about 5 years of age, pass this test. When younger preschoolers, just on the
cusp of understanding ToM, are given the test an interesting difference is
seen between monolingual and bilingual children. When presented this
false belief task, a greater number of younger bilingual preschoolers than
monolinguals passed the test demonstrating ToM, even when age and
verbal ability were taken into account (Farhadian, Abdullah, Mansor,
Redzuan, Gazanizadand, & Kumar, 2010). This false belief task was even
tested to see whether a language advantage would further improve their
ToM performance. Bilingual children were presented a version of the task
in which the new person entering the room spoke a different language than
Washington Academy of Sciences
23
the person who knew the truth about the box of crayons. The same
advantage was found in the bilingual children regardless of the language
in which the stimuli were presented. So, younger bilingual preschool
children can understand about other’s thinking earlier and in a more
sophisticated way than monolingual children. It was an advantage
independent of language (Kovacs, 2009).
The study above, which controls for verbal ability, suggests that
the child’s more sophisticated ToM skills are not solely the result of more
sophisticated verbal skills. But are these bilingual children also able to
perform in a more advanced way than monolinguals on nonverbal tasks?
Are their increased abilities more global, that is, beyond using language to
enable their reasoning? One way to answer these questions, other than
giving language-based tests and controlling for language, is to use non-
verbal tests. Do bilingual preschoolers still excel beyond monolingual
preschoolers on those tasks? It appears that on certain tasks, but not all,
the answer is yes. Preschool bilinguals have increased thinking abilities
compared to monolinguals.
How else can these tasks be described? Complex tasks, like the
Theory of Mind tasks, require certain specific higher level thinking
abilities that have been termed “executive functions” or “frontal lobe”
functions.
Executive Function and Frontal Lobe Development
What are “executive functions?” According to the theory of
cognitive development described by Baddeley (1996), executive functions
are a type of higher- level cognitive function that requires careful control
of attention. More specifically, in Baddeley’ s theory there is a part of
human thinking called the “central executive.” Its job is like that of an
executive in a company: not to do the actual work, but to direct the
cognitive work that is done. The central executive controls which
cognitive functions receive attention in a given circumstance, and which
cognitive functions are inhibited. A task that requires a great deal of
attentional control or inhibition is referred to as “tapping into an executive
function” (Baddeley, 1996).
Another term frequently used in conjunction with the ability to
focus and control our attention is “frontal lobe” development. What are
frontal lobe functions? Why is this term used somewhat interchangeably
with executive functions? The ability to focus and control our attention is
neurologically seated in the frontal and prefrontal cortex, the front most
Fall 2012
24
part of the human brain behind the forehead. Development of this area is
late to develop in children, as anyone who has been around a young child
can attest when they admonish the child to “pay attention” and “stop doing
that.” One reason children are late to develop attentional control and
inhibitory ability is because this frontal area is the final portion of the
brain to develop through the increasing myelination of the neurons in this
area. Myelination is a process by which the neurons are wrapped with
non-neuronal brain cells called glial cells. These glial cells allow the
neuron responses in synchrony. They appear white, and therefore these
myelinated areas are referred to as white matter, in contrast to the grey
matter of non-myelinated areas (Fuster, 2002a-d, 2008).
Behavioral Tests of Executive/Frontal
Lobe Functioning in Children
Evidence from a number of non-language tasks suggests that
preschool age bilingual children have better control over their attention
and their inhibition, or executive or frontal lobe functions, than do their
monolingual peers. One test used to assess executive function is the
Dimensional Change Card Sort or DCCS (Frye, Zelazo, & Palfai, 1995);
(Zelazo, Frye, & Rapus, 1996). This task, in its most basic form, contains
cards that differ in two dimensions, such as color and shape. For example,
some cards are red and some blue. The same cards also come in two other
denominations, such as boat cards and car cards. The children are asked to
sort the cards based on color. Then the game is switched and the children
are asked to sort on the basis of the other category, shape. Young
monolingual preschoolers, approximately 3 years of age, committed the
error of continuing to sort the cards based on the first category (color),
while older monolingual preschoolers, approximately 5 years of age,
successfully sorted based on the new category (Zelazo, 2006). The
bilingual subjects outperformed the monolingual subjects at a younger age
when asked to inhibit paying attention to the perceptual differences in the
cards that continue to distract the monolingual children, in this case colors.
What if a twist is put on the game? A twist was designed by
Bialystok and Martin (2004) further to determine which type(s) of
cognitive development are stronger in bilingual preschool subjects when
compared to their monolingual peers. The first category involves some
surface/perceptual attribute like color (red vs. blue). The second category
involves something deeper in meaning, something more
semantic/representational, such as function (toys vs. something to wear).
In this case the children were asked to sort based on the surface/perceptual
Washington Academy of Sciences
25
category first, then they were switched to sorting along
representational/semantic dimensions (toys vs. something to wear). When
this twist had been added, the bilingual benefit disappeared. Bilingual and
monolingual subjects alike committed the error of continuing to sort based
on the first category instead of attending to the second category. This
result suggests that the perceptual-to-perceptual shift is easier for
bilinguals, but the perceptual-to-representational/semantic shift proved
just as challenging to bilingual and monolingual preschoolers alike.
Therefore, there are limits on the benefits of attentional control of the
central executive or frontal lobes in bilinguals. Bialystok and Martin’s
study showed that young bilingual preschoolers demonstrated benefits
only when there is selective inhibition of attention related to surface rather
than deep meaning.
A study by Carlson and Meltzoff (2008) expanded research by
Bialystok and others in multiple studies, producing a 9-test battery of
executive function tasks, in which the performance of native bilingual
children, those who are taught English through an “immersion program”,
was compared to their monolingual peers. Six subtests were categorized as
those involving “conflicting information” regarding their cues for action.
For example, the subjects were asked to sort on the basis of color, but if
the card also had a gold star, the subjects were expected to sort on the
basis of shape. Another subtest involved having the subjects play “Simon
says.” The other three subtests focused on the kindergarteners delaying
their response according to the examiner’s instructions. When independent
tests were statistically grouped, the benefits of bilingualism were seen
only on the tests where the children were presented conflicting
information in their cues for action. In contrast, those subtests that
assessed delaying responses did not show group differences (Carlson &
Meltzoff, 2008). These findings can be seen as more evidence toward the
hypothesis that bilinguals deal better with surface conflicting information
tasks than monolinguals do.
The results of the study revealed that, even though the native
bilingual children as a group had a lower socioeconomic status, the native
bilingual speakers outperformed their monolingual peers, a finding
consistent with the studies by Bialystok and Martin (2004). Carlson and
Meltzoff s study also revealed that students who have been enrolled in an
English immersion program did not perform differently than the
monolingual subjects. These findings suggest that the bilingual advantage
must be developed over an extended period of time, beginning at a very
early age.
Fall 2012
26
Bilingual Differences Beyond Early Childhood
Do the more advanced executive functions found in native
bilingual preschoolers and kindergarteners persist throughout life?
Bilingual differences have been found in young children in executive
functions, specifically those that require attentional control and inhibition
based on conflicting information (Bialystok & Craik, 2010). These
bilingual benefits are seen in young children, but interestingly, the benefits
become more muted in adulthood, present only when the task is at its most
challenging (Costa, Hernandez, & Sebastian-Galles, 2008). Bilingual
differences then re-emerge in late adulthood. It is possible that these
periods of development where there are changing amounts of myelination
and individual differences in neural development may be periods where
the bilingual effect is most evident (Bialystok, Craik, & Luk, 2012).
Research has shown that frontal lobe functions are also among the
earliest to decline, with the amount of white matter declining over later
adult years, even as part of healthy aging (Bartzokis, Sultzer, Lu,
Nuechterlein, Mintz, & Cummings, 2004). It is for this reason that these
pivotal times of transition in development and change in childhood and
later adulthood are of such great interest in the research of higher level
cognitive functions such as attentional control. It is also why - if
researchers suspect that higher level thinking, executive functions, or
frontal lobe functions differ between bilinguals and monolinguals - they
focus on these times of transition, childhood and old age, when attentional
control and amounts of frontal white matter exhibit the greatest changes.
Bilingual Benefits in Old Age
Research of cognitive benefits in older bilingual individuals has
been performed through both behavioral and neuroscientific studies. As
was found in the previously cited studies with young bilingual children,
there is a bilingual benefit in the executive functions of older adults. When
Bialystok, Craik, and Luk (2008) administered a battery of tests to older
bilingual and monolingual adults, the results were mixed. Language tasks
were performed less well by the bilinguals, the working memory tasks
were performed equally well by monolinguals and bilinguals, and the
executive function tasks were performed better by the bilinguals
(Bialystok, Craik, & Luk, 2008).
Results of a study by Bialystok, Craik, Klein, and Viswanathan
(2004) revealed a bilingual advantage in older adults in a specific non-
language executive function task, the Simon task. In this task, subjects
Washington Academy of Sciences
27
were presented a color block appearing in one of two colors, in this case
red and blue. Both younger and older adult participants were asked to
press the left key when presented a red block, but push the right key if
presented a blue block. On some trials the color block was presented on
the same side as the key. On other trials the color block was presented on
the opposite side of the screen; for example on the left side of screen a
blue block appears, cueing pressing of the far right key. On the second
type of trials, each participant tries to inhibit the conflicting cue to press
the button on the same side, resulting in slower reaction times and more
mistakes for all subgroups of subjects. This task requires inhibition of
response based on perceptual conflict. As expected, younger participants
performed better than older adult participants. This result reflects the
deterioration of white matter in the frontal lobes, causing executive
functions to decline in old age. However, the older bilingual adults were
found to perform better and faster on this task than the older monolingual
adults, with a greater bilingual benefit for older compared to younger
adults.
So there is additional evidence, this time on the other end of the
life span, that there is an advantage in higher level cognitive processing in
bilingual adults. With the increased percentage of the population reaching
later age, and with overall life expectancy expanding, understanding
healthy aging has become a focus of research. What is it about being
bilingual that results in this advantage of appearing to slow cognitive
decline in older adults? Neuroscience has been able to provide insight,
particularly research focusing on the frontal regions of the brain.
More specifically, recent neuroscientific advances have allowed
for direct exploration of differences in white matter myelination in the
brains of bilinguals compared to monolinguals. It is known that neurons
with a greater amount of white matter have water running through them
(as compared to diffusing out), as occurs to a greater extent in
unmyelinated gray matter. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is structural
magnetic resonance imaging that can detect these patterns of directional
water paths in neurons and thus detect the amount of white matter in the
brain. There is a decrease in white matter in old age seen throughout the
brain, including the frontal areas of the brain. The important connections
between this executive part of the brain and the more anterior portions of
the brain are thought to be how this frontal executive area supplies
attention and inhibition to other working areas of the brain. A recent study
using DTI compared the brains of older bilingual and monolingual adults.
More myelinated white matter was observed in the brains of the bilingual
Fall 2012
28
participants, connecting both the hemispheres together as well as
connecting frontal parts of the brain to more anterior parts (Luk,
Bialystok, Craik, & Grady, 2011). This study of older adults and the
bilingual brain stands out as measuring a population where the white
matter of the frontal lobes is in flux, and where the bilingualism benefits
appear very marked.
What Is The Benefit? Conclusions and Future Studies
What is it that bilinguals can do better than monolinguals? The
research presented in this paper suggests that being bilingual has an effect
if both languages are presented from an early age. In childhood, being
bilingual seems to accelerate complex cognitive processing. While this
advantage appears less marked during the peak of cognitive ability (young
adulthood), underlying changes in cognitive abilities and neurological
structure carry forward into older adulthood, slowing the cognitive
decline.
There are still many questions to ask about the nature of the
bilingualism and how it plays a role in generating the bilingual benefit.
How early must an individual become bilingual in order to gain the
“bilingual advantage”? Also, what are the multiple ways to be bilingual
and the degrees of bilingualism? For example, there is the passive t
bilingual, completely proficient in a first language, who may be able to
understand what is spoken in the second language but unable to produce
speech in the second language. Will these individuals still show the
bilingual benefit? There is also the question of the environment in which
the two languages are spoken. If an individual speaks only his first
language at home, but uses a second language exclusively at school or
work, is that the same as someone who is code switching all day '
(switching back and forth between languages, sometimes within the same
sentence)? What happens to the individual who learned his native
language as a young child, then immigrated to a country using an entirely
different language? Will the suppression of the first language affect the
neurological bilingual advantage in later years? With so many questions
still unanswered and new techniques of neuroscience and assessment to
help answer them, much will be learned about the fascinating phenomenon
of the bilingual benefit.
Washington Academy of Sciences
29
References
Baddeley, A. D. (1996). Exploring the central executive. Quarterly Journal of
Experimental Psychology. 49A, 5-28.
Bartzokis, G., Sultzer, D., Lu, Po H., Nuechterlein, K. H., Mintz, J., & Cummings, J. L.
(2004). Heterogeneous age-related breakdown of white matter structural
integrity: Implications for cortical “disconnection” in aging and Alzheimer’s
dxsQdiSQ. Neurobiology of Aging, 25, 843-51.
Bialystok, E., & Craik, F. 1. M. (2010). Structure and process in lifespan cognitive
development. In: The Handbook of Life-Span Development: Biology, Cognition
and Methods Across the Life-Span. R. M. Lemer & W. F. Overton (Eds),
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, pp. 195-225.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Green, D. W., & Gollan, T. H. (2009). Bilingual minds.
Psychological Science in the Public Lnterest. 10, 89-129.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M. (2004). Bilingualism,
aging, and cognitive control: Evidence from the Simon Task. Psychology and
Aging. 19, 290-303.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. 1. M., & Luk, G. (2008). Lexical access in bilinguals: Effects of
vocabulary size and executive control. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 21, 522-
538.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: Consequences for mind
and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16, 240-250.
Bialystok, E., & Luk, G. (201 1). Receptive vocabulary differences in monolingual and
bilingual adults. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15, 397-401.
Bialystok, E., Luk, G., Peets, K. F., & Yang, S. (2010). Receptive vocabulary
differences in monolingual and bilingual children. Bilingualism: Language and
Cognition, 13, 525-531.
Bialystok, E., & Martin, M. M. (2004). Attention and inhibition in bilingual children:
Evidence from the dimensional change card sort task. Developmental Science,
7, 325-339.
Carlson, S. M., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2008). Bilingual experience and executive
functioning in young children. Developmental Science. 11, 282-298.
Costa, A., Hernandez, M., & Sebastian-Galles, N. (2008). Bilingualism aids conflict
resolution: Evidence from the ANT task. Cognition. 106, 59-86.
Farhadian, M., Abdullah, R., Mansor, M., Redzuan, M., Gazanizadand, N., & Kumar,
V. (2010). Theory of mind in bilingual and monolingual preschool children.
Journal of Psychology. 1, 39-46.
Frye, D., Zelazo, P. D., & Palfai, T. (1995). Theory of mind and rule-based reasoning.
Cognitive Development. 10, 483-527.
Fuster, J. M. (2002a). Prefrontal cortex in temporal organization of action. In: The
Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks. Second Edition. M.A. Arbib
(Ed.), Boston, Mass: The MIT Press, pp. 905-910.
Fuster, J. M. (2002b). Cortical memory. In: The Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural
Networks. Second Edition. M.A. Arbib (Ed.), Boston, Mass: The MIT Press,
pp. 290-294.
Fuster, J. M.(2002c). Frontal lobe and cognitive development. Journal of
Neurocytology. 31, 373-385.
Fuster, J. M. (2002d). Physiology of the executive functions: The perception-action
cycle. In: Principles of Frontal Lobe Function. D.T. Stuss & R.T. Knight
Fall 2012
30
(Eds.), Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 96-108.
Fuster, J. M. (2008). The Prefrontal Cortex (Fourth Edition) London, UK: Academic
Press. Gollan, T. H., & Feireira, V.S. (2009). Should I stay or should 1 switch?
A cost-benefit analysis of voluntary language switching in young and aging
bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, &
Cognition. 35, 640-665.
Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and Reality. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University
Press.
Hatzidaki, A., Branigan, H. P., & Pickering, M. J. (2011). Co-activation of syntax in
bilingual language production. Cognitive Psychology. 62, 123-150.
Kovacs, A; M. (2009). Early bilingualism enhances mechanisms of false-belief
reasoning. Developmental Science, 72,48-54.
Kroll, J. F., Bobb, S. C., Misra, M., & Guo, T. (2008). Language selection in bilingual
speech: Evidence for inhibitory processes. Acta Psychologica. 128, 416-430.
Luk, G., Bialystok, E., Craik,F. 1., & Grady, C. L. (201 1). Lifelong bilingualism
maintains white matter integrity in older adults. Journal of Neuroscience. 31,
16808-16813.
Martin, C. D., Dering, B., Thomas, E. M., & Thierry, G. (2009). Brain potentials reveal
semantic priming in both the ‘active’ and the ‘non- attended’ language of early
bilinguals. Neuroimage, 47,, 326-333.
Shin, H. B., & Kominski, R. A. (2010). Language Use in the United States: American
Community Survey Reports, ACS- 12. Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the
Census; 2010.
Wang ,Y, Xue, G., Chen C., Xue, F., & Dong Q. (2007). Neural bases of asymmetric
language switching in second-language learners: An ER-fMRl study.
Neuroimage, 35, 822-870.
Werker, J. F., & Byers-Heinlein, K. (2008). Bilingualism in infancy: First steps in
perception and comprehension. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12, 144-151.
Zelazo, P. D. (2006). The dimensional change card sort (DCCS): A method of assessing
executive function in children. Nature Protocols, 1, 297-301.
Zelazo, P. D., Frye, D., & Rapus, T. (1996). An age-related dissociation between
knowing rules and using them. Cognitive Development, 11, 37-63.
Bio
Dana Byrd’s general interest is understanding cognition through the life
span and neurological changes that underlie both age and special
population differences in cognition. She has explored life-span
development of higher level cognition utilizing behavior,
electroencephalogram, and other psychophysiological measures. She holds
bachelors (New College), masters, and PhD degrees (both at the
University of Florida) in Psychology. She did Postdoc work at Columbia
Medical University, and has been on the faculty at Texas A&M
University-Kingsville since 2011.
Washington Academy of Sciences
strategic Management of Scientific Research
Organizations
31
Paul Arveson
Balanced Scorecard Institute, Washington, DC
Abstract
Scientific research organizations and laboratories are increasingly
facing strategic challenges, such as climate change and health care, and
solutions require enhanced strategic thinking. Learning, through
double-loop feedback systems, takes place in scientific research
disciplines and engineering fields. Similarly, research organizations can
implement strategies within the framework of a double-loop learning
system as found in fields of research. Strategic thinking about the
performance of research organizations can be enhanced through the use
of an innovative conceptual tool called a strategy map. Strategy maps
help to make organizational strategies more visible and measurable.
This article shows how strategy mapping fits within the larger “double
loop” context of a scientific research organization’s strategic
perfoimance management system and its inherent feedback loops. The
article also describes the features of strategy maps and how they can
help the leaders of scientific research organizations make strategic
decisions and manage more effectively.
Introduction
In the management of scientific research organizations, a nagging
question arises: Since the nature of basic research is exploratory, scientists
do not know in advance the best way to proceed. If they did, they would
pursue that direction and reject the alternatives. Since they do not,
research is inherently wasteful of time and resources. This dilemma has
been described as one of the “grand challenges” of basic research (Valdez
2001).
Commercial organizations that have a research or innovation
department need to justify research budgets by demonstrating fruitful
results to their stakeholders. A similar challenge is faced by mission-
oriented governmental organizations. The Government Performance and
Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 (and its revisions) require all Federal
agencies to develop strategic plans and performance measurement plans,
in order to justify their funding. Although nonprofit and governmental
organizations do not have profit as their mission, they do cost money and
Fall 2012
32
are expected to be good stewards of it. Hence it is imperative for all
research organizations to learn how to “do more with less.”
Dr. Ron Kostoff has studied the management of government
research and the process of evaluating that research for several decades.
He recommended that “program peer review should be integrated
seamlessly into the organization’s business operations ... It should not be
incorporated in the management tools as an afterthought, as is the case in
practice today, but rather should be part of the organization’s front-end
design” (Kostoff 2003).
As a step in this direction, this article offers an approach for
integrating strategy and performance evaluation into a system analogous
to that of the scientific research process itself. The article describes a
simplified model of the scientific research process in terms of hypothesis
testing. Next this model will be applied to an organization’s strategic
management process, which aims to improve the productivity of research.
A “strategy map” is introduced as a tool for the formulation of the
organization’s strategic hypothesis. This extends what will be described as
a “double-loop learning process” to the organization itself, so that its
research performance can be evaluated and improved over time.
Scientific Hypothesis Testing as Double-Loop Learning
Science is a learning process which is continuous, unending, and
always subject to future revision. Science takes practical steps -
sometimes revolutionary, but often incremental - toward more well-tested
models. In practice, research does not proceed in a step-by-step fashion;
there are many twists and turns, and the activities may occur in a different
order or even be separated by many years. Real scientific work involves
the “tacit dimension” of research described by Polanyi: “Because it is tacit
and not explicit, it is not fully replicable and the establishment of a theory
depends on personal insight and peer review within the scientific
community” (Polanyi 1967).
Despite the risks of oversimplification, it is evident to the author
that scientific hypothesis testing often proceeds via two feedback loops:
a) a loop involving the formulation and revision of hypotheses
(with the sequence, hypothesis-prediction-evaluation-
revision); and
Washington Academy of Sciences
33
b) a second loop involving the testing and revision of
experiments (with the sequence, experiment-data-evaluation-
revision).
Such a “double-loop learning” system involves two interconnected
feedback loops (Argyris and Schon 1974). Figure 1 illustrates the double-
loop learning process applied to scientific hypothesis testing.
Figure 1. Double-Loop Learning in Scientific Hypothesis Testing
In general, the process includes these types of activities (not steps):
1. Hypothesis: A plausible explanation of some natural
phenomenon is proposed.
2. Prediction: Based on the hypothesis, observable and
measurable consequences are deduced.
3. Experiment: Activities pertinent to the hypothesis are
conducted to test its predictions (e.g., apparatus construction,
observations, simulations, documentation).
4. Data: Quantitative measurements commensurate with
predictions are recorded and processed to reduce uncertainties
due to bias, errors and randomness.
5. Evaluation: Predictions and data are compared, with due
consideration of statistical uncertainties. A successful
evaluation requires not only agreement between the data and
predictions, but also a determination that excludes other
alternative models (Giere et al. 1998).
6. Revision: An evaluation that fails to show agreement may
lead researchers to make revisions in either the hypothesis or
1
Fall 2012
34
the experiment (e.g., the earlier experiment may not have been
sensitive enough, or may not have yielded data commensurate
with the predictions).
7. Existing models: This activity involves the collection of
tested hypotheses and their predictions that have not been
falsified so far (Popper 1968).
In Figure 1, the left-hand loop is represented by activities 1, 2, 5,
and 6. The right-hand loop is represented by activities 3, 4, 5, and 6.
More ‘‘Double-Loop Learning” Examples
There are many examples of systems containing double feedback
loops that converge and eventually result in an accumulation of learning.
This section provides two examples.
Engineering
The first example is provided by applying the double loop concept
to the field of engineering. In engineering, a goal is to arrive at an
optimum design for a product or process. The activities involve two loops
or groups of actions. The sequence below describes the activities that are
repeated using the same pattern of loops and numbered boxes until a
prototype is developed that meets specifications, where possible:
1 . A prototype design is created based on existing knowledge.
2. It is desired that the prototype will meet certain quantitative
design specifications (along with generally desired
requirements such as low cost, limits on time to build and
maintain, etc.).
3. The prototype is tested under real-world or simulated real-
world conditions.
4. Data from the tests are collected and documented.
5. The data are compared with the specifications. If all the
specifications are met, the prototype design may move to
production.
6. If there is lack of compliance with the specifications, or if the
evaluation is inconclusive, revisions are necessary. Either the
design must be revised, or additional testing must be done, or
both.
7. When all specifications have been met, the process results in an
“optimized design” ready for production.
Washington Academy of Sciences
35
Similar to above, the loops involve these two groups of activities: The first
loop involves activities 1, 2, 5, and 6. The second loop involves activities
3, 4, 5, and 6.
Evolution
The field of evolution provides a second example. Existing species
of life on earth represent millions of years of continuous confrontation
between expressed genes and their environment. In a broad-brush
description, the following activities have operated over time (the numbers
below correspond to the numbers in the boxes of the double-loop learning
process illustrated in Figure 1):
1. A genome, including its mutations and recombinations, is
expressed in cells by reproduction.
2. Numerous individual organisms with various phenotypes are
produced.
3. Fife exists in an environment which contains a variety of
changing threats and opportunities.
4. Individuals are exposed to the environment.
5. Depending on their response to features of the environment,
individuals are selected for increased or decreased
reproduction (natural selection).
6. Mutations continue to occur, and the environment continues to
change.
7. At any point in time, the existing life forms are those that have
been most successful in reproducing throughout their
cumulative exposures to changing environments.
Again, the loops are represented by activities I, 2, 5, and 6 and activities
3, 4, 5, and 6.
Both of these examples show the same general pattern, as noted: a
system of two feedback loops that converge and eventually result in an
accumulation of learning.
Double-Loop Learning in Scientific Research Organizations
The above examples serve to suggest the wide range of
applications of the double-loop learning system. How can a double-loop
system be implemented to manage and evaluate the performance of a
scientific research organization?
An organization is a dynamic system: “a set of things ...
interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of
Fall 2012
36
behavior over time” (Meadows 2008). A key feature of dynamic systems
is that they contain feedback loops (Nay and Kay 1982, Haines 2000).
Scientific research organizations and their activities can be thought
of as having two feedback systems in operation which are analogous to the
learning loops described earlier:
a) The inner system is the conduct of scientific research proper,
in which success depends on posing insightful hypotheses and
focusing on the most promising observations and experiments.
b) The outer system has management challenges similar to those
in any other organization. Management in the outer system
does not encounter “grand challenges.” Here, the organization
is trying to enable scientists to conduct research activities
more efficiently. Its managers seek strategies for finding the
right skills and technology, better ways to organize, better
procedures to follow and better ways to evaluate performance.
Such improvements help to drive down cost, duplication, and
time delays in research.
In most scientific research organizations, more can be done to
improve the efficiency of the outer system of management, thereby
enabling the inner system of research proper to become more effective,
operating with fewer delays and resource shortages. The intent is not to
presume to improve scientific research per se (which would require
specialized expertise in narrow fields of research), but rather to improve
the management system supporting that research.
Figure 2 shows a double-loop system with the labels changed so
that the context is that of a scientific research organization, as follows:
1. Strategy: The scientific research organization’s planners
formulate a strategic hypothesis: a specific vision and “road
map” for achieving it.
2. Desired results: Activity 2, desired results, represents the
intended long-term improvements in the organization’s
accomplishments expected from the strategy.
3. Strategic initiatives: Activity 3, strategic initiatives,
includes new projects and changes in operations and budget
allocations that are aimed at improving performance to reach
the desired results.
4. Actual results: Activity 4, measuring performance or actual
results, relates to quantitative and qualitative measurements
Washington Academy of Sciences
37
of end results but also intermediate results or “leading
indicators” that managers can use to forecast longer-term
outcomes. An approach for developing these intermediate
measures of performance will be presented in the next
section.
5. Evaluation: Typically, senior leaders in an organization will
periodically convene high-level strategy reviews, in which
everything is questioned. One of the main questions
addressed is the comparison question: Do the data show that
desired results were met? Of course it could be that
circumstances beyond the organization’s control caused the
results, or variations in data may make comparisons
inconclusive.
6. Revision: If the desired results were not achieved, there may
be a need to revise the strategic initiatives, how they are
measured, allocation of resources, or other activities. Or, the
data may indicate a need to revise the strategic hypothesis
itself.
7. Successful strategies: Over time, the organization learns
what strategies are more or less successful, based on
measures of strategic performance. Successful strategies
embody the knowledge and experience of the organization’s
leaders.
Figure 2. Strategic Management Model for a Scientific Research
Organization
Fall 2012
38
The Left-Hand Feedback Loop: Organizational Strategy
The first feedback loop is all about strategy. Scientific research
organizations are increasingly facing strategic challenges, such as climate
change and health care. Solutions require enhanced strategic thinking.
A scientific research organization must define its strategy (box 1)
before it prescribes new strategic initiatives (box 3) or measures
performance (box 4). The organization must first establish agreement on
the destination, and then propose how to get there. Strategy should come
before organization design, budgeting, operational plans, or process
improvements - and before establishing key performance indicators or
collecting performance measures (Rohm 2002). Performance
measurement and evaluation then supports strategic management, not
merely operations or compliance (Apple, Inc. 2011). Strategy should set
the context for what is considered high or low performance.
A strategy map is a relatively new kind of visual tool that describes
an organization’s strategic hypothesis (box 1 in Figure 2). A strategy map
illustrates a chain of strategic objectives drawn as ovals and linked
together with arrows that lead to a long-term and strategic desired result
for the organization (box 2, desired results, in Figure 2).
The strategy map is becoming a popular management tool because
it makes strategic planning more practical and visual. For example, the
book Strategy Maps (Kaplan and Norton 2004) is devoted entirely to the
concept of strategy mapping, and contains examples from a variety of
organizations. A strategy map is not an organization chart, flowchart, logic
model, work breakdown structure, technology roadmap, system diagram,
or program plan.
Figure 3 is a hypothetical strategy map for a scientific research
organization. (In practice, no two organizations’ strategy maps are alike,
but this hypothetical figure illustrates some key features and best practices
in strategy mapping). It is recommended that a strategy map be created in
facilitated workshops by a diverse, cross-functional planning team within
the organization (Rohm 2002).
The four rectangular areas of the strategy map in Figure 3 present
four “perspectives” of organizational performance: organizational
capacity, internal process, finance, and stakeholder perspectives. These
indicators offer a “balanced scorecard” of mostly leading indicators of
future organizational performance. The order of the four perspectives of
organizational performance is important. Figure 3 shows the proper
Washington Academy of Sciences
39
arrangement of the perspectives for a public sector or non-profit
organization. For a private sector organization, the financial perspective
would be on top.
Figure 3. Hypothetical Strategy Map for a Non-profit Research
Organization
A strategic objective (each oval on Figure 3) specifies - in a few
words - what needs to be improved. Each strategic objective begins with
an imperative verb that suggests continuous improvement, such as
improve, increase or reduce. Strategic objectives are written in “high-
altitude” language. They are not projects; many projects may support
improvement of one objective. Further development of the strategic plan is
Fall 2012
40
necessary to identify strategic projects that align with the strategic
objectives.
The linked strategic objectives form a chain of cause and effect.
Following the arrows, the strategy map can be read from the bottom up.
The strategy map as a whole prescribes how the intermediate results lead
to the final strategic result at the top of the map - which equates to desired
results in Figure 2. In this non-profit example, one of the cause-effect
chains would read as follows, starting at the bottom:
''If 'we increase ease of access to data, then we will be able to
improve global data awareness. This will lead to increased
collaboration, internally and externally, and possibly expand
revenue sources. It will also allow managers to conduct more
effective peer reviews, which will help to improve strategic
decision making [e.g., budgeting], which will reduce resource
waste and improve research productivity, ultimately expanding
research benefits to society.
Another cause-effect chain from the same strategy map would read as
follows, starting at a different place in the bottom quadrant:
If we improve workforce creativity [e.g. by hiring smart people and
placing them in teams], this will improve idea management and/or
patenting processes, which will lead to increased technology
transfer and improved research productivity. The end result will be
to expand research benefits to society. ”
Notice that all the “roads” on the strategy map go in one direction
only. Strategy maps provide a one-way road map. There are no backward
paths or feedback loops on a strategy map, for why would anyone want to
propose efforts that go against achieving the strategic results?
Within the context of strategic planning, the strategy map
addresses the question, “Are we doing the right things?” in contrast to the
operational question, “Are we doing things right?”
People who study system dynamics tend to see strategy maps as
incomplete because they are missing feedback loops (Akkermans and van
Oorschot 2002; Bianchi and Montemaggiore 2008; Kim eT al. 2006;
Tinard and Dvorsky 2001). However, a strategy map is not intended to be
a description of an organization’s systems or processes or dynamics or
external environment. Instead, a strategy map is a piece of the system (the
“hypothesis” box and desired results box), not the whole system. There is
Washington Academy of Sciences
41
a proper place for feedback, but it is not on the strategy map; rather, it is
within the double-loop strategic management system illustrated in Figure
2.
The basic framework of the four “perspectives” introduced by
Kaplan and Norton (1993) is a robust, generally-applicable framework for
strategy mapping. It is also scalable - it can serve the planning needs of
small non-profits, huge multinational corporations, or large government
agencies. The U.S. Army and other military branches are increasingly
adopting strategy mapping. Most importantly, in terms of the subject of
this article, strategy maps are also applicable to scientific research
organizations.
The Right-Hand Feedback Loop: Measuring the Strategy
Earlier approaches to organization improvement and performance
measurement, such as Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma
methods, do not fit well within a scientific research organization which
does not have repetitive manufacturing processes or tangible products.
Application of such methods in research organizations often results in
measuring the wrong things and “measurement fatigue” because the focus
tends to be on operational rather than strategic performance measures.
How can managers of scientific research organizations identify
strategic performance indicators? They are simply the strategic objectives
on the strategy map that are being '‘improved, ” "increased, ” "reduced, ”
etc. These are the intermediate results (according to the planning team)
most likely to lead to the “desired results” (box 2 on Figure 2). Once
strategic objectives are defined in the ovals on the strategy map, strategic
performance indicators to measure these objectives follow directly.
So-called “intangible” or qualitative metrics are often needed. For
example, to measure the strategic objective, “Increase ease of access to
data,” the measurement may involve a survey to determine the level of
complaints or delays in data access. To measure the strategic objective
“Increase strategic decision making,” it may be necessary to conduct
structured interviews of managers to assess their awareness of the strategic
plan and how they are using it to make decisions.
If measurement is defined as “observations that reduce our
uncertainty in the value of a quantity,” then anything real can be measured
(Hubbard 2010). Kostoff (2005) recognized that gathering useful research
metrics may require technical tools such as large databases, automated text
Fall 2012
42
data mining, bibliometrics, etc. - the ‘‘information infrastructure” that
managers can put in place to enable scientists to compile information
efficiently. But in the case of scientific research programs, qualitative
measures, including peer review, are often more meaningful than
quantitative measures. Kostoff (1997) argued that peer review is a
necessary, if not sufficient procedure for the evaluation of scientific
research programs. Hence some federal research agencies have been
permitted to provide qualitative program assessments to the Office of
Management and Budget, not merely numerical data.
Peer review serves to maintain the focus of a project or program,
build credibility and share lessons learned, according to Dr. Daniel
Lehman, Director of the Office of Project Assessment in the Office of
Science at the U.S. Department of Energy (Lehman 2011). However, peer
review can be costly and time-constrained because there are often few
qualified peers. Therefore, certain considerations must go into the design
of an effective program peer review (Kostoff 2003). Nay and Kay (1982)
offer an important preliminary consideration: Has the program been
implemented to the extent that it can be evaluated?
As strategies are evaluated (box 5 on Figure 2), feedback comes
through the double-loop learning system. Through regular, periodic
evaluations of strategic performance, the strategy - including strategic
objectives, performance measures derived from the strategic objectives,
strategic initiatives, and even budgets - can be revised. This management
system establishes a balance between consistency of the desired strategic
result(s) and flexibility of management decision-making based on the
feedback loops.
Conclusion
Physicists have a saying, “Many a beautiful theory has been
destroyed by one ugly fact.” In an organization, “ugly facts” represent
unequivocal performance data confronting executives and board members.
The leaders of strategy- focused organizations, however, will have
a head start on dealing with performance data through: (1) a double
feedback loop approach to strategic performance management; and (2) a
strategy map with performance measures for each of the strategic
objectives. The strategy map will include customer (or' stakeholder)
feedback data, as well as measures of financial costs, internal process
efficiencies and organization capacities - all leading indicators of future
results. Weaknesses in these strategic performance measures can guide the
Washington Academy of Sciences
43
leaders of research organizations to make informed decisions about what
specifically needs to be revised to improve strategic performance. Over
time, such a management system is designed to encourage innovative
strategies and initiatives to improve research effectiveness and
productivity (box 7, successful strategies).
. References
Akkermans, H. and van Oorschot, K. (2002). “Developing a Balanced Scorecard with
System Dynamics.” Proceedings of the 20th International Conference of the System
Dynamics Society, May 2002. Palermo, Italy.
http://www.svstemdvnamics.org/conferences/2002/proceed/papers/Akkermal.pdf
Apple, Inc. (201 1). Beyond Compliance: Apple Supplier Responsibility, 2011 Progress
Report, http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibilitv/bevond-compliance.html
Argyris, M. and Schon, D. (1974). Theory in Practice. Increasing Professional
Effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Balanced Scorecard Institute (2010). The Strategic Management Maturity Model.
http://www.balancedscorecard.0rg/Portals/O/PDF/BSCIStrategicManagementMaturit
vModel.pdf
Bianchi, C. and Montemaggiore, G. B. (2008). “Enhancing strategy design and planning
in public utilities through ‘dynamic’ balanced scorecards” (pp. 175-213). System
Dynamics Review 24(2).
Giere, R., Bickle, J. and Mauldin, R. (2006). Understanding Scientific Reasoning.
Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.
Haines, S. (2000). Strategic and Systems Thinking. San Diego: Systems Thinking Press.
Hubbard, D. (2010). How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of “Intangibles ” in
Business. 2"“ ed. New York, NY: Wiley.
Kaplan, R. and Norton, D. (1993). “Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic
Management System,” Harvard Business Review. Jan. -Feb. 1996.
Kaplan, R. and Norton, D. (2004). Strategy Maps - Converting Intangible Assets into
Tangible Outcomes. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Kim, J., Park, S., & Kim, S. (2006). “On Building a Dynamic BSC Model for Strategic
Performance Measurement in Public Sector.” Proceedings of the 24th International
Conference of the System Dynamics Society. , July 2006 Nijmegen, The Netherlands,
http://www.svstemdvnamics.org/conferences/2006/proceed/papers/KIM 1 24.pdf .
Kostoff, R. (1997). “Peer Review: The Appropriate GPRA Metric for Research” (p. 651).
Science 211.
Kostoff, R. (2003). “Science and Technology Peer Review: GPRA”,
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a4 1 8868.pdf
Kostoff, R. (2005). “Encouraging Discovery and Innovation” (p. 245). Science 309.
Fall 2012
44
Kotter, J.P. (1996). Leading Change. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Kuhn, T. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Lehman, D. (201 1). “Office of Science Peer Reviews 101.” PowerPoint presentation.
Office of Project Assessment, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy.
http://energv.gov/sites/prod/files/maprod/documents/ 1 6- 1 045 Lehman.pdf
Liker, J. (2004). The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest
Manufacturer. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Linard, K. and Dvorsky, L. (2001). “A Dynamic Balanced Scorecard Template for Public
Sector Agencies.” Proceedings of the Australasian Evaluation Society.
http://www.svstemdvnamics.org/conferences/2000/PDFs/linard34.pdf.
Mayer, M. (2006). “Ideas come from everywhere.” Presentation from Stanford Business
School. Online: http://www.udemv.com/ideas-come-from-evervwhere/
Meadows, D. (2008). p. 2. Thinking in Systems. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea
Green.
Nay, J. N. and Kay, P. (1982). Government Oversight and Evaluability Assessment.
Lexington, MA: Lexington Books. Available online at:
http://www.the-dilettante.org/Evaluabilitv%20Assessment/Book.pdf
Polanyi, M. (1958). Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy (pp. 142-
145). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Polanyi, M. (1967). The Tacit Dimension (pp. 24-25). New York, NY: Doubleday & Co.
Popper, K. (1968). The Logic of Scientific Discovery (p. 265). New York: Harper & Row.
Rohm, H. (2002). “A Balancing Act: Developing and Using Balanced Scorecard
Systems,” PERFORM, v. 2, no. 2.
US Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, DOE FY 2013 Budget
Request, http://www.cfo.doe.gov/budget/13budget/content/volume4.pdf
Valdez, W., “Grand Challenges of Basic Research”, presentation to DOE Office of
Science employees (2001).
Bio
Paul Arveson’s first career was as a physicist in the civilian Navy. He
managed projects in acoustics, oceanography, signal processing and
analysis, and published numerous technical papers in these fields. In the
1990s, he earned a Master’s degree in Computer System Management and
a CIO Certificate from the National Defense University. In 1998, he
partnered with Howard Rohm to create the Balanced Scorecard Institute
which provides strategic management training and consulting services to
all kinds of organizations.
Washington Academy of Sciences
45
Addressing Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay
Environmental Issues and Economic Development:
University Research and Education
Sally A. Rood
Science Policy Works International, Clifton, Virginia
Abstract
The Chesapeake Bay/ Eastern Shore region has experienced dramatic
changes and challenges environmentally. This has created rich research
opportunities for the region’s universities committed to improving
environmental quality. Six university programs that focus on the
environmental concerns of the region are described - including their
facilities and examples of their research contributions and STEM
education and outreach. Also discussed are the recent history of the
regional ecosystem and the socio-economics of the area’s communities.
In addition to contributing to environmental quality, the university
programs can be leveraged toward science and technology-based
economic development on a regional scale through a strategy for a
regional innovation cluster. This would foster a knowledge-based
workforce, university-industry collaborations, technology transfer,
entrepreneurship, and business development.
Introduction: Critical Environmental Conditions
The Delmarva Peninsula’s “Eastern Shore” region is bounded on
the west by the Chesapeake Bay and on the southeast by the Atlantic
Ocean. Both the bay and coastal ecosystem are national environmental
treasures.
There are notable activities underway at each of six universities on
the Eastern Shore. These research programs are contributing to the quality
of the local environment on the shore. They are also contributing
indirectly to the region’s economic development. Their efforts can be
better harnessed and targeted toward the common goal of creating a
concerted strategy for an environmental science and technology-based
regional innovation cluster.
The Dynamic Seaward Side
The Atlantic Ocean side of the Eastern shore offers one of the few
remaining undeveloped areas along the Atlantic seaboard available for the
Fall 2012
46
Study of coastal barrier ecosystems. It has a long expanse of pristine
beaches and large coastal wilderness areas. The Nature Conservancy
created the Virginia Coast Reserve in the 1970s to protect a chain of 14
barrier islands. The preserve comprises some 40,000 acres and extends
about 70 miles along the lower Atlantic shore of the Delmarva Peninsula.
It has also been designated by the United Nations as an International Man
and Biosphere Reserve. The northern end of the preserve features the
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the southern end features the
Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge.
Proceeding north to south, the larger of the barrier islands are:
Chincoteague, Assateague, Wallops, Assawoman, Hog, Wreck, and
Smith.^ Assateague Island is actually a system of barrier islands about 27
miles long and averaging a half-mile wide. The islands are separated from
one another by deep inlets. The islands are bounded on the east by the
ocean and on the west by the coastal bays that separate them from land.
These barrier islands experience dramatic rates of shoreline
change. As they migrate toward land in response to the rising sea level, the
change can be as much as 40 feet in a single year. Wreck Island, for
example, has lost 300 yards on its northern end in recent years. In addition
to long-term climate change, critical natural events such as storms also
cause change. Until a major hurricane in 1933, some of the barrier islands
were populated with pine forests and small villages, and several islands
had a few hundred inhabitants, structures, and Coast Guard stations. The
hurricane eroded and submerged the woodland and dunes. Both the
hurricane and disease wiped out the underwater seagrass decades ago.
Because seagrass serves as a nursery for wildlife like shellfish, the
shellfish subsequently disappeared as well.
The barrier islands are now largely sandy environments that help to
buffer the Eastern Shore communities from storms. The island ecosystem
also features lagoons, tidal marshes, and mainland watersheds. On the side
of the islands facing land, there are broad shallow bays and extensive salt
marshes adjacent to forested uplands. The seagrass in the lagoons acts as a
seaside filter for pollutants and excess watershed nutrients.
Other islands are: Metompkin, Cedar, Paramore, Cobb, Ship Shoal, Myrtle, and
Mockhom. Many, but not all, of the islands that serve as environmental research sites are
owned by The Nature Conservancy. Chincoteague and Wallops Islands, for example, are
not part of the Reserve.
Washington Academy of Sciences
47
Research Opportunities
The barrier island ecosystem shelters more than 250 species of
raptors, shorebirds, and songbirds and is one of the most important
migratory bird stopover habitats on Earth.^ Several of the islands feature
complex and heterogeneous landscapes where walking just a few yards
can introduce major differences in habitat. All of these factors make the
ocean side an ideal place to study wildlife and the natural processes of
landscape change. It has been called a “high-speed landscape” because
changes that might take decades elsewhere can be observed in a few years.
Short-term disturbances - such as storms and species invasions - interact
with slower more progressive environmental changes to produce the
region’s geographic and biological dynamics.
The Delicate Chesapeake Bay
Directly surrounded by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the
Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It is
approximately 200 miles long and 30 miles wide at its widest point, south
of the mouth of the Potomac River. At its narrowest point, the bay is 2.8
miles wide. The shoreline extends more than 11,000 miles. The bay’s
watershed land-to- water ratio of 14:1 is the largest ratio of any coastal
water body in the world. The bay is a drainage basin for the District of
Columbia and parts of six states. The watershed states are: New York,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. More
than 150 rivers and streams drain into the bay from these states. Figure 1
shows a map of the bay and its watershed states.
The bay ecosystem consists of the bay itself, its tidal rivers and
streams, and all the plant and animal life it supports. The bay is mostly
known for its seafood production, especially crabs, clams, and oysters.
The bay’s salinity is ideal for oysters, so the bay has long been considered
one of the world’s most productive oyster growing areas.
Challenges and Opportunities
Today, the Chesapeake Bay is experiencing rainwater-carried
runoff from the watershed states, over-harvesting of marine life, invasion
by foreign species, and dwindling seagrass. The pollution comes from
excess nutrients in over-enriched agricultural fertilizer treatments and farm
animal manure. The pollutants also include toxic runoff from metropolitan
^For this reason, The Nature Conservancy partners with NASA to perform migratory bird
studies using state-of-the-art NPOL Doppler radar.
Fall 2012
48
areas, including lawn fertilizers, septic systems, car exhaust, and similar
type sources. These nutrients and pollutants fuel the growth of algae in the
water. When algae die, they decompose in a process that depletes the
water of oxygen which all aquatic species need to survive. Algae also
block sunlight that healthy underwater bay grasses need to grow. In the
1970s, the bay was discovered to contain one of the planet’s first
identified marine “dead zones.” The water in dead zones is so depleted of
oxygen that it’s unable to support marine life.
Figure 1. Chesapeake Bay watershed (courtesy Chesapeake Bay Foundation)
In the last 50 years, the bay’s oyster population has been
devastated by these problems. In the 1950s and ‘60s, diseases overtook
those oysters that had not already been over-harvested since the 1800s.
Washington Academy of Sciences
49
The depletion of oysters has had an especially harmful effect on the bay’s
water quality because oysters serve as natural water filters. A single
healthy oyster can filter 50 gallons of bay water a day!
Many organizations are now focused on restoring the bay’s long-
term health, especially the six university programs discussed here.
Eastern Shore Socio-Economics
The communities of the Eastern Shore are located in two offshore
Virginia counties separated from the mainland and nine counties of
Maryland’s shoreline east of the Chesapeake Bay."" The region is east and
southeast of the Washington, DC metro area, and is accessible from the
Washington area by driving via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
The region is comprised of rural coastal communities that are
culturally unique due to their marine heritage and natural resources. Many
of these communities have ongoing concerns for the economic viability
and social well-being of their year-round residents. In addition to the up-
and-down fortunes of the commercial fishing and shellfish industries,
there are concerns about maintaining the production of agricultural and
livestock farms, particularly chicken farms which are major employers in
the region, as there are estimated to be more than 9,800 poultry industry
jobs on the Eastern Shore."^ At the same time, these communities are
concerned about the environmental integrity of the region, including the
groundwater resources that supply fresh water to residents and industries.
Agencies and organizations in the region are working to expand
eco-tourism and promote the region’s maritime cultural heritage. There is
a popular annual birding festival and an annual benefit festival based on
the wild horses of Assateague Island.^ Economic indicators show that the
dollar flow from these events to local businesses has increased over recent
decades, although the impact is mostly seasonal.
^The offshore Virginia counties are: Northampton and Accomack. The Maryland
counties can be subdivided into Lower Shore, Mid Shore, and Upper Shore. The Lower
Shore counties are Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester. The Mid Shore counties are
Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot. The Upper Shore counties are Cecil, Kent, and Queen
Anne’s. When these Maryland and Virginia counties are combined with counties in
Delaware, the entire geographic region comprises the Delmarva Peninsula.
"^Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. provides these data on Delaware, Maryland, and
Virginia separately, and these statistics are based on Maryland and Virginia only.
^This event involves herding horses and thinning the herds by auctioning foals and fillies.
Fall 2012
50
Efforts to establish an incubator-style Sustainable Technology Park
on the southern tip of Virginia’s Eastern Shore in the early 2000s did not
survive. However, an industrial base has recently been growing around the
federal facilities on Wallops Island in Virginia. These include a NASA
flight center, NOAA data station, and Naval systems center. Workers at
Wallops include around 1,000 full-time NASA civil service employees
and contractors, 100 NOAA employees, and 30 Naval personnel. The
related technology industry growth includes both on-site and off-site
offices for the major government contractors, along with Wallops
Research Park, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (promoting Virginia’s
commercial space industry), and the Virginia Space Flight Academy and
Marine Science Consortium - which are attractions for kids and adults.
Additional entities with similar purposes exist on the Maryland side of the
border, along with a “Skipjack Network” website, which showcases
enterprises that can help strengthen and diversify the economy of
Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
University-Based Research and Education
Due to the delicate and dynamic nature of the Eastern Shore, the
region has become a hotbed of studies that relate, in some way, to the
environment of the region. Several universities have important research
and education programs in the area. They are: University of Virginia,
Virginia Tech, William and Mary, and three of the twelve institutions
comprising the University System of Maryland (USM) - University of
Maryland-Eastern Shore, Salisbury University, and University of
Maryland Center for Environmental Science. I briefly highlight each in
geographical order beginning at the southern tip of the peninsula and
heading north. This is not meant to be a comprehensive inventory of all
facilities, research, and education & outreach - but rather some examples
of activities and assets. The appendices provide additional background on
some of the programs.
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) Anheuser-Busch Coastal
Research Center (ABCRC) is located on 42 acres in the harbor at Oyster,
Virginia, on the southern end of the Eastern Shore. Researchers at
ABCRC are studying sea level rise, storm effects, groundwater conditions,
and the populations of fish, shellfish, vegetation, birds, and mammals. The
facility is located within The Nature Conservancy’s Virginia Coast
Reserve. The Conservancy’s shore office is about 20 miles north of Oyster
Washington Academy of Sciences
51
near Nassawadox. Several primary research sites within the coastal
preserve are located along this north-south route.
Long-Term Research and Data
ABCRC serves as the home laboratory for the National Science
Foundation (NSF)-supported Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER)
program at the Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR). Long-term data provide the
means to assess changes in climate, sea level rise, and land cover, which
have significant consequences for all populations on Earth - human,
animal, plant, and microbial. LTER scientists are able to predict future
environmental conditions and new patterns in land and sea levels, forecast
the rate and direction of change, and distinguish long-term trends from
short-term changes.
VCR/LTER scientists have studied the changes in the VCR
marshes from the 1950s to the present. The scientists collect data from
meteorological stations, tide gauges, water level recorders, and other
monitoring equipment. They use remote sensing satellite imagery and web
camera photography. Wireless networks at the research sites provide
access to Global Positioning System (GPS) latitudinal and longitudinal
surveys necessary for creating Geographical Information System (GIS)
maps. For example, shrub thicket and land use data are combined with
other environmental data such as data on shellfish reefs, and all the data
are entered into a long-term database for comparison purposes.
The project’s main web site^ is referred to as its “file cabinet,”
where the raw data are publicly accessible via a searchable online catalog.^
The databank includes images such as time-series photos and webcams,
and interactive maps. For example, a map of Hog Island from 1852 can
be overlaid onto a map of the island in 2012, or whatever year the user
^www. vcrlter.virginia.edu
^For immediate access, researchers can use the data access server searchable by
keywords, research areas and sites; or, they can make a formal data request by
completing a data license form indicating agreement with LTER acknowledgment
policies.
g
VCR/LTER publishes more than 130 datasets using standard ecological metadata
language. In addition to the VCR/LTER web site, the data are available through several
collaborative efforts to make long-term ecological data available, including the National
LTERnet, NASA Mercury, and National Biological Information Infrastructure data
catalogs. UVA and ABCRC also participate in the EcoTrends Project, primarily funded
by NSF and the Agricultural Research Service, and which coordinates research across
participating state and federal agencies and institutions.
Fall 2012
52
chooses. The data also include field trip videos, researcher interviews,^
dissertations and theses, and bibliographic listings. During the current 6-
year funding cycle, more than 700,000 clients - users in more than 190
different countries or international organizations - have downloaded more
than 5.1 terabytes of information via the data access portal.^^ In the same
time period, some 175 books and articles have also been published.
LTER Education
The Schoolyard LTER (SLTER) program works extensively with
high schools in Northampton County, a relatively poor Virginia county,
and the impact of the program has been significant. SLTER has developed
classes including a popular “Environmental Science 11” course and some
200 students have performed activities similar to those performed by the
professional scientists. SLTER provides the schools with water analysis
kits, cameras, GPS units, computers, and taxonomic software. The
students collect data to monitor water quality at a few dozen VCR sites,
and enter their data into a long-term student database to identify changes.
They describe their projects in multimedia presentations at semester’s end.
Graduate training is considered a particularly important part of the
LTER education mission, and each year about 20 students conduct
research projects at the site. Some 30 master’s theses and doctoral
dissertations have been completed during the current funding cycle.
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech’s Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and
Extension Center (ES-AREC) is located in Painter, Virginia, a mid-point
between the two Virginia counties on the shore. The mission of ES-AREC
is to support the sustainability of agricultural production on Virginia’s
Eastern Shore. The overall site is a 226-acre farm owned by Virginia Tech
that includes an office complex, laboratories, equipment buildings,
garages, greenhouse, cropland, graduate student housing, large freshwater
pond, woodland areas, and farm manager’s residence.
9
The video presentations are also available on educational and video sharing sites such as
SciVee. See http://amazon.evsc.virginia.edu/video/scivee.html.
'°The datasets formally requested by users filling out data license forms are an important
indicator of impact. These users have made 860 requests during Phase V, including 300
from researchers not associated with VCR. An additional 187 datasets were requested by
automated programs.
Washington Academy of Sciences
53
The graduate students conduct field, greenhouse, and laboratory
research. A particularly important research area is soil management since
Virginia is a watershed state for the bay. A main goal of this research is to
reduce soil erosion and sedimentation into the bay, tributaries, and ocean.
The Center accomplishes this through applied research, demonstrations,
and education on conservation-oriented best management practices and on
cover crops which are planted to keep nutrients from leaching. For better
nutrient management, the Center is also testing innovative fertilizer
sources that promote more efficient use and decrease environmental losses
from runoff, as well as alternative application practices for fertilizers and
fumigants.
Economic Impact
Each year, the ES-AREC staff and researchers grow about 30
rotational crops of regional importance for their studies (Table 1). They
also evaluate alternative crops with potential economic significance.
Table 1. Crops grown for research at Virginia Tech’s Eastern Shore Agricultural
Research & Extension Center (ES-AREC)
For its potato crops, the center is researching nitrogen sources,
application methods, russet potato production rates in Virginia, and tuber
disease management. Virginia Tech oversees a weekly report called the
Virginia Potato Disease Advisory^ ^ that advises potato growers on the
likelihood of potato disease development. Based on the ES-AREC
research, the Advisory makes recommendations for regional farmers on
fungicides to address potato diseases. In 2010, Eastern Shore potato
^'The advisory operates under the direction of Steve Rideout, Associate Professor of
Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Sciences at ES-AREC.
Fall 2012
54
growers saved $300,000 by using recommendations from the Advisory to
reduce fungicide applications.
Other research projects have direct applications to the industry and
economy of the Eastern Shore, as well. For example, the chicken industry
is a huge sector of the economy on the Eastern Shore where economic
activity estimated to be in excess of $2.3 billion.^^ Consequently ES-
AREC is testing organic fertilizer sources such as poultry litter for its
environmental impact.
William and Mary
The College of William and Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine
Science (VIMS) has its main complex near Williamsburg, Virginia, where
the campus is located on the mainland side of the Chesapeake Bay. VIMS,
chartered in 1940, hosts the William and Mary graduate school in marine
science at this site - Gloucester Point on the York River.
VIMS also operates the Eastern Shore Lab (ESL) located on five
acres in the seaside fishing village of Wachapreague, Virginia, where the
resident researchers specialize in coastal ecology and aquaculture. In
addition to its existing hatchery, ESL opened a unique and innovative new
seawater facility in June 2012 next to Wachapreague Channel. It provides
access to clean seawater with salinity levels comparable to the nearby
ocean and allows researchers to raise marine organisms in conditions that
are protected, yet similar to those of the open ocean. The building is state-
of-the-art and designed to withstand rising seawater, as the exterior power
supplies and light fixtures are more than 14 feet above sea level.
Seagrass Research and Restoration
For more than 15 years, ESL has been leading a project to
reintroduce submerged vegetation (seagrass) into the VCR coastal bays.
‘^Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. provides this data on Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia
separately, and these statistics are based on Maryland and Virginia only.
^^The seagrass restoration project is a long-term collaborative effort with VCR/LTER,
The Nature Conservancy, and other partners. VCR/LTER, for example, is providing data
such as water depth and lagoon bathymetry (measurements) and logistical support for
Nature Conservancy volunteers. The project has been funded over time through federal,
state, private, and foundation grants, including: NOAA, through the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act (ARRA); several Commonwealth of Virginia programs; The
Nature Conservancy; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and private grants from
corporations and foundations such as Allied-Signal Foundation, Norfolk-Southern, and
Washington Academy of Sciences
55
Seagrass plays an important role keeping the coastal bays clean as it
absorbs sediment in the water and transforms the bare seafloor to grassy
underwater meadows providing homes for shellfish and finfish. The
seagrass restoration started in 1997, when ESL scientists began spreading
rice-sized eelgrass seeds in the coastal bays after hearing an anecdotal
report of a successful small eelgrass patch south of Hog Island Bay. From
1999 through 2010, the programs spread 41 million eelgrass seeds across
350 acres in four coastal bays. Through natural re-seeding, these plantings
have now expanded into 4,200 acres of eelgrass meadows. This effort has
been described as the world’s largest and most successful seagrass
restoration project.^"^ Tong-term studies by VCR/TTER confirm the
eelgrass recovery, and modeling studies show that full restoration has not
even been reached yet.^^ With the success of the seagrass restoration
program, ESE was also able to re-introduce to the new underwater
meadows about 2.5 million juvenile bay scallops reared at the ESL
hatchery.
Shellfish Data and Industry Applications
As recently as 2005, consistent economic data has not been
collected in Virginia for shellfish aquaculture - as distinct from traditional
shellfish and fish “landings” (onto the shore or dock). USDA has collected
economic data for farm crops and livestock since the 1860s^^ and NOAA
similarly maintains statistics on commercial fish and shellfish landings.
The NOAA data show that commercial operators are continuing to land
clams and oysters from the bay in the traditional way, although at
diminished rates.
With NOAA support, every year since 2005, VIMS has surveyed
Virginia clam and oyster aquaculture farmers on their market sales and
employment to produce an annual report on the newly-emerging
the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment. It is estimated that the NOAA
ARRA funding provided 55 jobs in Virginia.
*'^This success story was recently featured in a series of 9 articles in a February 2012
specially-themed issue of the journal, Marine Ecology Progress Series, co-edited by the
head of the VIMS/ESL seagrass restoration program. Professor Robert Orth.
^ ^However, they also show that, over time, the grass will likely be negatively impacted
by increases in water temperature predicted by current climate change models.
^^See http://www.nass.usda.gov/About NASS/Timeline/The Founding Period.
^^See http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st 1 /commercial/index.html.
Fall 2012
56
1 R
aquaculture sector. These annual data are useful for determining industry
trends, and are particularly useful for the Eastern Shore communities
where many shellfish aquaculture operations are based. In recent years,
Virginia aquaculture has been steadily growing and changing as new
techniques are proven. The numbers show that the state’s clam
aquaculture industry remains the largest in the nation, producing 450
million clams worth $26 million in 2011. Oyster growers using
aquaculture techniques sold more than 23 million oysters worth more than
$6.7 million in 2011 - up 38% from 2010.
The aquaculture industry growth in Virginia can be attributed in
part to ground-breaking research by VIMS and ESL which have become
recognized for their research on the ecology of all shellfish - clams,
oysters, and scallops. VIMS has introduced such innovations as: oysters
grown in protective containers (cages, racks, and floats) which reduces
predators; farmed oysters that are moved into saltier waters just prior to
harvest, nearly eliminating the presence of bacteria that can make humans
sick; and faster growing oysters.
Education and Outreach
VIMS maintains web sites of free resources for teachers: Bridge
is “an oeean of teacher-approved marine education resources,” and
“ChesSIE”^^ (Chesapeake Science on the Internet for Educators) provides
science information about bay area animals, plants, habitats, and water as
well as professional development opportunities in the watershed area.
University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is a
historically-black university located in Princess Anne, 10 miles from the
bay and 20 miles from the ocean. The university has top-rated research
and education programs in marine and related disciplines, particularly
*^The “Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation and Outlook Report” is available from
the VIMS website, www.vims.edu.
^^http://web.vims.edu/bridge. sponsored by NOAA Sea Grant program and the National
Marine Educators Association.
^^http://www.baveducation.net. a project of the Mid- Atlantic Marine Education
Association.
Washington Academy of Sciences
57
fisheries science. UMES offers bachelors, masters, and PhD degrees in
21
Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Sciences (MEES).
While there has been a recent increase in the number of students
nationwide choosing marine science as careers, the percentage of
minorities doing so is below expectations. The NOAA Educational
Partnership program supports the UMES-led Living Marine Resources
Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC) consortium to increase the
number and diversity of students involved in NOAA core science areas.
The consortium includes six other universities located on the water around
the country , which are linked via video-teleconferencing for distance-
learning, enabling them to share classes and seminars by renowned
scientists and foster research collaborations among the schools. The
consortium was founded in 2001 when NOAA awarded UMES and its
partners their first grant; support is currently extended through 2016.
UMES has a water quality lab on campus and, in 2005, built a $3
million Paul S. Sarbanes Coastal Ecology Center located 30 minutes from
the UMES main campus on 8 acres across from Assateague Island. This
center is under the administrative authority of the UMES School of
Agricultural and Natural Sciences, but also serves as a field lab for
LMRCSC. It is focused on fish microbiology, water quality, and the
ecology of water organisms.
LMRCSC research, overall, is focused on the four broad areas of
fish populations, economics, habitats, and aquaculture. The consortium
conducts an annual proposal solicitation with guidance on the priority
research topics for the year for the purpose of encouraging collaborative
research among the students, faculty, and NOAA scientists.
Program Outputs and Benefits
Since 2001, the LMRCSC consortium has produced significant
output measures of its performance, as shown on Table 2. The data reflect
Areas of specialization for the MEES academic program are: fisheries science,
oceanography, ecology, environmental chemistry, environmental science, and
environmental molecular biology/ biotechnology.
^^The partner institutions are: Delaware State University, Hampton University, University
of Maryland, Savannah State University, University of Miami, and Oregon State
University.
^^In 2006, NOAA awarded the consortium a second 5-year grant and, at the beginning of
FY2012, awarded approximately $15 million, extending support through 2016.
Fall 2012
58
more than 350 graduates, 80 research projects, 150 interns, 500
presentations, nine government and university scientists, and 1,085
trainees. The consortium works to support NOAA’s mission to conserve,
protect and manage fish stocks. Its research has resulted in information on
more than twenty species, including, for example, the mortality of
yellowtail flounder; the genetic structure of monkfish; and the
socioeconomic indicators of billfish. The ongoing research is also
providing information needed to restore and enhance fish habitats.
Table 2. LMRCSC Output Measures
Establishing the consortium has allowed the UMES faculty to
leverage more than $ 1 1 million in grant funding from other agencies to
establish related programs. The new programs have enabled UMES to
further develop capacity in marine and fisheries science and recruit more
graduate students. Through one of these programs, the university was able
to add a Professional Science Masters (PSM) degree in Quantitative
Fisheries and Resource Economics.
Salisbury University
As of September 2012, 677 university presidents had signed the
American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment
(ACUPCC), a group of academic institutions pledging to work towards
climate neutrality. The commitment is the first of its kind to target climate
Washington Academy of Sciences
59
neutrality, not just a reduction. The signers include Salisbury University
and the eleven other institutions comprising the University System of
Maryland.
Salisbury University (SU) is the largest institution of higher
education on the Eastern Shore. Located in the city of Salisbury,
Maryland, the campus occupies 155 acres, and includes 56 buildings with
more than 1.6 million square feet of space. Salisbury signed on to the
ACUPCC commitment in 2007, and that commitment states:
“We believe colleges and universities must exercise
leadership in their communities and throughout society by
modeling ways to minimize global warming emissions, and
by providing the knowledge and the educated graduates to
achieve climate neutrality.”
Almost 470 of the institutions signing the Commitment have
completed Climate Action Plans which outline how and when they will
achieve climate neutrality, or zero net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Salisbury University developed its plan in 2010 through a workgroup of
some twenty students, faculty, and staff. The focus of the SU Plan is to
reduce emissions through: efficiencies of operation/equipment; increased
use of renewable energy; and promoting behavioral changes. For most of
the ACUPCC signers, including Salisbury, the target date for achieving
neutrality is 2050.
In order to provide a baseline to track its progress toward
neutrality,^"^ the university developed a campus-wide GHG inventory or
“carbon footprint” according to ACUPCC standards, published in early
2009. The University System of Maryland was the second university
system in the country to require its campuses to conduct carbon
inventories,^^ and SU has been the only institution in the Maryland system
to conduct its inventory using its own students exclusively. Students in
SU’s Perdue School of Business conducted the inventory, collecting data
from a number of sources including, for example, commuter data from a
tracking this progress, the university actually identified FY2005 as its baseline year
(rather than the 2008 data), since statewide energy reduction requirements use 2005 as
the baseline year. Therefore, a retrospective carbon footprint inventory was developed for
2005 by estimating data based on population and other changes. Going forward, the
university intends to conduct carbon emission inventories every other year.
^^Califomia was first.
Fall 2012
60
survey of 1,142 respondents out of the overall campus population of
approximately 9,000.^^
Education and Curriculum
SU has three undergraduate degree programs related to the
environment, climate change, and sustainability: (1) an Environmental
Studies major or minor; (2) a Department of Biological Sciences dual
major in biology and environmental/ marine science (in cooperation with
UMES); and (3) a Geography and Geosciences major, with tracks in
environmental land use planning and Earth & atmospheric science.
Although SU does not currently offer a graduate program in
environmental studies, it offers an MS in Applied Biology which provides
training in biotech lab research and environmental sciences. Sustainability
is continually being integrated into the academic programs at the
university, and at least 87 courses from 19 disciplines now include a focus
on the environment.
In July 2012, SU elevated its fast-growing interdisciplinary
Environmental Studies program to become the Department of
Environmental Studies. In this academic area, the students learn from
distinguished faculty such as award-winning Chesapeake Bay writer Tom
Horton, and Jay Martin who started Community-Sponsored Agriculture on
the Eastern Shore. The students intern at state and federal agencies such as
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); during the past three
years, five environmental studies majors have been awarded prestigious
$50,000 EPA Greater Research Opportunity Fellowships. The students
work toward career paths in: (1) land/resource management, (2) pollution
control/abatement, (3) environmental advocacy, (4) eco-tourism/
environmental education, (5) sustainable business, or (6) graduate school
or law school, including environmental law.
SU also provides the students opportunities to learn about the
environment and sustainability by living in a “Green Floor Living-
Teaming Community” in one of the dormitories. This option is open to
first-year students who take certain courses, perform green service
projects, and develop environmentally-oriented activities on campus. As
extra-curricular activities, students can cultivate the campus garden or
kayak on 100,000 acres of local rivers and wetlands, among other
activities. In addition, the university has a number of university-sponsored
^^The 2008 GHG inventory, filed with ACUPCC, documents the student survey work
toward the inventory. See http://rs.acupcc.org/ghg/645/.
Washington Academy of Sciences
61
clubs focused on the environment such as the Environmental Student
Association, Bio Environs Club, and others.
Research and Community Service
A wide variety of environmental research is pursued on the
Salisbury campus. Environmental Studies faculty members have received
grant funding from NSF, The Nature Conservancy, and other sources to
study forest growth locally and in the Amazon, and this has led to more
than 20 published articles. The SU Biological Sciences Department is
performing ongoing research in its Bacterial Source Tracking Eaboratory
and conducting research on biofuels. The Geography/Geosciences
Department is doing research on smart growth, and the Sociology
Department is researching local sustainable agriculture. Based on
conference agendas and other sources, a number of research topics are
pursued at SU that closely relate to the Eastern Shore marine
• 28
environment.
The Salisbury University-based Eastern Shore Regional GIS
Cooperative (ESRGC) is a joint effort between the university and two
regional planning and development councils covering six Eastern Shore
counties. The Maryland Department of the Environment recently hired
ESRGC researchers to pinpoint 420,000 septic systems statewide in order
to identify failing systems which critically impact the bay.^^
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
(UMCES) is the University System of Maryland’s environmental research
institution. UMCES operates five programs, four of them being major
27
See, for example, SU’s annual Student Research Conference (which showcases and
celebrates more than 200 student accomplishments), the 201 1 National Conference on
Undergraduate Research (held in Ithaca, New York), and the 2011 SU faculty grant
proposals.
28
A sampling includes: “The Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound: A Bi-Coastal Survey of
Environmental Issues and Perceptions”; “The Maryland Watershed Implementation Plan:
What’s Being Neglected in the Chesapeake Bay Clean-Up Efforts”; and “A Geographic
Analysis of Storm Water Run-off as a Problem.”
^^These are the Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, and the
Mid-Shore Regional Council.
^^Current ESRGC projects involve a flood vulnerability analysis and critical area
boundary mapping for the participating local and regional entities.
Fall 2012
62
research facilities related to the environment in the Chesapeake Bay and
Eastern Shore area: the Horn Point Laboratory (HPL) on the Eastern
Shore; Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL) at Solomon’s Island on
the western shore of the bay;« Institute of Marine and Environmental
Technology (IMET) in Baltimore; and the Appalachian Laboratory in
western Maryland, focused on the bay’s watershed rivers and streams.
UMCES also administers the Maryland Sea Grant College program out of
College Park, Maryland, which is a university-based cooperative research
and education extension program.
In general, the UCMES sites are focused on ecosystem-based
environmental management - integrating marine, aquatic, and terrestrial
habitats - and ecosystem restoration, which involves holistically restoring
sustainability to areas stressed by development and climate change. Every
year more than 100 graduate students conduct research and studies at
UMCES as part of the University of Maryland’s MEES program,
mentioned earlier.^ ^ The UMCES faculty and students frequently use
scuba diving as a research tool. They also use the research vessels, and the
flagship of that fleet is the 81 -foot RA^ Rachel Carson.
The Center administration of UMCES is headquartered at the Horn
Point Laboratory on more than 800 acres by the Choptank River - the
former estate of Francis V. DuPont - near the city of Cambridge on
Maryland’s Eastern Shore. HPL began operation in 1974 after Hurricane
Agnes rainfall decreased the bay’s water salinity levels in 1972, drastically
diminishing shellfish populations. HPL focuses on environmentally-
sustainable strategies for restoring the bay, its watershed, and the mid-
Atlantic coastal ocean, and the HPL scientists have made significant
research findings related to the bay’s dead zones and acid levels.
Oyster Aquaculture
HPL has one of the largest oyster hatcheries on the East Coast, the
Aquaculture and Restoration Ecology Lab. This $25 million 65,000 square
foot aquaculture facility, with its sophisticated instrumentation, is
designed to produce disease-free oyster larvae and “spaf’ (baby oysters
produced by allowing oyster larvae to settle on old oyster shells in tanks).
The spat is used in research, educational projects, the private aquaculture
industry, and restoration activities throughout the Maryland portion of the
bay. In this way, HPL serves a similar purpose for oysters as a state
^Tab instruction takes place at the UMCES sites, and the degrees are awarded by the
University of Maryland.
Washington Academy of Sciences
63
agricultural experiment station does for crops. The spat, or seed oysters,
are planted in the bay, producing clumps of oysters that grow and can later
be harvested.
Unique features of the aquaculture facility include experimental
controls for climate change research; a quarantine facility for the safe
study of non-indigenous species; and a narrow water channel for research
on submerged vegetation and seagrass. The quarantine lab and V^-acrQ
outdoor ponds are supplied with up to 350 gallons per minute of Choptank
River water.
By the Fall 2012, HPT has produced a record number of oysters to
aid in restoring the bay. This is the fifth year in a row that production has
exceeded half a billion, as the hatchery has already produced more than
880 million spat in 2012. Over the past decade, the HPT hatchery has
deployed more than 4.5 billion young oysters to the bay.
Oceanography
HPT scientists are also very active in interdisciplinary
oceanography and its monitoring instruments, and they have developed
several new technologies for accomplishing their research activities:
• The physical oceanographers are concerned with the motion of
the ocean - waves, erosion, and interaction with climate variability - as
well as systems and technologies for environmental observation. UMCES
helps run a NOAA-funded public-private partnership to test new sensor
platforms.''^
• HPT’s chemical oceanographers have expertise in water
columns and sediment, and they are developing a new technology - an
integrated water column profiler - which can observe simultaneously
water properties such as turbulence, particles, and nutrient uptake.
• The HPT biological oceanography group is concerned with
food web dynamics and specializes in shellfish, aquatic plants, and
floating plants and animals - including jellyfish and unicellular organisms.
HPT’s overall strength is in collaborative biogeochemical studies,
including, for example, the modeling and ecology of seagrass beds.
^^The UMCES/CBL site serves as the headquarters for the Alliance for Coastal
Technologies (ACT), a NOAA-funded partnership of universities, companies, and state
programs which together serve as a testbed for quantitatively evaluating new sensor
platforms. In early 2013, a 16-foot long underwater research vehicle will be delivered to
UMCES which will provide even more data collection capabilities.
Fall 2012
64
Education. Outreach, and Extension
UMCES reaches more than 12,000 school age students and 50
teachers annually, helping school districts comply with state
environmental education requirements. HPL’s Environmental Science
Education Center is for K-12 education and teacher training focused on
STEM subjects. HPL offers a variety of programs for school age students.
For example, the “Biologist for a Day” program brings groups of middle
and high school students for a day of hands-on learning at the hatchery.
Eastern Shore middle school students have helped to hatch and raise baby
diamondback terrapins (the state reptile) and then release them into HPL-
monitored wetlands. For even younger children, HPL offers brief weekday
tours so they can see baby oysters spawn.
UMCES and HPL extension activities are coordinated through the
University of Maryland Extension and Sea Grant programs. They involve
technical support via training, publications, and site visits for a variety of
stakeholders - from home owners to industry. For example, HPL is
evaluating the effectiveness of aquatic plants (a $2 million industry in the
state) for their value in keeping algae out of the tens of thousands of
stormwater ponds in residential developments. HPL extension, in turn, is
sharing the research results so the ponds can be better managed.
HPL conducts extensive public outreach. In addition to twice-
weekly walking tours during summer months, the lab also holds an annual
open house in the Fall with numerous activities and exhibits. The open
house begins with a “Spat Dash” race to benefit environmental education
programs and raises thousands of dollars for summer student scholarships.
Commonalities Among the University Programs
Several unique aspects of each Eastern Shore university
environmental program were highlighted above. While they represent
different institutions and states, the programs also have much in common.
The following list suggests some of the more generic aspects of the
educational missions of these university programs. Most of these
institutions:
• Host visiting scientists on contracts and grants from other
universities in the spring and summer months, and maintain facilities to
accommodate them (e.g., dormitories and dining halls). They even
maintain boats to transport them to and from data monitoring locations.
Washington Academy of Sciences
65
• Receive supplemental funding from the National Science
Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program and other
programs to provide paid summer fellowships, grants, and internships.
These types of programs allow undergraduates to conduct research with
mentors, and they may be paid monthly stipends, and lodging and travel
expenses.
• Offer courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels taught
by the resident faculty and principal investigators. The courses may even
be taught toward academic degrees granted by other universities. The
resident faculty members also supervise the research of rotating graduate
researchers, and may serve on policy advisory boards needing specialized
expertise.
• Provide teacher training in STEM areas for local high school
and middle school teachers. This may be delivered in the form of lectures,
group discussions, outdoor excursions, lesson plans, videos of scientist
interviews, and other media.
• Offer paid summer internships for local high school students
during the summer months. Some of these programs are competitive and
merit-based, and the hope is that the hands-on research will encourage the
students to pursue eventual majors and careers in environmental studies.
• Produce publications, data, conference presentations, patents,
and intellectual capital resulting from the research that is likely accessible
for second-level applications or licensing.
• Host multiple school student field trips and tour groups
representing various professional societies (e.g., Virginia Master
Naturalists).
• Conduct monthly evening seminars to educate the public on
research findings and environmental projects on the Eastern Shore. Topics
include, for example, the bay’s dead zones, the impact of climate change
on the Eastern Shore, and the overall ecology of the region. They also
maintain speakers’ bureaus for local civic organizations seeking speakers
with expertise in environmental subjects.
• Provide extensive research and academic facilities such as
classroom buildings, teaching laboratories, wet laboratories, conference
centers, libraries, high-speed Internet, GIS, laboratory equipment, image
analysis capabilities, centralized data portals and database systems, video
equipment, and museums and exhibit/display areas.
Fall 2012
66
• Maintain research fleets with small vessels for local project
work and shallow-water habitats, and larger vessels for offshore work and
open ocean navigation.
• Support resident staff providing specialized technical services
to the onsite and visiting researchers, such as assistance with computers,
graphics, equipment, mechanics, chemical analyses, and even water
transportation.
See the Appendices for additional background on several of the
university programs.
Rationale for Promoting a Science and Technology Sector
Clearly, there is a variety of university-based education and
research programs on the Eastern Shore with a similar variety of facilities
and expertise in environmental fields. Due to the fragile nature of the
environmental conditions of the region, and environmental connections to
the regional economy, each of the programs provides unique opportunities
for education, research, internships, employment, and community
involvement. The outputs, impacts, and research findings of the programs
indicate they are fulfilling their missions, making exceptional research
contributions, and providing a service to their stakeholders regionally,
nationally, and internationally. Furthermore, the researchers involved in
complementary research efforts seem to be cooperating well toward their
common goals.
Given these findings, it’s interesting to note that a 130-page
Eastern Shore Career Guide describes 123 occupations listed as
appropriate for Maryland’s Lower Shore and Upper Shore but the
guidebook does not list any positions related to marine science and
technology, for example. This is a notable omission, particularly given
that it lists “fishers and related fishing workers” as occupational groups
with the fastest nationwide growth rates (from 2004 to 2014).^"^
this guidebook, “Lower Shore” includes Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester
counties; “Upper Shore” includes Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot
counties.
^'^At the time it was printed, the Career Guide projected that there were 30,955 openings
on the Eastern Shore for 121 of the 123 occupations (data on projected number of
biologists and chemists was listed as “not available.”)
Washington Academy of Sciences
67
Occupations based on science and information rather than manual
labor make up the “knowledge industry sector.”^^ This sector - which
includes marine science, sustainable agriculture, and environmental
studies among others - is growing faster than the overall economy and it
supports higher salaries. Knowledge-based economies tend to feature
regional innovation systems clustered around science and technology
facilities. Innovation clusters are comprised of tech firms, university
spinoffs, entrepreneurs and their start-ups, and the technical support
organizations that serve them - usually a variety of for-profits and non-
profit centers that can capitalize on the region’s scientific resources.
An internationally-recognized example not far from the Eastern
Shore is the biomedical corridor in the Baltimore area extending from
Johns Hopkins University down to the National Institutes of Health in
Bethesda, Maryland.
Is there a sufficient science and technology base on the Eastern
Shore on which to build a science and technology-based economy? There
is a concentration of research and education on environmental issues and
an existing cadre of world-class scientists doing basic and applied research
and producing outputs like scientific and technical information, scholarly
publications, technology applications, patents, etc. Furthermore, local
human resources are being developed through the educational programs
and internships to create an available pool of human capital - although it
has been said that the Eastern Shore suffers from brain drain, according to
a member of the Greater Salisbury Committee,'"^ so there may be a need
for incentives and programs encouraging them to stay.
^^The Career Guide contains three occupational clusters oriented toward scientific and
technical fields: biologists, chemists, and engineers. It lists these occupations related to
the biology cluster: foresters, oceanographers, pathologists, range managers, and soil
scientists. Related occupations for chemists are listed as: agricultural scientist, chemical
engineer, chemical technologist, and food technologist.
^^There is an extensive body of literature on technology-based economic development
and regional innovation clusters. See, for example, www.clustermapping.us. a project
under development at Harvard University and supported by the U.S. Department of
Commerce, to be expanded in the Spring of 2013.
37
Rafael Correa, President of MaTech, Inc., a former 8(a) company; presentation at the
Federal Laboratory Consortium’s Eastern Shore Economic Development Meeting, March
12, 2008.
Fall 2012
68
“Collaboration between business and academia helps fuel research
necessary for American innovation and helps prepare a workforce that
meets the needs of industry. Both are critical components to future
economic prosperity and job growth,” as stated by the chairman House
Subcommittee on Research and Science Education chairman at an August
2012 Congressional hearing.'"^ What is needed on the Eastern Shore is an
active focus on bringing together the public and private actors so that the
networking and university-industry partnerships are not just clustered
around Williamsburg, Charlottesville, Blacksburg, and College Park.
As ah example, William and Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine
Science has a VIMS-Industry Partnership Committee to advise the VIMS
director on the development of long-term partnerships with industry and
steps to improve collaborative research and technology transfer. In
addition to representatives from William and Mary and VIMS, the
committee includes industry participants from a few dozen companies,
county economic development directors, representatives of NASA and the
Office of Naval Research, and representatives from the Hampton Roads
Research Partnership. This industry partnership has focused, for example,
on marine sensors, the deployment of observation platforms in the bay,
autonomous underwater vehicles, modeling and simulation of storm
surges, and the Chesapeake Bay algae project which is researching the
conversion of algae into fuels. Furthermore, the partners have collaborated
on Small Business Innovation Research projects and federal, state, and
international contracts and grants.
The above example is based on the mainland, but there are
networks located on the Eastern Shore. The “Skipjack Network” website,
mentioned earlier, was created to showcase enterprises that can help
strengthen and diversify the economy of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. This
is an outreach activity provided by the University of Maryland-Eastern
Shore, and it has received support from various sources like USDA’s
Rural Business-Cooperative Service, the U.S. Economic Development
Administration, and Maryland Cooperative Extension. Skipjack is a
website""^ that serves as a portal to local economic development directors
and private business developers and intermediaries.
38
August 1, 2012 hearing on Business-Research University Partnerships held by the U.S.
House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology (Research and
Science Education Subcommittee).
^^http://skipiacknews.net/
Washington Academy of Sciences
69
Just as Maryland has its biomedical cluster, the Eastern Shore can
become branded as a regional cluster of science and technology based on
the environment. A commitment is necessary from all sectors -
government, universities, and industry - to leverage the region’s strengths.
The following list of ten stakeholder groups notes some roles for each:
1. The university players: University faculty, researchers and
administrators, technology transfer program staff, and community college
faculty"^^ can market their technologies and foster spinoffs and
entrepreneurship through incubators, research parks, and business advice.
2. High-profile industry and growing technology companies:
The existing base of recognized and well-known Wallops Island support
contractors can sponsor networking events and bring visibility to the
region’s science and technology assets.
3. World-class federal laboratories: A NOAA laboratory on the
Eastern Shore in Oxford. Maryland - an 18,000-square feet research
facility on the water - houses the most complete expertise that exists
worldwide on marine genomics, marine toxins, and harmful algae. Among
the lab’s commercialization applications, for example, is an aquaculture
shrimp vaccine. The Smithsonian Institution will also soon be launching a
research site in Edgewater, Maryland, for studying the coastal ecosystem.
By law, federal scientific labs must promote tech transfer, and can enter
into cooperative research and development agreements with partners for
this purpose."^^ Some also offer technical assistance to small businesses. In
addition to the NOAA Oxford Laboratory and Smithsonian, these
mandates also apply to federally- funded research and development
facilities at Wallops Island (NASA, NOAA, and Navy).
4. Professional societies and intermediaries: These players can
organize conference sessions targeted toward Eastern Shore students and
workers. As an example, the Washington Academy of Sciences in the
Washington DC area recently teamed with Salisbury University and the
40
For example, the Eastern Shore Community College (ESCC) started out as the
University of Virginia Eastern Shore Branch on Wallops Island. In 1971, the UVA
branch campus became an independent college within the state’s system of community
colleges, and moved from Wallops Island to Melfa, Virginia, in 1974. ESCC currently
has an enrollment of more than 1,000 students.
Stevenson- Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 and subsequent related
legislation.
Fall 2012
70
Marine Technology Society to co-sponsor a career-related event for
students."^^
5. Technology councils: The Tower Eastern Shore Regional
Technology Council is based in Salisbury, Maryland. The two counties of
Virginia’s Eastern Shore come under the purview of a regional technology
council on the mainland known as Technology Hampton Roads. These
types of groups provide a comfortable platform through which the public
and private sectors can interact, but they must be conveniently-located on
the Eastern Shore to be viable contributors.
6. Elected officials and economic developers: This group of
stakeholders brings leadership and expertise in strategizing for
technology-based economic development.
7. K-12 educators in STEM (science, technology, engineering
and math) and locally-based workforce organizations: Teachers on the
Eastern Shore, who are already benefitting from the locally-based
academic and research programs, serve as mentors and advisors for the
young interns and future workers.
8. Foundations and non-profits: The Chesapeake Bay
Foundation is exemplary here, with a long history of environmental
activism and educational programs in the region. The Foundation’s
legislative efforts have led to requirements for environmental education at
the high school level to prepare students for green jobs and improving
environmental awareness; also, the Foundation’s vice president for
education serves as director for the No Child Left Inside Coalition, a
national coalition of more than 2,000 business and education groups.
9. Entrepreneurs: The UMES Sarbanes Coastal Ecology Center
serves as a business incubation facility for entrepreneurs partnering with
the university’s Rural Development Center through the Worcester County
Department of Economic Development. These entrepreneurs are potential
users of university technologies and serve as role models for others.
10. Financial institutions and investors:^^ They provide needed
capital for new ventures.
42
Capital Science 2012 Program: http://www.washacadsci.org/capsci 1 2/abstracts. pdf
43
Such as Angel investors or venture capital — to the extent that these communities are
available within the region.
Washington Academy of Sciences
71
This region - with its unique environment and socio-economics -
deserves an organizational champion to harness the attention of all these
groups that have a stake in the region’s future. The region will benefit
from a targeted coordinated effort to develop an environmentally-oriented
cluster, persistently over time. Regular and ongoing outreach is how
relationships and collaborations develop. Such an approach, along with a
strategy for environmental “branding,” will result in positive economic
impact. Toward this end, the Eastern Shore stakeholders are advised to
study the best practices of other environmental clusters around the
country, as well as international models. The possibilities are definitely
not saturated at this point.
Appendix A: University of Virginia - Supplementary Information
UVA’s Department of Environmental Sciences in Charlottesville,
Virginia, serves as the administrative headquarters for the VCR/ETER
project. NSF has supported this effort since the 1980s, as shown on Table
3. It is one of 26 such sites coordinated by the U.S. LTER Network
encompassing more than 1,800 researchers. The data developed at VCR
are integrated with data from other sites and programs - including socio-
economic data. The VCR/ETER studies have contributed to, for example,
interdisciplinary breakthroughs involving social scientists in network
analysis and ecology Data produced by the LTER program feeds into
the U.S. Global Change Research Program which integrates research from
13 agencies."^^ A related global network, the International LTER program,
is contributing to the United Nations program on assessing global change.
Many partners are on-site and have a stake in the research at the
UVA field site. NOAA installed a Climate Reference Network station at
this facility, providing adjunct data to the LTER meteorological data. The
Nature Conservancy purchases related LiDAR"^^ data for the Eastern
44
For example, a collaboration with Dr. Stephen Swallow, a University of Rhode Island
economist, has produced ground-breaking work on the tradeoffs involved in
environmental conservation. A sample of this body of work is a presentation to the 2010
Soil & Water Conservation Society conference, “Selling Ecosystem Services as Public
Goods to Consumer-Beneficiaries: An Auction Experiment on Restoration of Seagrass
and Bird Habitat in Virginia Coastal Reserve.”
45
USGCRP began as a presidential initiative in 1989, and was mandated by Congress in
1990. From 2002-2008, it was known as the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.
^^LiDAR = Light Detection and Ranging, an optical remote sensing technology.
Fall 2012
72
Shore. Additional federal partners include the U.S. Geological Survey and
the Naval Research Laboratory. Both federal and state agencies charged
with managing coastal resources and/or agricultural fertilization practices
benefit from data on the relationship between land use, water quality, and
contaminants."^^
Appendix B: University of Maryland-Eastern Shore -
Supplementary Information
UMES has the advantage of being located in close proximity to
Delaware State University (DSU) on the Delmarva Peninsula and
Hampton University (HU) located near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay,
both historically-black universities and known for their programs in this
area. For example, HU has a number of programs promoting the
participation of minority students in marine sciences, including
Multicultural-students At Sea Together (known as “MAST”) and others.
The DSU Aquaculture Research and Demonstration Facility has numerous
freshwater ponds and large wet lab. UMES also collaborates with nearby
sites of the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science;
the LMRCSC partner is the joint USM Institute of Marine and
Environmental Technology located on the Inner Harbor by Baltimore.
Appendix C: Salisbury University - Supplementary Information
The students inventorying the Salisbury University GHG
emissions, found that the university emitted almost 28,000 metric tons of
equivalent carbon dioxide (C02) emissions during FY2008, as detailed on
Table 4.'**
Campus Milestones: ACUPCC participants commit to initiating
at least two “tangible actions” toward carbon neutrality. Salisbury
University’s first commitment is focused on energy efficiency and
conservation. The university established a policy that new campus
construction and major renovations will be built to at least the U.S. Green
Building Council’s Eeadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) Silver standard or equivalent certification. SU also plans for new
construction to use 20-30% renewable energy, with the renewable energy
"^^These include the Water Conservation Districts on the Eastern Shore and the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality, among others.
^^This is roughly equivalent to the annual emissions from 4,600 cars or sequestered by
7,600 acres of Maryland’s Eastern Shore forest, according to the university’s Climate
Action Plan.
Washington Academy of Sciences
73
being generated on-site. The university has made significant progress in
this regard. In 2008, the SU Teacher Education and Technology Center
became the Eastern Shore’s first EEED-certified new construction,
earning Silver status. Since then, five more university buildings earned
LEED certification, with two of them earning Gold certification. Since
2010, three buildings have been renovated with geothermal heating and
cooling systems, which save 30-70% on monthly utility bills. One of the
buildings features a roof-mounted solar water heater supplying hot water.
Table 4. SU Greenhouse Gas Inventory (2008) *does not total due to rounding
As its second commitment, SU has adopted an energy-efficient
appliance purchasing policy. The washers and dryers in all the SU
residence halls are now Energy Star-rated high-efficiency laundry units
from Mac-Gray Intelligent Eaundry Systems. SU was the first university
in the country to install such units campus-wide. The washers use 12.2
gallons/wash, a savings of three gallons compared to previous machines,
resulting in an annual savings of more than 100,000 gallons of water.
The campus vehicles and computers are also contributing energy
efficiencies. The Motor Pool has replaced some of its older higher-mileage
vehicles with more environment-friendly hybrid cars. A ride-sharing
program is reducing the number of student, faculty and staff cars travelling
to campus or home for weekends. The university’s Information
Technology office is using “server virtualization” software that reduces
the number of physical server boxes that are necessary, saving both
electricity and heating and cooling costs.
Fall 2012
74
Even before signing ACUPCC and developing its Climate Action
Plan, Salisbury University had a highly visible university-wide
'‘Sustainability Initiative. The university established a partnership with
Pepco Energy Services to put into place campus-wide energy conservation
measures projecting more than $5.3 million in savings by 2021. For
example, lighting, plumbing and HVAC fixtures have been replaced with
energy-efficient models.
SU has been implementing a recycling program since about 1990,
and every year exceeds the state standard which requires that it recycle at
least 20% of its trash.^^ Since Spring semester 2012, the university has
been composting food waste to minimize the volume sent to local
landfills. The composting program has already processed nearly 70 tons of
food waste which represents a decrease of nearly 60% in landfill use. The
waste is compressed into fertilizer pellets sold to area farmers and also
used in the campus greenhouses.
Campus Culture: SU has a tree-friendly campus, which is a
national arboretum and home to student-planted wildlife and rain and
vegetable gardens. This has garnered the university some recognition. It
earned the 2009 Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR)
“People Loving and Nurturing Trees” (PLANT) Green award, the highest
sustainability award given by the DNR Forest Service and Forestry
Council. SU also became the first university to be honored with the
WMDT News-Mountaire Environmental Star award. In 2010, 2011, and
2012, The Princeton Review named SU one of the nation’s most
environmentally-responsible colleges based on a survey and “green rating”
c'y
scores of hundreds of colleges nationwide.
49
Salisbury University touts this definition of sustainability ‘‘... meet the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
(Brundtland Commission, 1987).
^^It is estimated the Pepco partnership will save an amount of electricity equal to
powering 1,600 homes, and reduce emissions equal to removing 1,571 cars from the road
or planting 2,145 acres of trees.
^‘The university’s Climate Action Plan says SU “boasts a recycling program that
consistently achieves a recycling percent higher than the required 20 percent mandated by
the [1988] Maryland Recycling Act,” but does not cite a percentage. The university
website states “SU always far exceeds this standard.”
^^SU received a rating of 86 (on a scale of 60-99) in 2012, and was featured in the Guide
to 322 Green Colleges.
Washington Academy of Sciences
75
An extensive web site, “Sustainability @ SU,” consolidates an
array of Salisbury University initiatives not covered here. Through its
initiatives, the university intends to serve as a model for the surrounding
regional community. Additional activities are in the planning stages, and
will become visible to the region’s residents in the near future.
Bibliography
Boesch, D., Editor. Global Warming and the Free State: Comprehensive Assessment of
Climate Change Impacts in Maryland. Report to the Maryland Commission on Climate
Change from the Scientific and Technical Working Group, July 2008.
Christian, R.R., et al. “Ecosystem Elealth Indexed through Networks of Nitrogen
Cycling” in Coastal Lagoons: Critical Habitats of Environmental Change, edited by M.
Kennish and H. Paerl. New York: CRC Press. 2010, p. 17-42.
Codispoti, L. “Interesting Times for Nitrous Oxide,” Science, March 12, 2010, p. 1339-
1340.
Davis, L. “Saving the Amazing Red Knot from Extinction.” Virginia Tech Research.
Winter 2012, p. 32-37.
Eastern Shore Environmental Education Council. Conservation Education Directory: A
Resource Guide for Educators on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Eastern Shore Soil and
Water Conservation District. 2009 Edition.
Environmental, Bioproducts and Robotics References: Environmental Programs &
Projects in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Federal Laboratory Consortium Mid-Atlantic
Region Eastern Shore Meeting, Meeting Elandout, January 29, 2009.
Environmental Studies Department, Salisbury University Fact Sheet, undated.
Long-Term Drivers, State Change and Disturbance on the Virginia Coast Reserve: LTER
V. Annual Report submitted to National Science Foundation by K. McGlathery and J.
Porter, Co-Principal Investigators, September 16, 201 1.
Lower Shore Workforce Alliance. Eastern Shore Career Guide: A Premier Source for
Career Information on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 2nd Edition, Fall 2008.
“Marine-Fisheries Science Center Secures New Federal Grant,” University of Maryland
Eastern Shore Press Release, October 21, 2011.
McNaul, A.D. “Research and Science Education Subcommittee Discusses Business-
Research University Partnerships.” FYI, The AIP Bulletin of Science Policy News,
American Institute of Physics, Number 1 13, August 30, 2012.
McNey, R. “Federal Lab Representatives Visit Easton to Discuss Tech Opportunities,”
The Star Democrat, March 1 9, 2008, p. A 1 8.
^^http://www.salisburv.edu/sustain.
^'‘Climate Action Plan - Progress Report: http://rs.acupcc.org/progress/282/
Fall 2012
16
Moretti, E. The New Geography of Jobs. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing Company. 2012.
Murray, T.J. and K. Hudson. Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation and Outlook
Report: Results of 2011 Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Crop Reporting Survey. Virginia
Sea Grant Marine Extension Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, May 2012.
Orth, R.J. and K.J. McGlathery, “Eelgrass Recovery in the Coastal Bays of the Virginia
Coast Reserve, USA,” Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 448, 2012, p. 173-176.
Petrocci, C. '‘Heritage Tourism Workshop Draws Local Businesses,” The Crest, Virginia
Institute of Marine Science, Fall 2007, p. 5.
Program Brochure, Anheuser-Busch Coastal Research Center of the University of
Virginia. University of Virginia, undated.
Pyke, C. R., et al. Climate Change and the Chesapeake Bay: State-of-the-Science Review
and Recommendations. A Report from the Chesapeake Bay Program Science and
Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), Annapolis, MD, 2008.
Salisbury University Climate Action Plan 2010. Salisbury University, January 15, 2010.
Sutphin, M. “21st-Century Extension.” Virginia Tech Magazine. Fall 201 1, p. 24-28.
Swallow, S.K., et al. “Ecosystem Services Beyond Valuation, Regulation, and
Philanthropy: Integrating Consumer Values into the Economy,” Choices, Vol. 23, 2008,
p. 47.
The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges. Published by the Princeton
Review in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council, 2012 Edition.
Thomas, W.G., et al. “The Countryside Transformed: The Eastern Shore of Virginia, the
Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Creation of a Modem Landscape,” Southern Spaces,
Emory University Libraries, July 31, 2007.
http://www.southemspaces.org/2007/countrvside-transfonned-eastem-shore-virginia-
pennsvlvania-railroad-and-creation-modem-landsc
Bio
Sally Rood has managed and advocated for membership groups involved
in science policy and technology transfer - including a university network,
federal laboratory network, and industry innovation advisory committee -
and engaged stakeholders at the intersection of science, technology, and
economic development. She has worked regionally, internationally, and
across a range of agencies on government-university- industry issues. Her
academic background includes a PhD in Public Affairs, MBA in
Information Technology, and masters in Science, Technology and Public
Policy.
Washington Academy of Sciences
77
Washington Academy of Sciences
1200 New York Avenue
Rm 113
Washington, DC 20005
Please fill in the blanks and send your application to the Washington Academy
of Sciences at the address above. We will contact you as soon as your
application has been reviewed by the Membership Committee. Thank you for
your interest in the Washington Academy of Sciences.
(Dr. Mrs. Mr. Ms)
Business Address
Home Address
Email
Phone
Please indicate your preferred mailing address
Business Home
Present Occupation or Professional Position
Please list memberships in scientific societies - include office held:
|:
4
i
Fall 2012
^'' ■ * ’■ ■ ’ '. '■ ■ *>’■• •:? ..' "i?*'
’/jituraX'''
. ;-. • ^ V\ /JSB ■■>.
Tf'-j/ ^-ji! ,' •'. s»Vj;:.<
‘■■«i
TriV ’Jl ; v^‘
5^v>r
r».y-^v-'4rj .•‘•■'.s ‘ ■•- y.:ui^ -r'i
*" i-^i&if.' afiVt^r^i; '' ■ ;,- .- . Li ■.■■iirj«'ct j^: m liff
^ . I i t' •'•'■-'T ■■ '■«'• J':'-^ "' ^
' .•; JS^i ■ • ' "^ • ’ '* ■ ^ — ^ j r* ^
M~, ■>-^ -> ■■•
■; ,- :..l:iLkMutii-^ - ' -?T
••!.' r tv;
tiSi.v i j
- V «■'
I %;
■*»^ 4>i«-
i^ ' '"-iWui'i
il.'rt ' ' '
.. - 4-4J . .. - ... ~
s*^V
as-A-L
Washington Academy of Sciences
79
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences
Instructions to Authors
The Washington Academy of Sciences publishes its interdisciplinary
peer-reviewed Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences four times
a year - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
1. Deadlines for quarterly submissions are:
• Spring - March 15 Fall - September 1 5
• Summer - June 1 5 Winter - December 1 5
2. Draft Manuscripts using a word processing program (such as
MSWord), not PDF.
3. Papers should be 6,000 words or fewer. If there are 7 or more
graphics, reduce the number of words by 500 for each graphic.
4. Include an abstract of 150-200 words.
5. Graphics must be in graytone, and be easily resizable by the editors
to fit the Journal’s page size. Reference the graphic in the text.
6. Use endnotes not footnotes. The bibliography may be in a style
considered standard for the discipline or professional field
represented by the paper.
7. Submit papers as email attachments to the editor or associate
editor.
8. Include the author’s name, affiliation, and contact information -
including postal address. Membership in an Academy-affiliated
society may also be noted.
9. Manuscripts are peer reviewed and become the property of the
Washington Academy of Sciences.
10. There are no page charges.
1 1 . Manuscripts can be accepted by any of the Board of Discipline
Editors.
Please see the Academy’s web site, www.washacadsci.org. for the library
subscription rate, listing of articles dating to 1899, and information on
accessing them.
Fall 2012
80
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences
Editor Sally A. Rood. PhD sallv.rood@cox.net
Associate Editor Sethanne Howard, PhD ' sethanneh@msn.com
Board of Discipline Editors
The Journal ' of the Washington Academy of Sciences has a 13-member
Board of Discipline Editors representing many scientific and technical
fields. The members of the Board of Discipline Editors are affiliated with
a variety of scientific institutions in the Washington area and beyond -
government agencies such as the National Institute of Standards and
Technology; universities such as George Mason University; and scientific
societies such as IEEE.
.Anthropology
Atmospheric Studies
Biology
Botany
Computer Sciences
Engineering
Environmental Natural
Sciences
Health
History of Medicine
Mathematics
Physics
Science Education
Systems Science
Emanuela Appetiti eappetiti@hotmail.com
Steve Tracton straction@hotmail.com
Jean Mielczarek mielczar@phvsics.gmu.edu
Mark Holland maholland@salisburY.edu
Kent Miller kent.l.miller@alumni.cmu.edu
Kiki Ikossi ikossi@ieee.org
Raj Madhaven rai.madhaven@nist.gov
Terrell Erickson terrell.erickson 1 @wdc.nsda.gov
Robin Stombler rstombler@aubumstrat.com
Alain Touwaide atouwaide@hotmail.com
Carol Lacampagne clacampagne@earthlink.net
Jean Mielczarek (see email above)
Jim Egenrieder i im@deepwater.org
Elizabeth Corona elizabethcorona@gmail.com
Washington Academy of Sciences
81
Washington Academy of Sciences
Affiliated Institutions
National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST)
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
The John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress
Potomac Overlook Regional Park
Koshland Science Museum
American Registry of Pathology
Living Oceans Foundation
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
Fall 2012
82
Delegates to the Washington Academy of Sciences
Representing Affiliated Scientific Societies
(continued on next page)
i
Washington Academy of Sciences
Delegates to the Washington Academy of Sciences
Representing Affiiiated Scientific Societies
(continued from previous page)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Washington DC Section
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Northern Virginia Section
Institute of Food Technologies
Institute of Industrial Engineers
International Society of Automation
Marine Technology Society
Mathematical Association of America
Medical Society of the District of Columbia
National Capital Astronomers
National Geographic Society
Optical Society of America
Pest Science Society of America
Philosophical Society of Washington
Society of American Foresters
Society of American Military Engineers
Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Soil and Water Conservation Society
Technology Transfer Society
Virginia Native Plant Society, Potomac Chapter
Washington Evolutionary Systems Society
Washington History of Science Club
Washington Chapter of the Institute for
Operations Research and Management
Washington Paint Technology Group
Washington Society of Engineers
Washington Society for the History of Medicine
Washington Statistical Society
World Future Society
Richard Hill
Murty Polavarapu
Vacant
Neal F. Schmeidler
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Jay Miller
Vacant
Jim Cole
Vacant
Eugenie Mielczarek
Daina Apple
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Terrell Erickson
Clifford Lanham
Vacant
Vacant
Albert G. Gluckman
Russell Wooten
Vacant
Alvin Reiner
Vacant
Mike Cohen
Jim Honig
Washington Academy of Sciences
Room 1 1 3
1200 New York Ave. NW
NONPROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PAID
MERRIFIEDVA 22081
PERMIT# 888
Washington, DC 20005
Return Postage Guaranteed
ERNST MAVRUBR/soy
2C) OXFORD ST
CAMBRIDGE MA 02138-2902
MCZ
LIBRARY
MAR 1 2 2013
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
Volume 98
Number 4
Winter 2012
Journal of the
WASHINGTON
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Board of Discipline Editors ii
Editors’ Comments 5. Rood, S. Howard. iii
Kaleidoscope Technology A. Teich 1
Why Pluto is Not a Planet Anymore S. Howard. 3
Colonizing Jupiter’s Moons T. Kerwick 15
MOSART: Modeling the Radiative Environment of Earth W. Comette 27
Methods to Derive the Einstein Partial Differential Equation A. Gluckman 47
Membership Listing 63
Instruction to Authors 77
Membership Application 78
Affiliated Institutions 79
Affiliated Societies and Delegates 80
ISSN 0043-0439
Issued Quarterly at Washington DC
Washington Academy of Sciences
Founded in 1898
Board of Managers
Elected Officers
President
James Cole
President Elect
James Egenrieder
Treasurer
Ronald Hietala
Secretary
Terrell Erickson
Vice President, Administration
Jim Disbrow
Vice President, Membership
Sethanne Howard
Vice President, Junior Academy
Dick Davies
Vice President, Affiliated Societies
Richard Hill
Members at Large
Paul Arveson
Michael Cohen
Frank Haig, S.J.
Mark Holland
Neal Schmeidler
Catherine With
Past President Gerard Christman
Affiliated Society Delegates
Shown on back cover
The Journal of the Washington Academy of
Sciences
The Journal \s the official organ of the Academy.
It publishes articles on science policy, the history
of science, critical reviews, original science
research, proceedings of scholarly meetings of
its Affiliated Societies, and other items of interest
to its members. It Is published quarterly. The last
issue of the year contains a directory of the
current membership of the Academy.
Subscription Rates
Members, fellows, and life members in good
standing receive the Journal free of charge.
Subscriptions are available on a calendar year
basis, payable in advance. Payment must be
made in US currency at the following rates.
US and Canada $30.00
Other Countries $35.00
Single Copies (when available) $15.00
Claims for Missing Issues
Claims must be received within 65 days of
mailing. Claims will not be allowed if non-
delivery was the result of failure to notify the
Academy of a change of address.
Notification of Change of Address
Address changes should be sent promptly to
the Academy Office. Notification should
contain both old and new addresses and zip
codes.
Editor of the Journal
Sally A. Rood
Associate Editor
Sethanne Howard
Academy Office
Washington Academy of Sciences
Room 113
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202/326-8975
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to WAS, Rm 113,
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Journal of the Washington Academy of
Sciences (ISSN 0043-0439)
Published by the Washington Academy of
Sciences 202/326-8975
email: journal@washacadsci.org
website: www.washacadsci.org
MC2
library
MAR 1 2 2013
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
Volume 98 Number 4 Winter 2012
Contents
Board of Discipline Editors ii
Editors’ Comments S. Rood, S. Howard iii
Kaleidoscope Technology: The Intersection of Science and Art
A. Teich 1
Articles
Why Pluto is Not a Planet Anymore or How Astronomical Objects
Get Named S. Howard 3
Colonizing Jupiter’s Moons: An Assessment of Our Options and
Alternatives T. Kerwick 15
MOSART: Modeling the Radiative Environment of Earth’s
Atmosphere, Terrain, Oceans, and Space W. Cornette 27
Methods to Derive the Einstein Partial Differential Equation
Describing the Ray Optics and Kinematics of his Light
Ray Path Experiment with Moving Mirror A. Gluckman 47
Washington Academy of Sciences Membership Directory 2012 63
Instructions to Authors 77
Membership Application 78
Affiliated Institutions 79
Affiliated Societies and Delegates 80
1 200 New York Ave
Suite 113
Washington DC
20005
wvwvwashacadsci.org
Journal of the
WASHINGTON
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
ISSN 0043-0439
Issued Quarterly at Washington DC
11
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences
Editor Sally A. Rood, PhD sally.rood@cox.net
Assoc. Editor Sethanne Howard, PhD sethanneh@msn.com
Board of Discipline Editors
The Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences has a 13-member
Board of Discipline Editors representing many scientific and technical
fields. The members of the Board of Discipline Editors are affiliated with
a variety of scientific institutions in the Washington area and beyond -
government agencies such as the National Institute of Standards and
Technology; universities such as George Mason University; and scientific
societies such as IEEE.
Anthropology
Atmospheric Studies
Biology
Botany
Computer Sciences
Engineering
Environmental Natural
Sciences
Health
History of Medicine
Mathematics
Physics
Science Education
Systems Science
Emanuela Appetiti eappetiti@hotmail.com
Steve Tracton straction@hotmail.com
Jean Mielczarek mielczar@phvsics.gmu.edu
Mark Holland maholland@salisburv.edu
Kent Miller kent.l.miller@alumni.cmu.edu
Kiki Ikossi ikossi@ieee.org
Raj Madhaven rai.madhaven@nist.gov
Terrell Erickson terrell.erickson 1 @wdc.nsda.gov
Robin Stombler rstombler@aubumstrat.com
Alain Touwaide atouwaide@hotmail.com
Carol Lacampagne clacampagne@earthlink.net
Jean Mielczarek (see email above)
Jim Egenrieder i im@deepwater.org
Elizabeth Corona elizabethcorona@gmail.com
Washington Academy of Sciences
Ill
Editors’ Comments
Welcome to the Winter issue of the Journal. Physics and
astronomy are the related themes of this issue, but before we get to that . . .
in honor of the season, we’ve included some “snowflakes” for your
viewing pleasure, as featured in A1 Teich’s “Kaleidoscope Technology:
The Intersection of Science and Art.”
We begin our astronomy/physics theme with Sethanne Howard’s
paper on the classification of astronomical objects and more specifically
on how Pluto recently got voted out of the planets. “Why Pluto is Not a
Planet Anymore or How Astronomical Objects Get Named” gets
added to the long list of “good reads” by our Associate Editor who has
been prolific in this Journal and others, writing such classics as “Black
Holes Can Dance” (one of the JournaVs most popular articles, as
measured by the number of downloads from the WAS website), “The
Dark Side of Astronomy,” and “Creating Structure in Disk Galaxies.”
Tom Kerwick’s article, “Colonizing Jupiter’s Moons: An
Assessment of Our Options and Alternatives” discusses the possibilities
of colonizing certain of Jupiter’s moons to use them as bases for human
scientific exploration in outer space. You’ll learn that this is an exciting
concept, as expanded from a November 23, 2012 blog entry entitled
“Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: A Galilean Base” at the Lifeboat
Foundation’s web site, www.Lifeboat.com.
Bill Cornette’s article reports on another concept related to
physics and space. It’s the continual development of a DoD computer
application that predicts our radiative environment using mathematical
algorithms modeling the physics of environmental regions - including the
lower and upper atmosphere, space, terrain, and oceans - using first-
principles physics models and large environmental databases constructed
from satellite data and other sources. Involved team members at
Computational Physics, Inc. (CPI) report that it is both satisfying and
fulfilling to see the congruence of technical ideas developed over several
decades culminate in CPI making this technology available to the public.
Thus, this article is timely: As of January 2013, CPI has launched an
entirely new initiative to offer comprehensive services based on this DoD-
developed technology. Incidentally, if you’re ever wondering what it
would be like to work in a scientific firm such as CPI headquartered in the
Washington DC area ... for a first-hand account, check out “Day in the
Life” under the Employment link at their website, www.CPI.com.^
Winter 2012
IV
Next we have Albert Gluckman’s theoretical paper on the Special
Theory of Relativity. The purpose of his article is to fill in some of the
steps missing in Albert Einstein’s 1905 paper where Einstein derives and
defines the Special Theory of Relativity - equations that Einstein left to
the reader at the time. So this paper is of interest for both the history of
relativity and the student of relativity. If you take a look at Einstein’s
original paper, you’ll see that Gluckman does fill in the missing steps
using Einstein’s actual notations which are not commonly used now. The
paper gives two versions of the missing steps, one using the chain rule and
another using the Taylor expansion. Long-time members of the Academy
may recall that Albert Gluckman is a former Associate Editor of this
Journal from the 1980s. During a conversation in the preparation of this
paper for publication, Gluckman reminded us of a remarkable fact about
our Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences: During World War
II, it was the only technical journal that published continuously during the
war.
Those who are particularly fascinated by the articles of this issue
will be interested to know that the Washington Academy of Sciences
published a monograph on the first hundred years of astronomy in the
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. It contains eleven papers
from 1905 to 2011, several by well-known astronomers and physicists.
Entitled A Century of Astronomy in the Journal of the Washington
Academy of Sciences, the monograph is available from Amazon.com. As
with the Gluckman article introduced above, we recommend it for its
historical importance.
By the way, we welcome book reviews that are submitted to our
Journal - or perhaps a review of the Academy’s astronomy monograph!
Sally A. Rood, PhD, Editor
Sethanne Howard, PhD, Associate Editor
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences
‘ http://www.CPI.com
Washington Academy of Sciences
Kaleidoscope Technology: The Intersection
of Science and Art
I
A1 Teich
George Washington University
The two images presented here are black and white digital photographs
taken through a kaleidoscope. Invented by Sir David Brewster, a
Scotsman, nearly 200 years ago, the kaleidoscope achieved instant
popularity in the parlors of 19^^ century Europe. Hundreds of thousands
were sold before the fad died out.
Figure 1. Northern Lights © A1 Teich, 2006
During the past 30 years, kaleidoscopes have been enjoying a
renaissance. They have become an important new mode of expression at
the intersection of science and art, and have taken on an enormous range
of forms and styles. Some of the more elaborate ones can sell for
thousands of dollars.
I have a small collection of kaleidoscopes and began taking
photographs through them about ten years ago. The one with which I
Winter 2012
2
created these two photographs (Figures 1 and 2) is my favorite by far. It is
different from traditional kaleidoscopes in several respects. The objects
that make up its patterns are mainly black and white beads floating in oil
inside a 1.5 cm thick Lucite puck. The puck is illuminated from the side
rather than its back, so that the viewer is looking at, rather than through,
the objects. And this kaleidoscope displays seven-fold symmetry — an
unusual and interesting form requiring an extremely precise alignment of
mirrors. While these images may look like snowflakes, their seven-fold
symmetry makes it clear that they are not.
Figure 2. Impossible Snowflake © A1 Teich, 2005
Photographing these ephemeral images gives me a means to
capture and share them with others. I use a compact digital camera with a
small lens and align it with the eyepiece of the ’scope. In principle, this is
relatively simple, but in practice the alignment of camera and
kaleidoscope, as well as the focusing, lighting, and digital processing
require painstaking effort and have taken me considerable time to perfect.
More kaleidoscope photographs can be found at
http://www.kaleidoscopix.com/.
Washington Academy of Sciences
Why Pluto Is Not a Planet Anymore or How
Astronomical Objects Get Named
3
Sethanne Howard
USNO retired
Abstract
Everywhere I go people ask me why Pluto was kicked out of the Solar
System. Poor Pluto, 76 years a planet and then summarily dismissed.
The answer is not too complicated. It starts with the question how are
astronomical objects named or classified; asks who is responsible for
this; and ends with international treaties. Ultimately we learn that it
makes sense to demote Pluto.
Catalogs and Names
Who is responsible for naming and classifying astronomical objects?
The answer varies slightly with the object, and history plays an important
part.
Let us start with the stars. Most of the bright stars visible to the
naked eye were named centuries ago. They generally have kept their old-
fashioned names. Betelgeuse is just such an example. It is the eighth
brightest star in the northern sky. The star’s name is thought to be derived
from the Arabic Yad al-Jauza' meaning ''the Hand of al-Jauzd'\
i.e., Orion, with mistransliteration into Medieval Latin leading to the first
character y being misread as a b. Betelgeuse is its historical name. The star
is also known by its Bayer designation - oc Orionis. A BayeT designation
is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek
letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation’s Latin
name. The original list of Bayer designations contained 1,564 stars. The
Bayer designation typically assigns the letter alpha to the brightest star in
the constellation and moves through the Greek alphabet, with each letter
representing the next fainter star. However, there are only 24 letters in the
Greek alphabet, so when a constellation has more than 24 stars, the list
continues using lower case Latin letters and then upper case Latin letters
where the convention stops at the letter Q. So Betelgeuse is the brightest
star in the constellation Orion.
Since most constellations have many thousands of stars this type of
designation quickly loses its value. Astronomers need a better way to
identify stars. What worked for the pre-telescope days does not work now.
Winter 2012
4
We need a system that can handle millions of stars. The answer is a
catalog (a listing) that uses numbers instead of letters or names.
A star can appear in any number of catalogs that uniquely identify
it. In most stellar catalogs a star is named (numbered) by its position
across the sky, generally right ascension.” For example, The Bright Star
Catalog (BSC) numbers 9110 stars (down to 6.5 magnitude”*) in order
from west to east for the year 1950. Each entry gives the identifying
number and then the coordinates. Figure 1 shows a map of the sky
according to the Bright Star Catalog. The bright star Vega (oc Lyrae) is
BSC 7001 in that catalog. There are several catalogs in active use by
astronomers. Two important ones are the Hipparcos Catalogue (HIC) and
Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star Catalogue. The HIC lists over
100,000 stars. The star Vega is HIC 91262 in that catalogue. The HST
Guide Star Catalog lists 19 million unique stars between 6th and 16th
magnitude. Vega is brighter than 6^^ magnitude so it is omitted from this
particular catalog.*'^ Such numbering sequences, although boring to read,
make it easy to find a star again and again.
90°
-90°
^^2000
Figure 1. Stars in the Bright Star Catalog distributed by right ascension
left to right and declination top to bottom.
There are many specialized stellar catalogs each useful for its class
of stars. But there are other celestial objects that need identification.
Galaxies have their own set of catalogs. And then there are the Solar
System objects: planets, comets, and minor planets.
Washington Academy of Sciences
5
Once we have these catalogs, who or what makes them official?
Anyone can number the stars, but it is the International Astronomical
Union (lAU) that authorizes that number. The lAU is the internationally
recognized authority (by treaty) for naming celestial bodies and surface
features on them. Names are never sold, but assigned according to
internationally accepted rules. Thus, like many wonderful things in human
life, the beauty of the night sky is not for sale, but is free for all to enjoy.
The International Astronomical Union
Founded in 1919, the lAU’s mission is to promote and safeguard
the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international
cooperation. Its individual members - structured in Divisions,
Commissions, Working Groups, and Program Groups - are professional
astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, and active in professional
research and education in astronomy. In addition, the lAU collaborates
with various organizations worldwide. The lAU has 10,894 Individual
Members in 93 countries worldwide. The United States has signed the
treaty related to the lAU; the appropriate reference in the US Code is Title
22 United States Code Section 274.
The LAU has been the arbiter of planetary and satellite
nomenclature since its inception in 1919. At its inaugural meeting in 1922
in Rome, the lAU standardized the constellation names and abbreviations.
More recently, lAU Committees or Working Groups have certified the
names (numbers) of even more astronomical objects and features.
So we started with the historical naming of stars and have arrived
at the treaty authorizing the naming and classification of all celestial
objects. The lAU holds a general meeting every three years to process and
vote on Resolutions. The last general meeting was held in Beijing in 2012.
In between the general meetings are lAU special purpose symposia;
however. Resolutions are processed only at the general meeting.
Our Solar System and its Minor Planets
In pre-telescope days, humans knew of six so-called ‘planets’:
Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. It is seven, if one
counts the Sun in this group. Hence, we have our historical seven day
week with the responsibility for each day assigned to one of these seven
objects. Today, of course, we know the Sun and Moon are not planets.
Winter 2012
6
Once we had telescopes we learned of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and
several minor planets. Textbooks could now identify nine planets in the
Solar System.
The previous paragraph mentions the term minor planet. What
defines a minor planet? The lAU has rules and definitions for this too. A
minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is
neither a dominant planet nor originally classified as a comet. The term
minor planet has been used since the 19th century to describe these
objects. Historically, the terms asteroid, minor planet, and planetoid have
been more or less synonymous. The dominant planets are Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto I will discuss a
bit later.
The first minor planet discovered was Ceres in 1801 (although
from the time of its discovery until 1851 it was considered to be a planet).
To date the orbits of more than 570,000 objects have been archived at the
Minor Planet Center.'" In the early days of discovery most minor planets
were found to orbit between Mars and Jupiter. These were the asteroids
and the Trojans (asteroids sharing Jupiter’s orbit and gravitationally
locked to it).
The issue became complicated by the modem discovery of
numerous minor planets beyond the orbit of Jupiter and especially
Neptune that are not universally considered asteroids. Therefore, minor
planets can be dwarf planets, asteroids, Trojans, centaurs (bodies in the
outer Solar System between Jupiter and Neptune), Kuiper belt objects
(objects inside an apparent population drop-off approximately 55
astronomical units'"^ from the Sun), and other trans-Neptunian objects.
Not only are there a lot of them, but also some are quite large (like
Eris), approaching Pluto in size and mass.
At its 2006 meeting, the lAU reclassified minor planets and comets
into dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies. Objects are called
“dwarf planets” if their self-gravity is sufficient to achieve hydrostatic
equilibrium, that is, an ellipsoidal shape, with all other minor planets and
comets called “small Solar System bodies.” However, for purposes of
numbering and naming, the traditional distinction between minor planet
and comet is still followed.
The discoverer of a comet or minor planet has the privilege of
suggesting a name to a special Committee of the lAU that judges its
suitability. Contrary to some media reports, it is not possible to buy a
Washington Academy of Sciences
7
minor planet. If you have a name you would like to apply to a minor
planet, the best advice is “Go out and discover one!”
As the number of asteroids began to run into the hundreds, and
eventually the thousands, discoverers occasionally gave them increasingly
frivolous names. The first hints of this were 482 Petrina and 483 Seppina,
named after the discoverer’s pet dogs. However, there was little
controversy about this until 1971, upon the naming of 2309 Mr. Spock
(the name of the discoverer’s cat). Although the lAU subsequently banned
pet names as sources, eccentric asteroid names are still being proposed and
accepted, such as 4321 Zero, 6042 Cheshirecat, 9007 JamesBond, 13579
Allodd and 24680 Alleven, and 26858 Misterrogers. A well-established
rule is that, unlike comets, minor planets may not be named after their
discoverer(s).
Pluto
And then there is Pluto. Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930
at Lowell Observatory'"” in Flagstaff, Arizona. Figure 2 shows the
discovery photographic plates for Pluto. This became an international
sensation - a new planet in the Solar System.
DISCOVERY OF THE PlANET PIUTO
Figure 2. Two photographic plates showing the discovery of Pluto (marked with the
small arrow). It moves with respect to the background stars between the two photographs.
The discovery made headlines across the globe. The Lowell
Observatory, which had the right to name the new object, received more
than 1,000 suggestions from all over the world, ranging from Atlas to
Zymal. Constance Lowell proposed Zeus, then Percival, and finally
Constance. These suggestions were disregarded.
Winter 2012
8
The name Pluto was proposed by Venetia Burney (1918-2009), an
eleven-year-old schoolgirl in Oxford, England. She was interested in
classical mythology as well as astronomy, and considered the name, a
name for the god of the underworld, appropriate for such a presumably
dark and cold world. She suggested it in a conversation with her
grandfather Falconer Madan, a former librarian at the University of
Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Madan passed the name to Professor Herbert
Hall Turner, who then cabled it to colleagues in the United States.
The object was officially named on March 24, 1930. Each member
of the Lowell Observatory was allowed to vote on a short-list of three:
Minerva (which was already the name for an asteroid), Cronus (which lost
supporters through being proposed by the colorful but unpopular
astronomer Thomas Jefferson Jackson See'"”^), and Pluto. Pluto received
every vote. The name was announced on May 1, 1930. Upon the
announcement, Madan gave Venetia five pounds (£5) as a reward.
The name was soon embraced by the wider culture. In 1930, Walt
Disney introduced a canine companion, named Pluto, for Mickey Mouse
apparently in the object’s honor, although this is not confirmed. In 1941,
Glenn T. Seaborg named the newly created element plutonium after Pluto,
in keeping with the tradition of naming elements after newly discovered
planets, following uranium, which was named after Uranus, and
neptunium, which was named after Neptune.
Now firmly in place as a Solar System planet, Pluto needed to be
visited. NASA decided to send a space probe to it. In August 1992, the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory scientist Robert Staehle called Tombaugh,
requesting permission to visit his planet. “I told him he was welcome to
it,” Tombaugh later remembered, “though he’s got to go one long, cold i
trip.” The call eventually led to the launch in 2006 of the New Horizons
space probe to Pluto. It will fly past Pluto in 2015.
Tombaugh died on January 17, 1997 in Las Cruces, New Mexico,
at the age of 90. Approximately one ounce of his ashes is being carried on
the New Horizons space probe. The container includes the inscription:
“Interred herein are remains of American Clyde W. Tombaugh, discoverer
of Pluto and the Solar System’s ‘third zone’.” I was extremely privileged
to meet him at his 85 birthday party.
Following its discovery until 2006, Pluto was classified as a planet.
Pluto has five known moons, the largest being Charon discovered in 1978,
along with Nix and Hydra, discovered in 2005, and the provisionally |
Washington Academy of Sciences
9
named S/2011 (134340) 1, discovered in 2011. Another discovery was
announced July 11, 2012, provisionally designated S/2012 (134340) 1,
bringing the total number of identified satellites orbiting Pluto to five.
Pluto and Charon are sometimes described as a binary system because the
barycenter of their orbits does not lie within either body. However, the
lAU has yet to formalize a definition for binary dwarf planets and, as
such, Charon is officially classified as a moon of Pluto.
Too Many Plutos?
Evidence began to accumulate that Pluto was not unique. In the
late 1970s, following the discovery of minor planet 2060 Chiron in the
outer Solar System and the recognition of Pluto’s relatively low mass, its
status as a dominant planet began to be questioned. In the late 20^ and
early 2C^ centuries, many objects similar to Pluto were discovered in the
outer Solar System, notably the object Eris in 2005, which is 27% more
massive than Pluto. Eris has one moon. Subsequent observations show that
it is currently uncertain which is the larger, Eris or Pluto.
The time was ripe, therefore, for a new classification system. The
lAU had a choice: keep Pluto as a planet, and include all similar objects as
planets too; or, demote Pluto. They chose the second option.
The lAU had never officially defined a “planet;” there had been no
need until there were too many Plutos. It rectified this at its 2006 general
meeting. On August 24, 2006, at the XXVf^ General Meeting, the lAU
voted to define what it means to be a “planet” within the Solar System (see
Resolution B5 and Resolution B6 in the appendix). This definition
excluded Pluto as a planet and added it as a member of the new category
“dwarf planef ’ along with Eris and Ceres. After the reclassification, Pluto
was added to the list of minor planets and given the number 134340.
A number of astronomers hold that Pluto should continue to be
classified as a planet (especially since it has a cluster of moons), and that
other dwarf planets should be added to the roster of planets along with
Pluto.
A Detailed Description of How Minor Planets are Named
The assignment of a particular name to a particular minor planet is
the end of a long process that can take many decades. It begins with the
discovery of a minor planet that cannot be identified with any already-
known object. Such minor planets are given a provisional designation. The
provisional designations are based on the date of discovery and are
Winter 2012
10
assigned by the Minor Planet Center according to a well-defined formula
that involves the year of discovery, two letters and, if need be, further
digits (for example, 1989 AC, or 2002 LM60).
When the orbit of a minor planet becomes well enough determined
that the position can be reliably predicted far into the future (typically this
means after the minor planet has been observed at four or more
oppositions^^), the minor planet receives a permanent designation. This is a
number issued sequentially by the Minor Planet Center, for example (433),
(4179) or (50000).
When a minor planet receives a permanent number, the discoverer
of the minor planet is invited to suggest a name for it. The discoverer has
this privilege for a period of ten years following the numbering of the
object.
The discoverer writes a short citation explaining the reasons for
assigning the name according to the guidelines of the lAU. Proposed
names should be:
• 16 characters or less in length
• preferably one word
• pronounceable (in some language)
• non-offensive
• not too similar to an existing name of a minor planet or natural
planetary satellite.
The names of individuals or events principally known for political or
military activities are unsuitable until 100 years after the death of the
individual or the occurrence of the event.
All proposed names are judged by the fifteen-person Working
Group for Small Body Nomenclature (WGSBN) of the lAU, comprised of
professional astronomers with research interests connected with minor
planets and/or comets from around the world. As an example, the asteroid
29085 Sethanne (1979 SD) has the citation:
“Sethanne Howard (b. 1944) is an American astronomer
who has held positions with U.S. national observatories,
NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S.
Navy; Chief of the U.S. Nautical Almanac Office, 2000-
2003. Her research specialty is galactic dynamics. She has
also been active in science education, especially
concentrating on the history of women in science.”
Washington Academy of Sciences
11
The asteroid was discovered by Brian Marsden who graciously named it
for his colleague.
Comets follow a similar naming procedure, except the name can be
that of the discoverer. Usually two or three new comets are discovered
each year. Most are too faint to be of general interest.
Naming Planetary Features
That lAU also has responsibility for naming planetary surface
features (e.g., craters). The lAU has a system of uniquely identifying
features on the surface of planets or natural satellites so that the features
can be easily located, described, and discussed. Names must follow
various rules and conventions established and amended through the years
by the lAU. These include:
1. The first consideration should be to make the name simple,
clear, and unambiguous.
2. Features whose longest dimension is less than 100 meters are
not assigned official names unless they have exceptional
scientific interest.
3. The number of names chosen for each body should be kept to a
minimum, and their placement governed by the requirements
of the scientific community.
4. Duplication of the same name on two or more bodies is to be
avoided.
5. Individual names chosen for each body should be expressed in
the language of origin. Transliteration for various alphabets
should be given, but there will be no translation from one
language to another.
6. Where possible, the themes established in early Solar System
nomenclature should be used and expanded on.
7. Solar System nomenclature should be international in its choice
of names. Recommendations submitted to the lAU national
committees will be considered, but final selection of the names
is the responsibility of the lAU. The WGPSN^ strongly
supports equitable selection of names from ethnic
groups/countries on each map; however, a higher percentage of
names from the country planning a landing is allowed on
landing site maps.
Winter 2012
12
8. No names having political, military, or religious significance
may be used, except for names of political figures prior to the
19th century and gods and goddesses of ancient religions.
9. Commemoration of persons on planetary bodies should be
reserved for persons of high and enduring international
standing. Persons being so honored must have been deceased
for at least three years.
10. When more than one spelling of a name is extant, the spelling
preferred by the person, or used in an authoritative reference,
should be used. Diacritical marks are a necessary part of a
name and will be used.
1 1 . Ring and ring-gap nomenclature and names for newly
discovered satellites are developed in joint deliberation
between WGPSN and lAU Commission 20. Names will not be
assigned to satellites until their orbital elements are reasonably
well known or definite features have been identified on them.
For example, craters on Mercury are named for famous deceased
artists, musicians, painters, and authors. Features on Venus are named for
ancient goddesses or deceased famous women. Small craters on Mars are
named for villages of the world with a population of less than 100,000.
Conclusion
It is clear that Pluto was a victim of the discoveries of a multitude
of Solar System objects quite similar to Pluto. Pluto is no longer unique.
So m.any such objects have been found that it became necessary to
redefine what makes a planet. The lAU took action, demoted Pluto, and
set it amongst the objects similar to it in size. It does mean that textbooks
must now define a Solar System planet to be one of eight planets instead
of nine. This is sad for those of us old enough to remember learning our
nine planet Solar System, but it settles the issue for the future.
Washington Academy of Sciences
13
Appendix
The lAU approved the following two resolutions at its XXVI^^
General Meeting, August 24, 2006:
Resolution B5
Contemporary observations are changing our understanding of
planetary systems, and it is important that our nomenclature for objects
reflect our current understanding. This applies, in particular, to the
designation “planets”. The word “planet” originally described
“wanderers” that were known only as moving lights in the sky.
Recent discoveries led us to create a new definition, which we can
make using currently available scientific information.
The lAU therefore resolves that planets and other bodies, except
satellites, in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in
the following way:
(1) A planet 1 is a celestial body that
(a) is in orbit around the Sun,
(b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body
forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly
round) shape, and
(c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
(2) A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that
(a) is in orbit around the Sun,
(b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body
forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly
round) shape^,
(c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and
(d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects^, except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred
to collectively as “Small Solar System Bodies”.
^ The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune.
^ An lAU process will be established to assign borderline objects to the dwarf planet or
to another category.
These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian
Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.
Winter 2012
14
Resolution B6
The lAU further resolves:
Pluto is a “dwarf planet” by the above definition and is
recognized as the prototype of a new category of Trans-Neptunian
Objects 1 .
^ An lAU process will be established to select a name for this category.
* The 17th century German astronomer Johann Bayer.
"" Angle to the east of the Vernal equinox.
A magnitude is a measure of brightness.
HST cannot look at bright stars.
^ Under the auspices of the lAU, the Minor Planet Center is the official organization in
charge of collecting observational data for minor planets (asteroids) and comets,
calculating their orbits and publishing this information.
The distance from the Earth to the Sun.
Lowell Observatory was established in 1 894.
Thomas Jefferson Jackson (T. J. J.) See (February 19, 1866 - July 4, 1962) was an
American astronomer who was infamous for a career dogged by plagiarism, being fired
from two observatories, being ‘exiled’ to an isolated outpost, and his vitriolic attacks
on relativity.
^ i.e., the orbit is well determined.
Working Group on Planetary Surface Nomenclature.
Bio
Sethanne Howard is an astronomer who has held positions with
U.S National Observatories, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and
the U.S. Navy. She was Chief of the U.S. Nautical Almanac Office, 2000-
2003. Her research specialty is galactic dynamics. She has also been active ;|
in science education, especially concentrating on the history of women in J
science.
Washington Academy of Sciences
I
15
Colonizing Jupiter’s Moons: An Assessment of Our
Options and Alternatives
Thomas B. Kerwick
The Lifeboat Foundation / CEVA, Inc.
Abstract
At the Lifeboat Foundation, we discuss the sustainability of Earth’s
resources and ecosystems, existential risks to life on Earth, and the
safeguards to human existence that could be achieved by eventually
branching out and colonizing space. Overviewing current possibilities
in manned space exploration and eventual colonization within our Solar
System, instinct draws us to consider a permanent base on either the
Moon or Mars. Here, I consider what could be a rewarding alternative
— outward to the first of the gas giants — and the Galilean moons of
Jupiter.
The Galilean Giants
Although the Moon and Mars provide possible permanent bases for
humans, there are alternatives to them. The polar regions of Mercury, for
example, have been suggested because of the suspected presence of water-
ice [1] and an abundance of natural resources. Transforming Venus could
also be a long term prospect if its runaway greenhouse effect could be
permanently reversed. There is a further choice: the Galilean moons.
The Galilean moons are the four large moons of Jupiter which
were discovered by Galileo in 1610, their names derived from the lovers
of Zeus - lo, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Although Jupiter has 67
confirmed moons [2], the four Galilean moons, with radii larger than any
of the dwarf planets in our Solar System, contain the vast majority of the
mass in orbit around Jupiter. Indeed the next largest of the Jovian
satellites, Himalia and Amalthea, are both less than a mere 200 km in
diameter. The Galilean moons, with diameters 3,600 km (lo), 3,120 km
(Europa), 5,260 km (Ganymede) and 4,820 km (Callisto) are among the
most massive objects in the Solar System after the Sun and the eight
planets.
We already know a great deal about the Galilean moons which
have been visited by several unmanned spacecraft from the arrival of
Pioneer 10 in 1973 to the most recent visit of the New Horizons probe in
2007 en route to Pluto. The Galileo orbiter is the only spacecraft that
orbited Jupiter - which it did for over seven years until it was eventually
Winter 2012
16
destroyed during a controlled impact with Jupiter in 2003 [3]. Other
spacecraft to visit the Jovian system include: Pioneer 11 (1974), Voyager
1 and Voyager 2 (1979), Ulysses (1992), and Cassini (2000). It is from the
success of these unmanned spacecraft that we owe most of our knowledge
of the Galilean moons and the Jovian system. This includes not just
dramatic images of these moons, but an insight into the mass, topography,
volcanism and tectonic processes. The images and insights provide
evidence of liquid salt water sub-surfaces and atmospheres, and
information on the orbital precision of these moons and the magnetic field
and radiation belts through which they orbit in the Jovian system.
Reasons to be Enthusiastic
From a scientific point of view and for the advancement of space
exploration, we may appreciate reasons to be enthusiastic about setting up
a base in the Jovian system. It provides the nearest possible location to
Earth where a base could be established to explore the dynamics and
weather systems of large gaseous/liquid planets in detail, and study how
such planets impact and interact with their satellites. With large gas
planets believed to be quite common in our Universe (almost all known
exo-planets are of this form [4]) the invitation seems obvious - to explore
how such planets affect their moons in order to understand the suitability
of such locations for an off-Earth industrial/scientific base toward long-
term aspirations for space exploration/colonization. It is worth noting that
only two other moons in our outer Solar System are of requisite size to
have a gravitational field similar to or greater than that of our Moon —
namely Saturn’s Titan and Neptune’s Triton. Since a significant
gravitational field is one of the fundamental essentials for the physical
well-being of would-be explorers, the Galilean moons naturally demand
our attention for review.
With four such large moons to study in the one region of our Solar
System, along with their parent gas giant, we have a uniquely diverse
region from lo, the most geologically active body in our Solar System to
the water-rich icy moon Europa, often credited as the most likely place in
our Solar System where we might find traces of alien life. If we were to
consider where a scientific base would maximize its return, the Galilean
moons are inviting.
Washington Academy of Sciences
17
The Great Deterrent: Jovian Radiation
The first difficulty to consider in setting up a base in this region is
the intense radiation from Jupiter, which is far stronger than that from the
Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts. This radiation is formed from charged
particles trapped in Jupiter’s magnetosphere, a zone one million times the
volume of Earth’s magnetosphere. The inner magnetosphere, rotating very
rapidly with the planet, is a constant presence and a constant deterrent. At
greater distances, more than 20 times the radius of Jupiter, the magnetic
field becomes blunted by the solar wind on the sunward side, and
extended on the leeward side. So the size of the outer magnetosphere
varies depending on the intensity of the solar wind. However, in
considering setting up a base in this region we would have to consider the
worst case scenario of intolerable radiation levels, and not just typical
reach and intensities. Proper shielding normally protects living organisms
and electronic instrumentation in space voyages. However, as the radiation
from Jupiter is whipped up from magnetic fields far stronger than those on
Earth (the strongest fields in the Solar System except for sun spots),
shielding becomes a much greater challenge. It has been suggested that
such radiation would be the greatest threat to any craft closing within
300,000 km of the planet [5], although radiation levels would still be of
great concern to us at distances far greater than this.
As illustrated in Figure 1, the magnetic field of Jupiter stretches far
beyond the orbit of even the outermost of the Galilean moons, elongated
by the solar wind in the anti-solar direction. The field is a complex
structure comprising many components including bow shock,
magnetosheath, magnetopause, magnetotail, magnetodisk and - most
significantly for the purposes considered here - the currents induced as the
ionosphere moves relative to Jupiter’s dipole magnetic field under the
rotation of the planet. A resulting Eorenz force to these currents drives
negatively charged electrons to the poles and positively charged ions
towards the equator. Due to the presence of highly conductive plasma in
Jupiter’s magnetosphere, the electrical circuit is considered closed through
that force. Estimated at around 60-140 million amperes [6], this current
flows along the magnetic field lines from the ionosphere (the direct
current) to the equatorial plasma sheet before flowing radially away from
the planet within the radial current sheet (the radial current), before finally
returning to the ionosphere from the outer reaches of the magnetosphere
along the field lines to the poles (the return current).
Winter 2012
18
The Galilean moons orbit through this equatorial plain of Jupiter
and receive high levels of radiation - with lo estimated at receiving
approximately 3,600 rem/day, Europa 540 rem/day, and Ganymede 8
rem/day. Furthest out, Callisto receives a less problematic 0.01 rem/day.
Figure 1: The magnetic field of Jupiter and co-rotation enforcing currents.
The large magnetosphere also has an important function in the
region in that it protects the four largest moons of Jupiter - which all orbit
within the magnetosphere - from the solar wind. Outside the Jovian
radiation belts, the magnetosphere is an important blanket over the region.
This is in stark contrast to a hypothetical base on either the Moon or Mars
where there is no such blanket. So we can consider the magnetosphere
here to provide opportunity and not just deter.
However, with radiation levels of 500 rem or greater considered a
fatal dose, and as little as 75 rem over a period of a few days enough to
cause radiation poisoning [13], there is little room to argue that Jovian
radiation is a significant obstacle to astronauts visiting the region.
Washington Academy of Sciences
19
More Deterrents: Distance and Low Temperatures
At closest approach Jupiter and Earth are 630 million km apart, or
4.2 AU. This is an order of magnitude further than the closest approach of
Mars to Earth, at 56 million km. Such distance makes a manned voyage
impractical without significant advancement on spacecraft design, as we
frequently find estimates of round trips to Mars proposed in the order of
two years.
To meet the challenge of such great distances, one propulsion of
choice at NASA in recent years has become ion propulsion, where the
High Power Electric Propulsion (HiPEP) project has demonstrated exhaust
velocities in excess of 90,000 meters/second (over 200,000 mph) [7].
Although the mission HiPEP was originally designed for the Jupiter Icy
Moons Orbiter, that mission was cancelled in 2005. Nevertheless, the
technology can be considered ground-tested and feasible.
An advanced ion propulsion drive could reduce a voyage to Jupiter
significantly - although we should note that HiPEP research looked at
lighter unmanned spacecraft, and achieving such figures with heavier
manned space craft could be considered fanciful. However, with continued
investment in space aviation research, we will sooner or later be
considering round trips to the Jovian moons with sub-year voyage
estimates. So we should not exclude outright the feasibility of manned
missions to the Jovian system due to the distances involved.
Temperature is another matter to consider. Objects travelling
through space experience temperatures that are quite extreme compared to
what the same objects would experience on Earth. The effective
temperature of space is extremely cold - approximately 3K [8]. When
astronauts perform spacewalks above Earth, the spacesuit can have a
temperature difference of up to 275° F from one side to the other, with one
side of the spacesuit facing towards the Sun and the other facing out to the
cold of deep space. In the Jovian environment with the Sun far more
distant, even temperatures on the Sun facing side are extremely cold, with
temperatures rarely rising above 170K on any of the Galilean moons.
The mean temperature on Callisto is estimated at 135K with a
variation of ±5 OK [9]. The temperatures of Ganymede [10] and lo
(discounting the extreme temperatures near hot spots and volcanic plumes)
[11] are estimated at 1 lOK, again with a variation of ±50K or so. That of
Europa (due to its higher albedo) is lower, at lOOK [10], again with a
similar variation. While variation in temperature is not a concern here, the
Winter 2012
20
absolute temperature is of concern. For a manned mission to succeed, the
spacesuits would require a durable thermal energy source to ensure
sufficient comfort for astronauts. A significant design consideration of any
base would require a reliable method of sustaining temperatures far higher
than natural conditions.
An Overview of the Galilean Giants
lo
At a distance of 420,000 km, lo is the closest of the Galilean
satellites to Jupiter - a proximity that results in making lo a highly active
world. Tidal heating from friction generated within lo’s interior under the
gravitational influence of Jupiter and the other Galilean satellites leave the
Ionian surface in a constant state of renewal with volcanic activity from
more than 400 active volcanoes. lo is, in fact, considered the most
geologically active object in the Solar System, and plumes rich in sulphur
and sulphur dioxide regularly rise as high as 400 km above the surface.
We can disregard an extremely thin sulphur dioxide atmosphere as
an inconvenience. However, a surface prone to explosive volcanism and
extensive silicate lava flows, and exposed to high levels of Jovian
radiation - estimated at 3,600 rem/day - far above dosages considered
fatal for humans - make lo an unlikely satellite to visit. However, if the
tidal heating on lo could be harnessed as a source of heat/energy (it has
been estimated that the global total heat flow from lo is in the region of
lx 10^"^ W [12]), this would provide a reliable energy source for a base in
the region - if technical challenges such as providing sufficient radiation
shielding could be overcome - either on one of the other Galilean giants
or an orbiting space station.
It is also worth noting that, unlike most satellites, lo is composed
of silicate rock with a molten iron or iron sulphide core, so this may
provide mining opportunities. However, being hazardous as a region, we
may have to rule out lo and any of its resources from practical
considerations.
Europa
Europa is the smallest of the Galilean giants, with a radius of just
over 1,500 km, but still one of the largest moons in the Solar System. It is
just slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon. With a possible sub-glacial water
ocean [13] underneath its icy exterior, it has been suggested not just as a
Washington Academy of Sciences
21
target suited for eventual human colonization, but also as a possible host
to alien life forms.
The abundance of water is significant not only as a source of
drinking water, but it could also be broken down to provide breathable
oxygen. However, the colonization of Europa poses many difficulties. At
670,000 km from Jupiter, Europa receives 540 rem of radiation per day
from the Jovian radiation belts, and this would be considered a fatal dose
(> 500 rem). Humans would not survive at or near the surface of Europa
for long without significant radiation shielding. It is also extremely cold
on Europa - even colder than on the other Galilean giants - due to its high
albedo - reflecting off most of the light and heat that reaches its surface.
Also, although Europa has a great abundance of water, it is lacking in
accessible minerals and irons. With the water ocean under the ice surface
thought to be up to 100 km thick, all materials required for construction
would need to be mined and transported from other satellites in the Jovian
region.
Even overcoming these difficulties, one of the first dilemmas of
setting up a base on Europa would be to not contaminate any primitive life
that may already have a foothold there. Studies have indicated that the
action of solar radiation on the surface of Europa might produce oxygen,
which could be pulled down into the subsurface ocean by upwelling from
the interior. If this process occurs, Europa’ s subsurface ocean could have
an oxygen content equal to or greater than that of the Earth’s - possibly
providing a home to complex life [14]. Often considered a strong
candidate for extra-terrestrial microbial-type life, if such were found, it
could render Europa off-limits for colonization on the grounds of ethics
due to the possible contamination/destruction of a delicate ecosystem.
Conversely, human colonists coming into contact with such microbes
could find that their immune systems do not offer a natural defense to
alien microbes which evolved to become more durable to the natural
conditions on Europa.
Discounting this, and with sufficient radiation shielding, Europa
offers an intriguing location for a research base - having an abundant
supply of drinking water and oxygen by extraction.
Ganymede
Ganymede is not only the largest of the Galilean giants, but is also
the largest and most massive moon in the Solar System - larger in
diameter than the planet Mercury, albeit with just 45% of Mercury’s mass.
Winter 2012
22
This results in an escape velocity of 2.741 km/s, somewhat larger than that
of Earth’s Moon, which has an escape velocity of 2.38 km/s. Therefore,
the long-term effects on astronauts are least severe here due to weakened
gravity environments.
Considerably further out than both lo and Europa, at over
1,070,000 km from Jupiter, Ganymede is also exposed to far lower levels
of Jovian radiation when compared to lo or Europa. An unshielded
colonist would receive about 8 rem of radiation per day on Ganymede,
compared to what would be considered fatal doses of 540 rem/day on
Europa or 3,600 rem/day on lo.
However, exposure of approximately 75 rems over a period of a
few days is enough to cause radiation poisoning [15]. Astronauts on
Ganymede would still require a significant level of radiation shielding in
order to operate here, although much of this low-latitude region is partially
shielded by Ganymede’s magnetic field.
In considering potential off-Earth bases in the Solar System, a
shielded underground base on Ganymede may be a reasonable long-term
objective. Ganymede is the only satellite in the Solar System to boast a
magnetosphere. This is thought to be produced by convection in a liquid
iron core [16], where temperatures are estimated to be 1500-1750K. This
internal heat source can counter the extreme cold conditions of 70-150K
on the surface in an underground facility. Beneath a composition of
silicate rock and water-ice in roughly equal proportions near its surface,
Ganymede is also considered likely to have a salt water ocean far below
its surface [17] due to magnesium sulphate and sodium sulphate salts
which showed up in results from the Galileo spacecraft, along with
detected signs of carbon dioxide and organic compounds [18], trace
amounts of oxygen, and ozone. Such a salt water ocean could be not only
a source fi-om which ample drinkable water could be distilled, but also a
source from which oxygen could be extracted. Furthermore, evidence of
trace amounts of carbon dioxide and organic compounds suggests an
intriguing world to analyze with a view to developing terraforming
processes.
Also, it should not be overlooked that Ganymede has abundant
resources in silicates and irons suitable for mining and construction, unlike
many other satellites where water-ice dominates.
While aspirations such as mining and construction of permanent
bases may seem far-fetched in our current age, foresight should be
Washington Academy of Sciences
23
applied. This will ensure, where we attempt to initiate a foothold in such a
remote region, that long-term prospects are considered, and that the region
is the most suited to industrial progression. In this light, Ganymede weighs
in with several advantages.
Callisto
The outermost of the Galilean giants, Callisto is almost 2,000,000
km from Jupiter, twice the distance of Ganymede from Jupiter, and hence
the least affected by Jovian radiation. For this reason, Callisto was
selected by NASA as the most suitable place to create a human base for
future exploration of the Jupiter system when HOPE, Human Outer Planet
Exploration, was presented. At that time, some of the objectives and
requirements for such a pilot mission were explored [19].
Being darker, the surface of Callisto is warm relative to Europa
and Ganymede (a darker surface reflects less light, and therefore retains
more heat/energy), and it also benefits from a much thicker atmosphere
[20]. The CO2 component of Callisto’ s atmosphere was first detected by
the Galileo mission’s imaging spectrometer, NIMS, but recent modeling
suggests an even more robust atmosphere. Interaction between a more
substantial ionosphere and Jupiter’s magnetosphere reduces electron
impact, and the relatively thick atmosphere also protects the surface
significantly from radiation flux. To put these figures in context, the
surface pressure on Callisto is estimated at 7.5 pbar, while the estimated
maximum surface temperature is 170K - still extreme conditions for any
astronauts.
The escape velocity on Callisto is similar to that for Ganymede at
2.44 km/s. Therefore, again, the long-term effects on astronauts due to
weakened gravity environments would not be as severe here as it would be
on smaller worlds.
Callisto is a geologically inactive world, with no signatures of
subsurface processes such as plate tectonics or volcanism. Not being
subjected to tidal heating, Callisto has similarities with Ganymede in that
it is also believed to have a subsurface ocean of liquid water. Hence, it
would have an unlimited supply of drinking water and oxygen by
extraction. Organic compounds have also been detected through
spectroscopic measurements [20]. One proposition for Callisto may be the
introduction of genetically-modified vegetation - robust to cold surface
temperatures and capable of surviving in a weak CO2 atmosphere, to grow
here as renewable food sources.
Winter 2012
24
As with Ganymede - and unlike Europa - Callisto has abundant
accessible resources in silicates and irons that are suitable for mining and
construction. A successfully established base here could be augmented
over time into a more ambitious industrial base and colony if viable.
Vehicle and robot system concepts were explored toward
achieving a successful first phase for the HOPE surface operation. The
division of tasks between crew and robotics were analyzed for the
exploration of all the Jovian satellites. It was concluded that a round trip of
a crewed mission would require 2-5 years — albeit with significant
advancement in propulsion technologies.
Perhaps the greatest challenge to establishing a base on Callisto
relative to Ganymede, which is clearly the only other viable alternative in
the region - involves questions of how to elevate the temperature of a base
here to comfortable conditions in a self-sustainable process, and how to
generate sufficient energy and electricity to meet the needs of such a base.
Lacking an internal source of heat - and with little opportunity in the way
of solar, tectonic, or other energy sources - presents an engineering trade-
off with Ganymede’s radiation shielding needs and complications.
Conclusions
While unmanned spacecraft have allowed us to learn a great deal
about the Jovian system, a long term goal of human exploration to the
region would allow us to learn a great deal more.
The Jovian system is a fascinatingly diverse region of our Solar
System just awaiting mankind to explore it. In both Ganymede and
Callisto, it has two bodies which could be considered to be viable options
for a scientific base if specific engineering challenges can be overcome.
A study performed in recent years has suggested an initial manned
round trip to the region could be achieved in 2-5 years, given sufficient
advancement in propulsion technologies. It is doubtful anyone would
argue that the diversity of the region is a far more appealing invitation to
explore than alternatives such as Mars or the polar regions of Mercury.
What we considered here is whether such a mission, leading to an eventual
base, would be a viable option. In this light, we must conclude that there
are options in the Jovian system that offer viable alternatives within our
Solar System.
Washington Academy of Sciences
25
Acronyms and Abbreviations
AU The Astronomical Unit 149,597,870,700 meters (the mean
Earth-Sun distance).
Galileo NIMS Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, the Galileo
mission’s imaging spectrometer.
HiPEP High Power Electric Propulsion (a NASA research project,
c.2003-2004).
HOPE Human Outer Planet Exploration (a NASA-led study on
space exploration c.2003).
rem Roentgen Equivalent Man, the US unit of measurement for
a radiation dose.
References
[1] Ice on Mercury. - Williams, David R. National Space Science Data Centre, NASA.
Retrieved 2013-02-03. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ice/ice mercurv.html
[2] The Giant Planet Satellite and Moon Page. Sheppard, Scott S. Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
http://www.dtm.ciw.edu/users/sheppard/satellites/
[3] Galileo Mission to Jupiter. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
http://www.ipl.nasa.gOv/news/fact_sheets/galileo0309.pdf
[4] Habitability of Known Exoplanetary Systems Based on Measured Stellar Properties.
Jones, Barrie W., Sleep, P. Nick, Underwood, David R. 2006.
http://arxiv.Org/ftp/astro-ph/papers/0603/0603200.pdf
[5] Jupiter Radiation Belts are Harsher than Expected. Media Relations Office, NASA Jet
Propulsion Laboratory. March 28, 200 1 .
http://www.ipl.nasa.gOv/releases/2001/belts.html
[6] The Configuration of Jupiter’s Magnetosphere, pp. 13-16. Khurana, Krishan K. et al.
2004. http://www.igpp.ucla.edu/people/mkivelson/Publications/279-Ch24.pdf
[7] Ion Propulsion Fact Sheet. NASA Glenn Research Center. FS-2004-1 1-021 -GRC.
Retrieved 2013-02-04. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/fs2 1 grc.html
[8] Eddington’s Temperature of Space. Wright, Edward L. UCLA Division of Astronomy
and Astrophysics. 2006. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/Eddington-TO.html
[9] Callisto - Thermal Characteristics. Moore, Jeffrey M. et al. Laboratory for
Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado 2008.
http://lasp.colorado.edu/~espoclass/homework/5830 2008 homework/Chl 7.pdf
Winter 2012
26
[10] Ice Chemistry on the Galilean Satellites. Delitsky, Mona L., Lane, Arthur L. Jet
Propulsion Laboratory. California Institute of Technology. September 30, 1998.
http://trs-new.ipl.nasa.gOv/dspace/bitstream/2014/20675/l/98-1725.pdf
[11] The Lithosphere and Surface of lo. McEwen, Alfred S. et al. Laboratory for
Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado. 2008
http://lasp.colorado.edu/~espoclass/homework/5830 2008 homework/Ch 14.pdf
[12] Tidal Heating and Convection on lo. Moore, W. B. Journal of Geophysical
Research. August 26, 2003. http://cips.berkelev.edu/events/rockv-planets-
class09/Moore heating io.pdf
[13] “Thin ice opens lead for life on Europa.” Chandler, D. L. New Scientist. October
2002. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2929-thin-ice-opens-lead-for-life-on-
europa.html
[14] “Europa Capable of Supporting Life, Scientists Say.” Atkinson, Nancy. Universe
Today. October 2009. http://www.universetodav.com/42303/europa-capable-of-
supporting-life-scientist-savs/
[15] “Ganymede’s magnetosphere: magnetometer overview.” Kivelson, M. G. et al.
Journal of Geophysical Research. August 30, 1998.
http://www.igpp.ucla.edu/people/rwalker/Publications/98JE00227.pdf
[16] “The Permanent and Inductive Magnetic Moments of Ganymede” Kivelson, M. G.
et al. 2002.
http://www.igpp.ucIa.edu/public/mkiveIso/Publications/ICRUS1572507.pdf
[17] “Hydrated Salts on Ganymede’s Surface: Evidence of an Ocean Below.” McCord,
Thomas B. et al. Science. May 25, 2001.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/292/5521/1523.abstract
[18] “Non- water-ice constituents in surface material of the icy Galilean satellites from the
Galileo near-infrared mapping spectrometer investigation.” McCord, T. B. al.
U.S. Geological Survey. 1998. http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70020288
[19] Human Outer Planet Exploration, HOPE, NASA Academy Presentation. 2003.
Retrieved 2013-02-04. http://www.nasa-academv.org/soffen/travelgrant/bethke.pdf
[20] “Callisto: New Insights from Galileo Disk-Resolved UV Measurements.” Hendrix,
A. R., Johnson, R. E. The Astrophysical Journal, November 2008.
http://people.virginia.edu/~rei/papers08/Hendrix-Johnson-ApJ08.pdf
Bio
Tom Kerwick is a multidisciplinary engineer and activist who currently
works in microwave radio communications. He graduated with a Bachelor
of Technology in Electronic Engineering in 1995, a Masters in Computer
Systems in 1996, and more recently a Ph.D. in Engineering Technology in
2011.
Washington Academy of Sciences
27
MOSART: Modeling the Radiative Environment of
Earth’s Atmosphere, Terrain, Oceans, and Space
William M. Cornette
Computational Physics, Inc.
Abstract
This paper represents efforts over the past decade to develop a DoD computer
application for predicting the radiative environment of the Earth's atmosphere,
terrain, oceans, and space using first principle physics models and large
environmental data bases constructed from satellite data and other sources. The
Moderate Spectral Atmospheric Radiance and Transmittance (MOSART) code
V2.0.4 is currently available, and the next release. Version 3.0, is in development.
This presentation provides information on obtaining Version 2.0.4 and the current
upgrades in Version 3.0, which is written in Fortran 2003, thereby allowing as
many geometries, azimuths, and other variables as needed, with the smallest
executable possible. MOSART V3.0 also executes faster than V2.0.4. It has the
ability to produce a temporal variation on a series of observer-source geometries
and includes a global soil composition and soil moisture database, a global land
class database, additional molecular species, a smooth altitude transition for
aerosol types, and a historical database of sunspot and solar activiU'. Future
growth will include an enhanced terrain and ocean data from satellite remote
sensing measurements, in addition to satisfying other user requirements.
Introduction
The Moderate Spectral Atmospheric Radiance and
Transmittance (MOSART) is a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
standard computer code for calculating accurate and realistic atmospheric
transmission and radiance along sensor-target line-of-sight paths and
optical radiance backgrounds against which targets are detected by sensor
systems. As such it has the capability to support both scene and signature
simulations.
The job of a sensing device is to look for a signal from its target.
The signal it receives depends upon the conditions of the atmosphere
along the line-of-sight between it and the target, as well as the atmosphere
surrounding the target. For example, how the atmosphere transmits the
target’s signal depends partly on the molecular structure of the intervening
atmosphere. Molecules both absorb and scatter light differently for
different spectral regions (hence our blue sky). Similarly, how the
atmosphere radiates (provides signals not from the target) depends partly
Winter 2012
I
28
on what else is nearby the target (e.g., terrain or clouds), as well as the
atmospheric properties (e.g., temperature).
Consider a simplistic example: the eye (sensor) and a blue light i
bulb (target). The eye will see (sense) the light bulb when it is turned on at ;
a given brightness (assuming the eye is looking towards the bulb). The ;
atmosphere between the eye and bulb transmits the light radiating from the :
bulb to the eye along the line-of-sight. This is called radiative transfer. Let I
some dense fog get between the eye and the bulb, and the eye will not '
sense the same brightness (or even shape) as it did with no fog. The
presence of the fog changes the make-up of the atmosphere between the
eye and the bulb.
Now complicating things a bit, let the eye and bulb be close to the :
ground. Then the shape and type of the ground - its reflecting properties - ;
also affects what the eye senses. If the ground is smooth, such as a water I
surface, then the reflected light off the ground can confuse the signal seen I
by the eye. Add a further complication: suppose there is an additional light I
bulb nearby, a red one. The eye wants to see the blue bulb. Somehow the I
extra red radiation must be subtracted from what the eye detects.
So this means that a comprehensive computer code to simulate ^
what happens between a sensor and target will need to include many
things such as the constitution of the atmosphere (temperatures, densities, |
molecules, and pressures) at various levels and resolutions; the structure of j
the ground; cloud cover; various line-of-sight geometries (e.g., are there |
interfering structures between the sensor and target); and the response of j
the sensor to various spectral regions.
The MOSART code calculates atmospheric transmission and j
radiation over a wide spectral range: from the ultraviolet through the ;
microwave spectral regions (wavelengths from 0.2 pm to infinity or
frequencies from 0 to 50,000 cm’^). It contains features extracted from the
MODTRAN™ code developed by the Air Force’s Phillips Laboratory
[now Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)] and the Atmospheric
Propagation and Radiative Transfer (APART) code developed by Photon
Research Associates, Inc. (PRA). The AFRL code is widely used in many
different atmospheric studies, both within and without the DoD. Since the
PRA code was developed to provide atmospheric calculations for infrared
(IR) signature studies of both targets and backgrounds, it has many
features that are desirable for large simulation models. Because of the
requirement that MOSART be compatible with the various codes used in
the Synthetic Scene Generation Model (SSGM)\ the overall structure of
Washington Academy of Sciences
29
this version of MOSART closely follows that of the PRA code. However,
MOSART contains all of the AFRL code’s atmospheric features and is
easily used for that code’s usual point-to-point calculations.
MOSART uses the same frequency band model and 1 cm'^
sampled (2 cm‘^ resolution) band parameters database found in the AFRL
code, which has been derived from the 1996 HITRAN line atlas of
molecular spectral lines from which one can determine atmospheric
absorption as a function of temperature and pressure. In the ultraviolet and
visible regions, MOSART contains additional molecular absorption bands
at a coarser resolution. The line-of-sight geometries include all of the
AFRL geometries, plus some new geometries, including Observer-Source,
Observer-Background, Observer- Source-Background, Earth Limb,
Horizontal, and At-Source.
Recent development of MOSART was sponsored by the Missile
Defense Agency (MDA).
History of MOSART
The history of MOSART began in the mid-1970s with the
incorporation of LOWTRAN IlT^ into an airborne thermal infrared
imaging sensor simulation. A significant number of changes were made to
LOWTRAN to incorporate it into the simulation, and in the process, parts
of the code were re-written to streamline the coding for faster execution.
These modifications to LOWTRAN led, in 1979, to the development of a
modular atmospheric code for both LOw spectral Resolution Atmospheric
Propagation (LORAP) code and line-by-line High spectral Resolution
Atmospheric Propagation (HIRAP) code, which shared a significant
amount of common code (e.g., definition of the atmosphere, geometry, ray
tracing). A ray tracing algorithm was also developed in the mid-1970s for
calculating radar multipath and anomalous propagation, with numerical
stability of better than one part in 10^.
Starting in late 1980, LORAP morphed into the PRA code, which
grew out of a merging of earlier atmospheric propagation and radiative
transfer codes plus the addition of new capabilities and features while
HIRAP was terminated. The PRA code was a 5 cm’^ spectral resolution
code. Version 1.0 became the atmospheric portion of the Standard Infrared
Radiation Model for plume signatures, that is, exhaust plumes from
missiles and aircraft. It then grew under Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) funding such as the DARPA Teal Ruby
program, a technology experiment to test new infrared sensors for early
Winter 2012
30
warning satellites. It also received funding through a number of low
observables aircraft programs (e.g., the B-2 Stealth Bomber). Later
versions of the PRA code provided support to the Generic Scene
Simulation Software (GENESSIS) terrain scene simulation and the cloud
scene simulation, CloudSim. It also supported a number of air, ground,
and space-based target signature models, including the Target Signature .i
Simulation, the Infrared Signature Analysis Model, and the Flexible
Infrared Signature Toolkit.
This work finally resulted in the PRA Version 7.00 in 1988, when
it was incorporated into the Strategic (now Synthetic) Scene Generation
Model (SSGM) in 1991. SSGM had two atmospheric propagation codes,
the PRA part and the AFRL part, each of which had its own purposes: the
PRA part for supporting the target signature and background scene
simulations, and the AFRL part for providing the line-of-sight calculations
for the sensor. With the intent of making sure that the two provided similar
results, MDA’s predecessor, the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, i
funded an effort through the Air Force’s Phillips Laboratory to combine
the capabilities of the two codes, resulting in the MOSART code.
The original MOSART was developed by PRA and delivered to
the Air Force as Version 1.40. This version was released in 1995, when
the developer of the code. Dr. William M. Comette, left PRA to take a
position with the Defense Mapping Agency (later merged into the
National Imagery and Mapping Agency) as the Scientific Advisor for
Defense Modeling and Simulation. The official public release of
MOSART VI. 40 was in mid- 1 996.
In 1997-98, PRA received funding from AFRL for some
MOSART code testing, and independent verification and validation.
During PRA’s activities. Dr. Comette supported PRA’s work by
responding to questions and modifying MOSART based on results from
the testing. This work resulted in a series of releases as briefly described
here.
VI. 50 was released in 1997; modifications were in response to
initial user feedback and preliminary PRA testing. VI. 60 was released in
1998; modifications were based on the work by PRA. Some upgrades
were made (e.g., new aerosol models) to maintain consistency with the Air
Force model. This is the version that is currently in SSGM. VI. 65 was
released in 2000; minor changes were made in the terrain material
temperature prediction capability. However, this version was not
implemented into SSGM.
Washington Academy of Sciences
31
VI. 70 was released in 2005; significant changes were made in the
terrain material temperature calculations. For example, the model for the
direct and diffuse solar loading*” was completely replaced with a 27-band
model, and the new model was validated. The model for the diffuse
thermal loading was upgraded and components of the model were
replaced. Multiple scattering, which was not part of the older model, was
included. The solution of the equation of heat transfer was extensively
revised. The new algorithm was considerably faster than the older
algorithm, and a limited set of validations was performed. And the
reflectivity databases for fresh water, concrete, asphalt, and wood were
revised.
V2.00 was initially released in 2006, and later released in 2008.
Several new utilities were developed, a number of new capabilities were
added, which are discussed below. James H. Brown of the AFRL with the
help of Carol I. Foley from Boston University, thoroughly tested V2.00,
with final delivery of V2.00c provided to AFRL in January 2008. In July
2009, the responsibility for MOSART transitioned from AFRL to NRL,
and a subsequent modification was made to fix a problem for
geosynchronous sensor geometry calculations in late 2009, resulting in the
current code, V2.0.4 (the change in the numbering format was requested
by NRL).
In 2006, work began on V3.0, which is a Fortran 95 code with the
capability to model the full four-dimensional {i.e., latitude, longitude,
altitude, and time) radiative environment. Although as of mid-2012, V3.0
is a working code, it is far from complete and a release date is still to be
determined.
MOSART Code Features
The MOSART code includes a number of features and capabilities.
For example, it uses an observables-driven architecture for multiple view
path geometries, such as:
a. Observer-to-source radiative transfer
b. Observer-to-background radiative transfer
c. Full radiative environment
d. Solar, lunar, and planetary ephemerides*'"
e. User-defined and analytical earthshine'" and skyshine'"*
In order to model the radiative environment, the code must be capable of
fully characterizing the environment, including:
Winter 2012
I
32
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.-
g-
h.
i.
j-
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
Global three-dimensional atmospheres (latitude, longitude, and
altitude)
User-defined three-dimensional atmospheres
Scalable profiles (water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, haze)
Variable climatologies (temperature, humidity, wind)
Aerosols (boundary layer, troposphere, stratosphere,
mesosphere)
Temperature-dependent background stratospheric aerosol
model
Atmospheric-dependent haze profile
Smoke/soot in an elevated layer
Geographical dependence of boundary layer aerosol
Smooth transition of aerosol types with altitude
Hydrometeors (water clouds, ice clouds, cirrus, fog, rain,
snow)
Broken cloud fields
Terrain scenes and materials (optical and thermal properties)
Average and line-of-sight (LOS) backgrounds
Space backgrounds
Once the environment has been fully characterized, a fully developed set
of radiative transfer algorithms are used to predict the radiative
environment, including:
a. AFRL code V3.7 band model and molecular absorption
b. Ultraviolet through millimeter wave (0 - 50,000 cm‘^)
c. Correlated path treatment
d. Three-stream approximation for multiple scattering
e. Adjustable exponential sum fit (Malkmus-Laguerre and others)
f Continuous grid approximations for layer model
g. Turbulence and sky noise
h. Forward in-scatter
i. Sensor spectral responses
To support the characterization of the atmosphere, a comprehensive set of
databases for representation of atmosphere and terrain are required,
including:
a. 23 model atmospheres with seasonal variations
b. Global boundary layer and tropospheric meteorological
conditions
c. Concentrations for 50 molecular species
Washington Academy of Sciences
33
d. Global atmosphere model to calculate variations in
atmospheric parameters along the line-of-sight
e. Climatological database to modify standard atmospheric
models for a given location
f. Aerosol haze profiles and models
g. Cloud, rain, and fog (hydrometeors) models
h. Terrain altitude, ecosystem type, and fraction water and snow
cover
i. Background models for terrain scenes, ocean, and space
j. Soil type, texture, composition, depth, and moisture content
k. Urban center locations
l. Population density
For the thermal components of the radiative transfer algorithms, it is
necessary to predict the terrain material temperatures using broadband
solar and thermal loading diurnal variations, and to compute the terrain
surface temperature for selected surface materials.
A number of utilities are provided with MOSART, including a
blackbody temperature converter, a spectral filter integration code, an
illuminance (visual) converter, a floating point tester, a database installer,
a binary to American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)
file converter, and an input file creator. A number of codes are supported
by MOSART, including a diurnal global terrain temperature code, a
statistical scene generator, a hyperspectral sensor and target simulator, and
a Mie scattering code for coated spheres.
MOSART Global Databases
An extensive set of global databases is incorporated into the
MOSART V2.0 code, including climatologies, terrain elevation,
water/snow compositions, ecosystem type, climatology atmospheric
profiles from the earth’s surface to the tropopause, and hydrology.
Coupled with the ecosystem and terrain elevations are composite terrain
scene types with appropriate boundary layer aerosol compositions. Each
scene includes appropriate parameters for determining the terrain
temperature for each material in the scene, together with the reflected and
emitted radiances for determining the mean and standard deviation of the
radiances for the scene. The global database model allows a full three-
dimensional representation of the earth’s atmosphere with radiative
transfer varying as the line-of-sight moves within the spatially changing
Winter 2012
34
atmosphere. The global databases described here are included with
MOSART V2.0.
The MODTRAN™ V3.7 Molecular Database (1 cm'^) includes,
for each molecular specie, the molecular absorption coefficient, line
density, line width, and line tails as a function of temperature and
wavenumber.
The Global Climatology Database (4.5° latitude x nominal 4.5°
longitude x month'"”) contains the surface air temperature, a three-etage'"”^
cloud cover and cloud radiance, cirrus cloud cover, snow cover, and land
cover.
The Global Scene Database (10 arc-min x 10 arc-min) includes the
altitude (see Figure 1), ecosystem (see Figure 2), and fraction ground
water (see Figure 3).
The Global Hydrology Database (1° x 1° x month) includes
monthly values of sea ice cover, snow cover, and sea surface temperature.
The Global Oceanic Database (15 arc-min x 15 arc-min x month)
includes sea surface temperature (see Figure 4) and salinity (see Figure 5).
The Global Climatology Profile Database (5° x 5° x monthly)
includes surface pressure, temperature and variance profiles, dew point
and variance profiles, and wind (total, U-component, V-component)
profiles.
In addition to these databases listed here, MOSART V3.0 includes
a number of new global databases described later in this article.
Washington Academy of Sciences
35
Figure 2. Ecosystems
Figure 3. Fraction Ground Water
MOSART V2.0.4 Capabilities
This section provides a partial list of upgrades in capability in
MOSART V2.0.4 from the historical versions described earlier. The list is
not meant to be exhaustive; it provides the significant upgrades, but not
some of the minor ones.
Three-dimensional atmospheres {i.e., latitude, longitude, and
altitude variations) versus two-dimensional {i.e., latitude and altitude
variations) are allowed.
Global atmospheres are constructed, using a combination of the 23
model atmospheres and data from the Global Atmospheric Profile
Database for the boundary layer and troposphere.
Winter 2012
36
The addition of variable climatologies for temperature
(cold/normal/hot), humidity (dry/normal/wet), and wind speed
(calm/normal/windy) — using statistics in the Global Atmospheric Profile
Database — is a user-selected option.
The addition of scalable profiles for water vapor (total precipitable
water), ozone (Dobson units), carbon dioxide (ppmV), and aerosol optical
depth is also a user-selected option.
The addition of an elevated smoke/soot layer is based on work by
Dr. Stephen Carr, Defense Science and Technology Organisation in
Australia.
Broken cloud cover can be defined so that a line-of-sight can be
partially in sun and partially in shade. Clouds can be defined on a user-
defined latitude/longitude grid with a mixture of cloud types.
In MOSART V2.0.4, several databases are added for the first time
or improved. The Global Atmospheric Profile Database is improved for
temperature, pressure, and humidity. Wind speed and direction is a
function of altitude for the troposphere. The Global Hydrology Database is
improved for snow cover, ice cover, and ice temperature. See Figure 4 for
sea surface temperature, and Figure 5 for sea surface salinity. The Global j
Urban Area Database is added (for 288 urban areas). And the Terrain
Material Database upgraded natural materials (soil and rocks, water, ice,
and snow) and man-made materials.
Boundary layer aerosol types are assigned based on the ecosystem
and wind conditions. Aerosol altitude profiles are smoothed to avoid
discontinuities found in the Air Force code. Average and line-of-sight
backgrounds are incorporated for adjacency effect calculations. A full set
of time zones, including daylight saving time for the globe, is incorporated
into the code. An expanded higher spectral resolution terrain material
database is added to the existing database. Broadband solar and thermal
diurnal loading calculations are modified and upgraded. Atmospheric
cooling profiles are also added.
Several of the MOSART utilities are upgraded or created:
FPTEST, the floating point test code, and INSTDB, which installs the
databases, are more user-friendly. Using Microsoft® Access, a user-
friendly MOSART input file creator was created with pull down menus
and embedded notes; this capability is a prototype, pending feedback from
users.
The exponential sum fitting routine now allows users to select
Washington Academy of Sciences
37
different methods of determining the fit. The model developed by
Wiscombe and Evans is incorporated, as well as a multi-term Gauss-
Laguerre quadrature in support of the Malkmus-Laguerre method. An
additional method using a Laplace transform with Gauss-Laguerre
quadrature and minimization for exponential sum fitting is being tested
and should be released shortly.
An analytical model for earthshine and skyshine is included. This
is based on work originally performed by Dr. David C. Roberts (Spectral
Sciences, Inc.), with additions to provide an improved fit.
The spectral region of the code is extended to include a high
resolution microwave/millimeter wave region in support of passive
microwave radiometers.
All databases now automatically determine their required direct
access record lengths, rather than having the user supply them.
The oxygen dimer, O4, is added, with space created for the future
addition of ethylene (C^H^), hypobromous acid (HOBr), and the
hydroperoxyl radical (HO^), along with space for a user-defined molecule,
to be added in the near future.
The ephemeris time (see Figure 6) is currently updated through
July 2012 with measured data; through June 2013 with refined predictions;
and through 2014 with rough approximations. Additional information on
how to obtain new measured data from the International Earth Rotation
System website is included.
Multiple, overlapping filter spectral responses are allowed. A
number of instrument spectral responses are delivered with the code,
including Landsat, Satellite Pour I’Observation de la Terre (Spot),
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Ikonos, and a
generic set of responses.
Several numerical idiosyncrasies were corrected when found
during the comparison of output files created on different machines.
Detailed comparisons were made of the test case output files generated on
a Linux® machine (the base line), a Windows® machine, and a Silicon
Graphics Unix machine. The Linux® machine used the Lahey 1195 Fortran
95 compiler. Version 6.2. The Windows® machine used the Lahey 1195
Fortran 95 compiler. Version 7.1. The Silicon Graphics machine used the
195 compiler that is part of the operating system.
Winter 2012
38
Figure 4. Sea Surface Temperature (January)
68
66
64
o 62
"" 60
58
56
1 992 1 996 2000 2004 2008
Date
Figure 6. Delta-T for Ephemeris Time‘s
Monthly Ephemeris Delta-T
Ephemeris time back to 1820
T 1 1 r
Washington Academy of Sciences
39
Availability of MOSART Code and Documentation
MOSART V2.0 and its utility programs are written in American
National Standards Institute X3.9-1978 FORTRAN (FORTRAN 77) with
a few Fortran 95 and Mil-Std 1753 extensions. The code delivered with
MOSART V2.0 includes:
• FPTEST: Tests machine dependent operations
• INSTDB: Installs direct access binary databases
• MOSART: Is the main MOSART program
• ASCBIN: Converts binary files to ASCII and vice-versa
• BBTEMP: Converts radiance to equivalent blackbody
temperatures
• CRFILE: Assists in preparing the MOSART input files
• MRFLTR: Degrades the spectral output using a filter function
• VISUAL: Converts visible radiances to luminances and
determines color
Four volumes of MOSART manuals for V2.0 provide users the
ability to install and execute the code, technical background to assist with
using the code, and information concerning to software itself The
volumes in the manuals include:
• Volume I: Installation Reference Manual
• Volume II: User Reference Manual
• Volume III: Technical Reference Manual
• Volume IV: Software Reference Manual
The Software Reference Manual is currently incomplete, although it
contains a significant amount of information. It will be completed as
resources permit.
Government responsibility for MOSART transitioned from AFRL
to NRL in July 2009. Any questions concerning the status and future of
MOSART can be sent to mosart@ssd5.nrl.navv.mil.
Version 2.0.4 can be obtained directly from Computational
Physics, Inc. (CPI) at www.cpi.com/products/mosart.htmk and interested
parties are required to accept a downloadable software release agreement.
CPI also offers comprehensive services using the MOSART code,
including the development of databases modeling specified environments
to meet the requirements of government programs and other users. Further
information can be obtained by directly contacting the author at
comette@cpi.com.
Winter 2012
40
New Capabilities in MOSART V3.0
MOSART V3.0 has been in development since mid-2006. As it
currently exists, it already has a number of new capabilities, compared to
V2.0.4. MOSART V3.0 has been extensively re-written (over 65%) in
Fortran 95 in order to eliminate all COMMON blocks, make appropriate
use of MODULES, and use dynamic allocation in order to insure that the
MOSART executable is an efficient, small code. Dynamic allocation also
removes restrictions on the number of inputs. For example, MOSART
V.2.0.4 is limited to 50 geometries, while MOSART V3.0 has no such
limit.
Certain select capabilities, such as command line arguments, LO
error messages, and accessing the environment variables are implemented
in Fortran 2003 and 2008; the GNU gfortran 4. 6/4. 7 compiler is used to
compile MOSART V3.0.
MOSART V3.0 has been expanded into a full four-dimensional
code, with each geometry being executed for a different time of day.
In addition to the databases listed earlier for V2.0.4, MOSART
V3.0 includes additional new global databases. This currently includes the
following (and other databases may be added during future development):
1. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United
Nations Global Soil Database (1° x 1°), which includes 26 soil
types at two-depth layers, texture, depth, and slope data (0-30
cm; 30-100 cm).
2. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Global Soil Database
(5 arc-min x 5 arc-min), which includes soil type, bulk density,
porosity, and water holding capacity. See Figures 7 and 8 for
soil texture at the two depth layers. Figure 9 shows other soil
properties.
3. USDA soil composition, including percentages of clay, sand,
silt, organic matter, and coarse fragments (5 arc-min) as shown
in Figure 10.
4. USDA Soil Moisture Database (0.5° x 0.5° x monthly).
5. Global Population Density Database (1° x 1°).
6. AVHRR land cover types (1° x 1°); see Figure 11.
Washington Academy of Sciences
41
7. Expanded urban centers for over 1300 locations with
population and area.
8. Default boundary layer aerosols.
9. Nighttime urban lights; see Figure 12 for lights and fires
measured by the Defense Meteorological Satellites Program
(DMSP) and Figure 13 for the MOSART Nighttime Urban
Lights.
10. Light source spectra.
11. Sunspot activity; see Figure 14.
12. Solar radio fluxes (10.7 cm).
13. Geomagnetic indices (Ap).
14. Molecular databases (MODTRAN™ V4: 15 cm \ 5 cm\
1 cm‘^ 0.1 cm'^).
Other new capabilities include: the addition of planetary
ephemerides; incorporation of a standard NRL model for defining the
composition of the upper atmosphere (MSISE-00); and development of a
new exponential sum fitting algorithm (Laplace/Gauss-Laguerre S-
optimization) accompanied by removal of the Wiscombe-Evans algorithm.
An improved terrain material temperature model, together with the
creation of site-specific soil data has resulted in improved terrain
representation.
The user also has the capability to interrogate databases
independent of MOSART, together with over 18 new test cases to
illustrate use of the additional capabilities.
Work is ongoing for MOSART V3.0. NRL is presently developing
requirements for MOSART 3.0 that will add to the above capabilities. If
the MOSART user community has definitive requests for specific
capabilities, now is the time to let those needs be known.
Summary
This paper represents efforts of primarily the past decade to model
the radiative environment of the Earth’s atmosphere, terrain, oceans, and
space for supporting the scene generation requirements of certain
government programs. MOSART V2.0.4, together with appropriate
databases and documentation, is currently available to the user
community.
Winter 2012
42
MOSART V3.0 is now expanded into a full four-dimensional
radiative environment prediction tool. It currently exists as a working
code, with a number of additional capabilities, and even more capabilities
planned. Input from the MOSART user community is welcome regarding
the addition of new capabilities for the code. The date for the availability
of MOSART V3.0 is yet to be determined. Additional improvements,
testing, validation and availability of MOSART V3.0 are dependent on
continued support from the MDA Backgrounds Phenomenology program.
Figure 7. USDA Soil Textures (0 - 30 cm depth)
Figure 8. USDA Soil Textures (30 - 100 cm depth)
Washington Academy of Sciences
43
Texture Water Holding Capacity
Figure 9. Soil Properties
Fraction of Sand
Figure 10. USDA Soil Composition (5 arc-min x 5 arc-min)
Winter 2012
44
Figure 12. DMSP Nighttime Lights of the World (2006)
Figure 13. MOSART Nighttime Urban Lights
Washington Academy of Sciences
45
Monthly and Smoothed Sunspot Numbers
300
250
- 200
^ 150
3 100
^ 50
1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
Date
Monthly Smoothed
Figure 14. Monthly and Smoothed Sunspot Numbers
Acknowledgements
A number of individuals assisted the author in the development of
MOSART over the years:
Photon Research Associates, Inc. (a subsidiary of the Raytheon
Company)
• Sally D. landrail (for testing and evaluating early versions of
the code)
• Fred C. Mertz (particularly with requirements for terrain scene
generation)
• Dr. Joseph G. Shanks (for numerous technical discussions)
• Dr. Sally J. Westmoreland (now at University of Redlands, for
conducting testing)
• Dr. Wayne FI. Wilson (for the core of the solar ephemeris
code)
Spectral Sciences, Inc.
• Dr. Prabhat K. Acharya (for testing and evaluating early
versions of the code)
• Dr. Alexander Berk (for discussions on the AFRL code and
other topics)
• Dr. David C. Robertson (for numerous technical discussions)
Air Force Research Laboratory
• Gail P. Anderson (for many discussions on the code)
Winter 2012
46
• Dr. William A.M. Blumberg (for discussions on AFRL
requirements)
• James H. Brown (for assistance in working with the
community)
• Carol I. Foley (at Boston University, for extensive testing and
patience)
• Dr. Laila S. Jeong (for discussion on AFRL requirements)
• ■ Dr. Francis X. Kneizys (for discussions on many technical
topics)
Naval Research Laboratory
• Kate Roach (for testing and patience)
• Dr. Eric P. Shettle (for discussions on aerosols)
Numerous others are also acknowledged for their feedback and patience.
Bio
Dr. Comette is an internationally recognized expert in the
modeling of atmospheric propagation and environmental effects. With
over 40 years in government and industry, he has supported a number of
aircraft and satellite programs. He is the author of MOSART and a
number of other government standard codes.
* The Synthetic Scene Generation Model (SSGM) is designed to integrate state-of-science
knowledge, databases, and validated phenomenology models thereby serving as a
traceable standard against which different concepts and designs can be evaluated.
“ A FORTRAN computer program, LOWTRAN III, calculates the transmittance of the
atmosphere in the spectral region from 0.25 to 28.5 micrometers at a spectral resolution
of 20/cm.
The amount of solar energy incident upon a surface that results in heating of the
surface.
In computer codes an ephemeris is an algorithm for calculating the positions of the Sun,
Moon, and planets.
Earthshine is reflected and emitted earthlight.
Radiation scattered through the air.
Longitudinal resolution degrades as the latitude nears the poles until between 85.5° and
90° at both the North and South Poles the longitudinal resolution is 120°.
Etage = level.
Delta Time is the time difference obtained by subtracting Universal Time (UT) from
Terrestrial Time (TT): AT=TT-UT.
Washington Academy of Sciences
47
Methods to derive the Einstein partial differential
equation describing the ray optics and kinematics of
his light ray path experiment with moving mirror
Albert Gerard Gluckman
University of Maryland
Abstract
The solution i of the partial differential equation (3^, + ^^3, ) r = 0
is the time transformation of the Lorentz Transformation derived in §3
of Einstein’s 1905 discovery paper of special relativity. This equation is
derived from the equation describing Einstein’s
thought experiment of a light ray path with moving mirror in his
kinematical derivation of the coordinate transformations of special
relativity. Considered here are the mathematical details of the
derivation of his partial differential equation, first by using the chain
rule of the differential calculus, and second by using the method of
applying the Taylor series approximation to the first order (because of
the homogeneity of space and time). The historical confluence of the
Einstein differential operator and time transformation, derived by
means of kinematics, is identical with the differential operator and time
transformation derived by J. Larmor in 1900, derived through the
electromagnetic theory of Maxwell. However, it was Einstein who
conceived of the relativity of simultaneity in the absence of an aether.
Section 1. Introduction
The 1905 Einstein discovery paper [1] describing special relativity
first considers the kinematics of a thought experiment of a light ray path
with a light source and a mirror both fixed in coordinate system k
uniformly moving relative to a parallel rest system K. The experimental
setup is described in Section 3 of this paper. The goal of Einstein’s paper
was to reconcile Maxwell’s equations for electricity and magnetism with
the motion of electrons near the speed of light. As a consequence of this
thought experiment, Einstein derived a partial differential equation (PDE)
whose solution x is the Lorentz time transformation. The Lorentz
transformation (1892) is named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz
and is also known as the Lorentz-Fitzgerald transformation. It was the
result of attempts by Lorentz and others to explain how the speed of light
was observed to be independent of the reference frame, and to understand
the symmetries of the laws of electromagnetism.
Winter 2012
48
The way in which Einstein accomplished this derivation is
described with the barest mathematical essentials. One can proceed with at
least two methods based upon his original light path equation (equation (3)
below) in a constructivist approach to fill in the missing steps to discover
the time transformation. I show in detail how to derive his PDE using both
methods. One might also apply the Leibniz method of the ratio of
differentials. The partial differential equation I will develop is:
dr V dr ^
— + — ; T — = 0
3x' dt
where c is the speed of light, v is the relative speed between the two
reference frames, x' is the position of the mirror, and x is the solution
which turns out to be the Lorentz transformation. The shorthand notation
for writing this equation is:
which is a variant formulation of
id^-(To + T,) = d.T,. (2)
Equation (2) describes Einstein’s thought experiment with a light ray path
in which an ideal mirror in system 77, ^ undergoes uniform translatory
motion relative to a designated rest system K{x,y,z). Xo is the time the light
ray leaves the source; Xi is the time the light ray is reflected by the mirror
atx' ; X2 is the time the light ray returns. The discussion of the kinematic
consequences of his thought experiment is found in §3 of his June 1905
discovery paper [1]. The end result of his kinematic analysis was the
discovery of the Lorentz coordinate transformations
^ = -{x-vt)
q
rj = y
T
]_
q
vx
\
y
where q = . You may have seen these written as follows:
t =r
^ vx^
V ^ y
y[x-vt)
y =y z =z
where y is the Lorentz factor. For this paper I use Einstein’s coordinate
systems k and K from his paper.
Washington Academy of Sciences
49
The integral form of equation (2) is:
^2) ~ •
(3)
Suppressing for convenience the transverse coordinates, the coordinate
system of system k is and that of system K is {x,t).
The function
(4)
is the solution of the PDE (equation (1)), and is the time transformation
between systems k and K.
The derivation of the PDE is described in detail in Section 4 using
the chain rule of the differential calculus, and in Section 5 using a first
order approximation of the Taylor series employing a method using
arrays. This latter procedure is a condensation of the first description of
this method of arrays described by Gluckman [2] using two array
arrangements. The application of this new array arrangement could be
used to represent differential equations as arrays. A second version of the
use of the Taylor series to derive the PDE is also shown in Section 6.
Section 7 has a brief discussion concerning the amazing derivation,
slightly earlier than Einstein, of the operator and the time transformation
by J. Earmor from the viewpoint of Maxwell’s electrodynamics. This is,
however, merely a formal correspondence, since the philosophical
underpinnings are quite different.
The goal of Einstein’s paper was to construct a “consistent theory
of electrodynamics of moving bodies based on Maxwell’s theory for
stationary bodies.” He set forth the principle that the velocity of the
propagation of light is “independent of the state of motion of the emitting
body” and because there is no need in the electrodynamic equations for a
stationary aether, it is superfluous because all inertial motion is relative.
It is one of the goals of this analysis, which is concerned with the
kinematic study underpinning his follow-on electrodynamic analysis, to
describe the methodology that can be applied to relating and deriving his
partial differential equation, whose solution r is the time transformation
of special relativity. A secondary goal of this analysis is to show the
earlier discovery by J. Earmor of Einstein’s differential operator as well as
the same for the time transformation. I am not the first to find this, as
Winter 2012
50
evidenced by a remark in a letter to Larmor by his former student
Ebeneezer Cunningham, but I will give some mathematical discussion.
Larmor did not conceive of the relativity of simultaneity, nor could
he abandon his beautiful aether. Therefore, it seems that the discovery by
Einstein of special relativity is the culmination of the 19^^ century by a
bold genius.
Section 2. The origin of the coefficient a in the time transformation
that is the solution of the Einstein PDE
The solution x = t) of the PDE is a function that is linear in the
coordinates x' and t because, as Einstein pointed out in §3 of his
discovery paper, the coordinates of system k and system K are related by
equations that “must be linear on account of the properties of
homogeneity which we attribute to space and time.” Therefore
T = at + bx\ (5)
Taking the partial derivatives of equation (5) one gets
dj = a and d^,T = b.
In the same way, taking the partial derivatives of the PDE, one with
respect to t and the other with respect to x yields
=
2 2
C -V
Therefore
b =
2 2
C -V
a .
Therefore, substituting the value for b into equation (5) yields
a
t-
vx
2 2
C -V J
(6)
which is the expression Einstein showed without showing how to derive it.
Washington Academy of Sciences
51
Section 3. Setup of the apparatus of the thought experiment
The setup for the thought experiment consists of two parallel axes,
one in uniform motion relative to the other axis that is designated to be at
rest. The system k is in motion relative to the system K. The (f-axis of the
system k is parallel to and has the same handedness as the x-axis of the
rest system K. The point x' on the (f-axis is the arbitrarily chosen location
of a perpendicularly set ideal mirror on the (f-axis and it faces the source at
point A on the (f-axis of a light ray. This arbitrarily chosen location of the
point A may coincide with the origin of the <f-axis as a special case in
order to simplify the algebra describing the setup. We initialize the
experimental setup by having the origins of the two systems k and K
coincide.
The point x' (the fixed mirror location on the (f-axis of the k
system) is distinguished from the length |x'| = +->J(x')^ = -^ + |x^| where xa
is the location of the light source. When the point xa equals 0 (or in other
words is identified with the point 0 at the origin of the coordinate system),
the light ray source is then at the origin of the x-axis. In this case |x'| = I
which is the fixed distance between the light ray source and the ideal
mirror that is at point x . As Einstein remarked in his §3, the light source
Xa can be placed at the time of emission at any point on the x-axis.
The point x is, in general, located on the (f-axis at a distance
I = yj(x'- A)^ from the source of the light ray at point A. If the source
point A of the light ray were located at the origin of the coordinate system
k, A would be 0 and then I = -f-^(x')^ at the initial instant of the thought
experiment; and the length f would remain constant as the idealization of
a rigid length. Once chosen, the position x on the (f-axis is not influenced
with the passage of time with respect to the (f-axis itself In other words,
the position x as well as the position A can be arbitrarily chosen, where
as a consequence, the distance f between the ideal mirror and the source
of the light ray is constant.
The time x on the ^-axis is recorded in the moving k system on the
^-clock. The time t is recorded on the x-axis in the rest system on the K-
clock. Refer to the Appendix for diagrammatic descriptions of the
kinematics of the light ray with moving mirror thought experiment.
Winter 2012
52
Section 4. Derivation of + v[c^ “ ^ ’d,T = 0 using the chain
rule of the differential calculus
I suppress the transverse coordinates y and z to simplify the
original format of the equation of the light ray path with moving mirror
which appears in §3 of the 1905 discovery paper. Equation (2) then takes
the form
T{0,t) + T
0, /^ +
c-v c+v
(7)
Let the origins of the moving k system and the parallel system K,
designated to be at rest, coincide at the start of the light ray path thought
experiment. Let the light source A also coincide with these origins at the
start of the thought experiment so that the coordinates are
= = ^o(0,0) = 0.
This assignment simplifies equation (5), so that it can be expressed as
= Tj or else as
(8)
where with regard to equation (3), since To=0, the time
recorded/measured on the Lclock of system K at the receiver after the
reflected light ray has returned to the new location A\ is
1
c — v CH- V
(9)
and the time at the ideal mirror ^
light ray source is
units of distance removed from the
(10)
c-v
The symbol B is the position of the mirror at time mapped onto the x-
axis. The symbol c designates the vacuum velocity of light propagation,
and in special relativity is independent of coordinate handedness and of
direction of light rays in space.
Applying the chain rule of the differential calculus to the terms in
equation (6) yields
Washington Academy of Sciences
53
at point A' : (sink of ray)
dx ax
3x'r dr
— 7- +
dx dt^r
dx'
1
1
c-v c + v J
dr
dt
A'
dr
dx
X^bAb )
at point B: (reflecting mirror)
dr dx' dr dtr, dr 1 dr
— ^ T + 7 = — 7 + •
dxg dx dtg dx' dx' c-v dt^
Substitution of these derivatives and the value Tq = 0 into equation (2)
where
T| T ^ Xg ? ) and 7*2 T if)^ t^' ^
yields
1
1 1 ^ 9r
+
\c-v c + v Jdt^
dr 1 dr
dx' c-v dtg
(11)
Taking derivatives of t^, and tg with respect to t
dt,, dtu . , , . . , dt dt .
— — = — - = 1 as do their reciprocals = — = 1
dt dt dt^, dtg
and therefore
dr dr dt dr , dr
= = 1 = — and
dt^, dt dt^, dt dt
dr _dT dt _dT dr
dtg dt dtg dt dt
Therefore, equation (9), after substitution and reduction yields Einstein’s
PDE, equation (1) which is shown above, and whose solution r is the
relativistic time transformation.
Winter 2012
54
Section 5. Derivation of + v(c^ - v^) ^ 3,r = 0 using the 1st order
approximation of the Taylor series in 2 variables
This method was conceived in a most general formulation where
no simplifying assumption is made about the location A of the emitter of
the light ray source. Equation (3) can be arranged in a column format such
that to each of its 3 functions To, T2, and Xi (the ray path terms), there
corresponds a linear function expressed as a first order Taylor series
approximation (neglecting 2nd order and higher order terms) so that
Ray path terms
I ~
+ I
>^^0 I ~
Taylor Array
a Taylor series approximation
a Taylor series approximation
+
a Taylor series approximation
This array is a representation of the differential equation, and this
kind of representation should be applicable in general to other systems of
differential equations. The summation of terms in this array with the
substitutions x' = H + h and t = K -\-k leads to equation (1) which is the
Einstein PDE.
Therefore, consider the linear approximation
T{H-^h,K + k) = T{H,K) + hd^T{H,K) + kd^T{H,K) (12)
where H + h = x' and K-\-k = t. Upon substitution, equation (10)
becomes
T{x\t) = T{H,K) + {x-H)d^T{H,K) + {t-K)d^T{H,K) (13)
Therefore, the following correspondences can be set up in the following
array arrangement:
Washington Academy of Sciences
55
I r(xV,)| ^ \ ^ \(t, -K)d,T{H,K) |
till I I ; II I
I I ~ \%TiH^K)\ - \y.(0-H)c^.T{H,K) | - | Y^(i,-K)c^t(H,K) | 1
11*1 l-ll * II * II
I |!/xr(a/J| ^ -K)c^t{H,K) \ \
H
•H
--I —
The array of my right side yields
x'd„T{H,K) = -t,d,T{H,K) + /yt,d,T{H,K) + /rt,d,T{H,K)
(14)
Now in the limit as h and k independently go asymptotically to zero
xd^>T{x\t) = -t^d^T{x\t) + y2't^d^T{x\t) + y2't^,T{x\t) (15)
which reduces to x'9^,r + (^5 which after
substitution for and , and reduction, yields
d^,T + v{c^ ’d,T = 0 (1)
which is Einstein’s differential equation in his §3. The necessary and
sufficient conditions that 3^r(//, A^) = 9^.r(x',r) and that
df.z{H,K) = d^T{x\t) are:
Winter 2012
56
' '' h h^o,k^o h
h^O
t{x ,t)-t{x-h,t) / , X
= hm ^ ^ — = d^.T(x',t)
h^O ’
h
^ yt^0,/2^0
.. r{x\t)-T{x\t -k) -. / , \
= lim ^ ^ ^ = 9,r(x’,n
^^0 yt r V . /
Section 6. A second method applying the Taylor series 1st order
approximation to derive the PDE
If the origins of the parallel k and K systems coincide at the start of
the light ray path thought experiment (with the moving ideal mirror
attached to system k), then ro=r(0,0) = 0, and equation (3) can be
written as
+ — r(0 + Xq , 0 + ^
(16)
where the value of ^ is ^ = 0 because the location A of the light ray
emitter is at the coinciding origins of the parallel k and K systems at the
start of the thought experiment. Equation 14 may be transcribed as
\( , dr , .dr .dr
^dx ^dt) ^ dx' ' dt
(17)
Therefore, because
^2 = tx
= x'
K
where x' = x is the location of the reflecting mirror at the time of
reflection (z.e., x' = ct^ ), x^ in the k system maps onto x = x +vtg in the
K rest system - their numerical values are the same. Equation (15) can
now be re-written as
t.dr ,3r
+ 1,
dr
2 dt dx dt
(18)
Washington Academy of Sciences
57
which after substitution of equations (7) and (8), takes the form of
equation (9), which reduces to the Einstein PDE, which is equation (1)
shown above.
Section 7. Some concluding remarks
The evolution of Larmor’s theory of electrodynamics occurred in
three distinct stages that occurred in 1894/5, 1897/8, and in 1900. His
underlying principles for these researches of his were first, reliance on the
theory of a stationary elastic incompressible aether whose strain energy
per unit volume was identified with the energy of the electromagnetic
field; and second, the time being absolute Newtonian time, the same
everywhere on any clock on any frame at any speed at any spatial
orientation relative to the stationary aether.
In his 1900 book publication [3] Larmor developed his complete
presentation of his theory in which he applied the chain rule in extending
his version of Hertz’s formulation of the two curl electromagnetic field
equations (one known as Ampere’s law and the other as Faraday’s law) in
order to develop a theory “To deduce Fresnel’s law for moving media,”
with the Michelson-Morley null result in mind; but mainly to develop a
dynamical theory of the electric and optical aether. The use of the chain
rule in the Hertz-Maxwell curl equations presented by Einstein in the
electrodynamic portion of his paper can also be transformed by means of
the chain rule into equations expressing a system in motion. In the course
of so doing, Larmor developed the differential operator
(19)
where
f 2
£ = 1 — j and
V ^ y
t=t
The relation (19) shows that the Einstein and the Larmor operator are
identical.
Furthermore, Larmor also derived the time transformation ([3] see
his ref 4, ch. XI, p. 173)
2
C -V
- where f = t.
(20)
Winter 2012
58
Relation (20) shows that the time transformation derived by Einstein is the
same as the time transformation derived by Larmor.
As a tool for those who would venture into his work, Larmor
derived the substitution a--\lc^ that he used, in §14, Part II, in order to
eliminate two differential cross terms 3^, from a differential equation. The
expression t' -t-\- ox in his earlier work on May 16, 1895 is the source
for the value a .
Thus, one sees the identity of the Larmor time transformation
developed from considerations involving electromagnetic theory, with the
Lorentz time transformation as first developed by Einstein as the solution
of his differential equation, equation (1) above, which Einstein derived
solely on the basis of the kinematics of his ray path equation, equation (3)
above.
References
1. A. Einstein, Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Korper/On the
electrodynamics of moving Bodies, Ann. der Phys. 17 (1905) 891;
also. The Principle of Relativity, Dover Publications, Inc., 1952,
NYC, and the Collected Works of Albert Einstein, Princeton
University Press.
2. A. G. Gluckman, The missing lines of calculations in Einstein's
derivation of the Lorentz transformation. Physics Essays 21, 4 (2008)
1-3.
3. J. Larmor, Aether and Matter, Cambridge at the University Press,
1900. See also LoC call no. QC671.L32.
Washington Academy of Sciences
59
Appendix
List of assumed values applied to describe the light path experiment.
The examples shown in diagrams 1 and 2 depend upon the following
assumed parameter values. Let x' be the point on the ^-axis of system k,
designating the ideal mirror.
f =|x'| = +-^(x')^ =10km; distance of ideal reflecting mirror
from the light source. In general, f ; x'> A,
where A is any point on the ^-axis. For illustration
purposes, calculations are simplified when ^4 = 0, as in
these examples. The ideal mirror (set transversely to the
direction of uniform motion) is fixed at the end of an ideal
rigid rod.
c ~ 3.0 X 10^ km/sec; vacuum velocity of the propagation of
light.
Va c = 0.75 X 10^ km/sec; velocity of the light source
ensemble with attached ideal mirror in system k, relative
to parallel rest system K.
Tc = xVc; stationary time (independent of motion) of light ray
path propagation from the source A to the ideal mirror at
X in system k.
Case when the ideal mirror moves towards the initial position^ of
the light ray emitter. Thus x' = x-vt.
Emission
= 0 and
X 10
tr. = = 7 = 2.6x10 sec
c + v 3.75x10'
= rt = 3(2.6)=8 km
Reflection
^ A'-B
c-v 2.25x10'
= rt = 3(4.4)=13.3 km
10 .7 ia-5
= 4.4x10 sec
Winter 2012
60
Diagram 1. The light ray ideal mirror/source ensemble on system k
moves towards the initial position of the light ray emitter, relative to the
parallel rest system K. Case oix’ = x-vt.
A^--10--^;c' x'
0 • <f-axis of system k in motion
◄ V I *
direction of motion A \ ►jc' *
of mirror •— | • * (f-axis of system k in motion
2km 8km * *
j * *
^ * ♦
A* 'x'— — * c-axis of system k in motion
* I * * *
* I + ♦ *
* * *— * x-axis of system K at rest
-5.3 0 4.6 8 10
◄ — 13t3 km-^
Case when the ideal mirror moves away from the initial position^ of the
light ray emitter. Thus x = x' + vt.
Emission
X 10 - 5
tr.= = r = 4.4xl0 sec
c-v 2.25x10-'
x = c^ = 13.3 km
Reflection
_ X _ 10
"c + v” 3.75x10"'
X = = 3(2.6)= 8 km
2.6x10 ' sec
Washington Academy of Sciences
61
Diagram 2. The light ray mirror/source ensemble on system k moves
away from the initial position of the light ray emitter, relative to the
parallel rest system K. Case of x = x' +
Comparison of numerical results from the light ray path calculations
based upon geometry vis a vis the time transformation equation, when the
ideal mirror moves towards the emitter.
(- v)x' vx'
2 2 — y
C -V C -V
= 2.6x10“' +
0.75xl0'(l0)
(9.0-0.5625)xl0'°
The total distance travelled by the light ray is
13.3km + 8km = 21.3 km
= 3.5 xlO ' sec
The total time for the passage of the light ray from the emitter to reflector
to the last position of the emitter is 21.3/c = 7.1xl0“' sec, and
0.5(7.1x10“^) = 3.5x10-^ sec
in agreement with the value computed from the time transformation.
Winter 2012
62
Furthermore
X X ^ V i ^-5
= ^ = 7. 1 xlO sec
c-v c+v
which is the total time required for the light ray to travel from the emitter
to the moving mirror, and be reflected back to the new and last location of
the emitter (now the point of reception) relative to the x-axis of the rest
system K, regardless of whether the assembly is moving away from or
towards the initial position of the emitter.
Bio
Dr. Gluckman is the author of seven monographs published by the
Washington Academy of Sciences. They cover the evolution of electrical
experiments over a 200 year period. He has also published 32 peer
reviewed papers in many journals including the Proc. IEEE, the Am. J.
Physics, and the Matrix and Tensor Quarterly. He prepared a replica
typescript for the Joseph Henry papers of the Smithsonian that used the
written notes of Henry on oscillatory current (1836 - 1842). He also
worked with NASA and DoD on edge diffraction and multiple reflections
of microwaves over terrain.
Washington Academy of Sciences
Washington Academy of Sciences
Membership Directory 2012
63
M=Member; F=Fellow; LF=Life Fellow; LM=Life Member; EM=Emeritus
Member; EF=Emeritus Fellow
ANTMAN, STUART (Dr.) University of Maryland, 2309 Mathematics
Building, College Park MD 20742-4015 (F)
APPETITI, EMANUELA PO Box 25805, Washington DC 20027 (M)
APPLE, DAINA DRAVNIEKS National Capital Society of American
Foresters, PO Box 9288, Arlington VA 22219 (M)
ARSEM, COLLINS (Mr.) 3144 Gracefield Rd Apt 1 17, Silver spring MD
20904-5878 (EM)
ARVESON, PAUL T. (Mr.) 6902 Breezewood Terrace, Rockville MD
20852-4324 (F)
BAILEY, R. CLIFTON (Dr.) 6507 Divine Street, Mclean VA 22101-4620
(LF)
BARACEROS, KORINA Y. (Ms.) 42373 Winsbury West Place, Sterling
VA 20166 (M)
BARBOUR, LARRY L. (Mr.) Pequest Valley Farm, 585 Townsbury
Road, Great Meadows NJ 07838 (M)
BAR WICK, W. ALLEN (Dr.) 13620 Maidstone Lane, Potomac MD
20854-1008 (F)
BEACH, LOUIS A. (Dr.) 1200 Waynewood Blvd., Alexandria VA 22308-
1842 (EF)
BEAM, WALTER R. (Dr.) 4804 Wellington Farms Drive, Chester VA
23831 (F)
BECKER, EDWIN D. (Dr.) Bldg. 5, Rm. 128, Nat. Institutes Of Health,
Bethesda MD 20892-0520 (EF)
BEDARD, JUSTIN J. (Mr.) 1217 Simmons Drive, Rockville MD 20851
(M)
BERLEANT, DANIEL (Dr.) 12473 Rivercrest Dr., Little Rock AK 72212
(M)
BERNSTEIN, BERNARD (Mr.) 7420 Westlake Terrace, Apt 608,
Bethesda MD 208 17 (EM)
BERRY, JESSE F. (Mr.) 2601 Oakenshield Drive, Rockville MD 20854
(M)
BIGLARI, HAIK (Dr.) Sr. Director of Engineering, Fairchild controls,
540 Highland Street, Frederick MD 21701-7672 (M)
Winter 2012
64
BIONDO, SAMUEL J. (Dr.) 10144 Nightingale St., Gaithersburg MD
20882 (EM)
BODSON, DENNIS (Dr.) 233 N. Columbus Street, Arlington VA 22203
(F)
BOYER, WILLIAM (Mr.) 3725 Alton PI, N.W., Washington DC 20016
(M)
BRIMMER, ANDREW F. (Dr.) Suite 302, 4400 MacArthur Blvd., NW,
Washington DC 20007 (F)
BRISKMAN, ROBERT D. (Mr.) 61 Valerian Court, North Bethesda MD
20852 (F)
BROGAN, KEVIN (Dr.) 2933 Cherry St, Falls Church VA 22042 (M)
BROWN, LEWIS R. (Dr.) US EPA, Mailcode; 7507P, 1200
Pennysylvania Avenue, Washington DC 20704 (M)
CERF, VINTON G. (Dr.) 1435 Woodhurst Blvd., McLean VA 22102-
2234 (F)
CHRISTMAN, GERARD (Mr.) 6109 Berlee Drive, Alexandria VA 22312
(F)
CHUBIN, DARYL E. (Dr.) 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington DC
20005 (F)
CHUCK, EMIL (Dr.) GMU, 4400 University Drive Stop 2C4, Fairfax
VA 22030 -4444 (M)
CIORNEIU, BORIS (Dr.) 20069 Great Falls Forest Dr., Great Falls VA
22066 (M)
CLINE, THOMAS LYTTON (Dr.) 13708 Sherwood Forest Drive, Silver
Spring MD 20904 (F)
COATES, VARY T. (Dr.) 5420 Connecticut Ave NW #517, Washington
DC 20015 -2032 (LF)
COFFEY, TIMOTHY P. (Dr.) 976 Spencer Rd., McLean VA 22102 (F)
COHEN, MICHAEL P. (Dr.) 1615 Q. St. NW T-1, Washington DC
20009-6310 (LF)
COLE, JAMES H. (Mr.) 9709 Katie Leigh Ct, Great Falls VA 22066-
3800 (F)
COUNTS, CLEMENT (Dr.) Biology Department Salisbury University,
Salisbury DE 21801 (M)
CRISPIN, KATHERINE (Dr.) Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie
Institution of Washington, 5251 Broad Branch DrNW, Washington
DC 20015 (M)
CURRIE, S.J., CHARLES L. (Rev.) Jesuit Community, Georgetown
University, Washington DC 20057 (EF)
Washington Academy of Sciences
65
DANCKWERTH, DANIEL 419 Beach Drive, Annapolis MD 21403-3906
(M)
DAVIS, ROBERT E. (Dr.) 1793 Rochester Street, Crofton MD 21 1 14 (F)
DEAN, DONNA (Dr.) 367 Mound Builder Loop, Hedgeville WV 25427-
7211 (F)
DEDRICK, ROBERT L. (Dr.) 21 Green Pond Rd, Saranac Lake NY
12983 (EF)
DIMITOGLOU, GEORGE (Dr.) 11053 Seven Hill Lane, Potomac MD
20854 (M)
DISBROW, JAMES (Mr.) 507 13th St SE, Washington DC 20003 (EM)
DONALDSON, EVA G. (Ms.) 3941 Ames St Ne, Washington DC 20019
(F)
DONALDSON, JOHANNA B. (Mrs.) 3020 North Edison Street,
Arlington VA 22207 (EF)
DUHE, BRIAN (Mr.) 6396 Hvvy 10, Greensburg LA 70441 (M)
DUNCOMBE, RAYNOR L. (Dr.) 1804 Vance Circle, Austin TX 78701
(EF)
DURRANI, SAJJAD (Dr.) 17513 Lafayette Dr, OLNEY MD 20832 (EF)
EDINGER, STANLEY EVAN (Dr.) Apt #1016, 5801 Nicholson Lane,
North Bethesda MD 20852 (EM)
EGENRIEDER, JAMES A. (Dr.) 1615 North Cleveland Street, Arlington
VA 22201 (F)
EPHRATH, ARYE R. (Dr.) 5467 Ashleigh Rd., Fairfax VA 22030 (M)
ERICKSON, TERRELL A. (Ms.) 4806 Cherokee St., College Park MD
20740-1865 (M)
ETTER, PAUL C. (Mr.) 16609 Bethayres Road, Rockville MD 20855 (F)
EVANS, HEATHER (Dr.) Apt 419, 1727 Massachusetts Ave NW,
Washington DC 20036 (M)
FARMER, ROBERT F. (Dr.) Akzo Nobel Inc, 525 W Van Buren St., Ste.
1600, Chicago IE 60607-3835 (F)
FASANELLI, FLORENCE (Dr.) 471 1 Davenport Street, Washington DC
20016 (F)
FAULKNER, JOSEPH A. (Mr.) 2 Bay Drive, Lewes DE 19958 (F)
FERNANDEZ, JEFFREY E. (Dr.) 8937 Garden Gate Dr., Fairfax VA
22031 (M)
FINKELSTEIN, ROBERT (Dr.) 1 1424 Palatine Drive, Potomac MD
20854-1451 (M)
FORZIATI, ALPHONSE F. (Dr.) 65 Heritage Dr, Unit 6, Cleveland GA
30528 (EF)
Winter 2012
66
FRANKLIN, JUDE E. (Dr.) 7616 Carteret Road, Bethesda MD 20817-
2021 (F)
FRASER, GERAED (Dr.) 5811 Cromwell Drive, Bethesda MD 20816
(M)
FREEMAN, ERNEST R. (Mr.) 5357 Strathmore Avenue, Kensington MD
20895-1160 (LEF)
FREEMAN, HARVEY 1503 Sherwood Way, Eagan MN 55122 (F)
FREHILL, LISA (Dr.) 1239 Vermont Ave NW #204, Washington DC
20005-3643 (M)
GAUNAURD, GUILLERMO C. (Dr.) 4807 Macon Road, Rockville MD
20852-2348 (EF)
GEBBIE, KATHARINE B. (Dr.) Physics Laboratory, National Institute of
Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, MS 8400, Gaithersburg
MD 20899-8400 (F)
GHAFFARl, ABOLGHASSEM (Dr.) 13129 Chandler Blvd, Sherman
Oaks CA 91401-6040 (LF)
GIBBON, JOROME (Mr.) 311 Pennsylvania Avenue, Falls Church VA
22046 (F)
GIBBONS, JOHN H. (Dr.) Resource Strategies, P.O. Box 379, The Plains
VA20198 (EF)
GIFFORD, PROSSER (Dr.) 59 Penzance Rd, Woods Hole MA 02543-
1043 (F)
GLUCKMAN, ALBERT G. (Mr.) 18123 Homeland Drive, Olney MD
20832-1792 (EF)
GORDON, NANCY M Associate Director for Strategic Planning and
Innovation, US Census Bureau, HQ Rm: 8H128, Washington DC
20233 (F)
GRAY, JOHN E. (Mr.) PO Box 489, Dahlgren VA 22448-0489 (M)
GRAY, MARY (Professor) Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and
Computer Science, Amierican University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue
NW, Washington DC 20016-8050 (F)
GRIFO, FRANCESCA (Dr.) Union of Concerned Scientists, 1825 K St
NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20006 (M)
GROVES, ROBERT M (Dr.) US Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill Hoad,
Washington DC 20233 (M)
GROW, MARGARET E (Miss) 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore MD
21250 (M)
HAAPALA, KENNETH (Mr.) 9638 Boyett Court, Fairfax VA 22032 (M)
HACK, HARVEY (Dr.) Northrop Grumman Corp., Ocean Systems MS
9105, PO Box 1488, Annapolis MD 21404-1488 (F)
Washington Academy of Sciences
67
HACSKAYLO, EDWARD (Dr.) 7949 N Sendero Uno, Tucson AZ
85704-2066 (EF)
HAIG, SJ, FRANK R. (Rev.) Loyola College, 4501 North Charles St,
Baltimore MD 21210-2699 (F)
HARR, JAMES W. (Mr.) 180 Strawberry Lane, Centreville MD 21617
(EF)
HAYNES, ELIZABETH D. (Mrs.) 7418 Spring Village Dr., Apt. CS 422,
Springfield VA 22150-4931 (EM)
HAZAN, PAUL 14528 Chesterfield Rd, Rockville MD 20853 (F)
HEANEY, JAMES B. 6 Olive Ct, Greenbelt MD 20770 (M)
HERBST, ROBERT L. (Mr.) 4109 Wynnwood Drive, Armadale VA
22003 (EF)
HEYER, W. RONALD (Dr.) MRC 162, PO Box 37012, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington DC 20013-7012 (F)
HIBBS, EUTHYMIA D. (Dr.) 7302 Durbin Terrace, Bethesda MD 20817
(M)
HIETALA, RONALD (Dr.) 6351 Waterway Drive, Falls Church VA
22044-1322 (M)
HILL II, RICHARD E. (Mr.) 4360 Lee Hwy #204, Arlington VA 22207
(M)
HOFFELD, J. TERRELL (Dr.) 11307 Ashley Drive, Rockville MD
20852-2403 (F)
HOLLAND, PH.D., MARK A. 201 Oakdale Rd., Salisbury MD 21801
(M)
HOLLINSHEAD, ARIEL (Dr.) 23465 Harbor View Rd. #622, Punta
GordaFL 33980-2162 (EF)
HONIG, JOHN G. (Dr.) 7701 Glenmore Spring Way, Bethesda MD
20817 (EF)
HORLICK, JEFFREY (Mr.) 8 Duvall Lane, Gaithersburg MD 20877-
1838 (M)
HOROWITZ, EMANUEL (Dr.) Apt 618, 3100 N. Leisure World Blvd,
Silver Spring MD 20906 (EF)
HOROWITZ, SHARYN (Ms.) 217 Katie Court, Falls Church VA 22046
(M)
HOWARD, SETHANNE (Dr.) 5526 Green Dory Lane, Columbia MD
21044 (LF)
HOWARD-PEEBLES, PATRICIA (Dr.) 323 Wrangler Dr., Fairview TX
75069 (EF)
HURDLE, BURTON G. (Dr.) 3440 South Jefferson St., Apt. 356, Falls
Church VA 22041 (F)
Winter 2012
68
HWANG, JEESEONG (Dr.) 1 1408 Saddleview Place, North Potomac
MD 20899 (M)
IKOSSI, KIKI (Dr.) 6275 Gentle EN, Alexandria VA 22310 (F)
IZADJOO, MINA (Dr.) 15713 Thistlebridge Drive, Rockville MD 20853
(M)
JACOX, MARIE YN E. (Dr.) 10203 Kindly Court, Montgomery Village
MD 20886-3946 (F)
JARRELL, H. JUDITH (Dr.) 9617 Alta Vista Ter., Bethesda MD 20814
(F)
JENSEN, ARTHUR S. (Dr.) Apt. 1 104, 8820 Walther Blvd, Parkville MD
21234-9022 (LF)
JOHNSON, EDGAR M. (Dr.) 1384 Mission San Carlos Drive, Amelia
Island FL 32034 (LF)
JOHNSON, GEORGE P. (Dr.) 3614 34th Street, N.W., Washington DC
20008 (EF)
JOHNSON, JEAN M. (Dr.) 3614 34th Street, N.W., Washington DC
20008 (EF)
JONG, SHUNG-CHANG (Dr.) 8892 Whitechurch Ct, Bristow VA 20136
(LF)
JORDANA, ROMAN DE VICENTE (Dr.) Batalla De Garellano, 15,
Aravaca, 28023, Madrid , Spain (EF)
KADTKE, JAMES (Dr.) Apt. 824, 1701 16th St. NW, Washington DC
20009-3131 (M)
KAHN, ROBERT E. (Dr.) 909 Lynton Place, Mclean VA 22102 (F)
KARAM, LISA (Dr.) 8105 Plum Creek Drive, Gaithersburg MD 20882-
4446 (F)
KATEHAKIS, MICHAEL N (Dr.) Apt. 1218, 200 Winston Dr., Cliffside
Park NJ 07010-3219 (M)
KATEHAKIS, MICHAEL N. (Dr.) 200 Winston Dr. #1218, Cliffside Park
NJ07010 (M)
KATZ, ROBERT (Dr.) 16770 Sioux Lane, Gaitherburg MD 20878-2045
(F)
KAY, PEG (Ms.) 6111 Wooten Drive, Falls Church VA 22044 (LF)
KEEFER, LARRY (Dr.) 7016 River Road, Bethesda MD 20817 (F)
KEISER, BERNHARD E. (Dr.) 2046 Carrhill Road, Vienna VA 22181-
2917 (LF)
KENNEDY, SEAN (Mr.) 2258 Cathedral Ave. NW, Washington DC
20008 (M)
KENNEDY, WILLIM G. (Dr.) 9812 Ceralene Drive, Fairfax VA 22032-
1734 (M)
Washington Academy of Sciences
69
KLINGSBERG, CYRUS (Dr.) 1318 Deerfield Drive, State College PA
16803 (EF)
KLOPFENSTEIN, REX C. (Mr.) 4224 Worcester Dr., Fairfax VA 22032-
1140 (LF)
KOWTHA, VIJAY (Dr.) 4555 Overlook Ave SW, Washington DC 20375
(M)
KRUEGER, GERALD P. (Dr.) Krueger Ergonomics Consultants, 4105
Komes Court, Alexandria VA 22306-1252 (M)
KRUGER, JEROME (Dr.) 1801 E. Jefferson St. Apt 241, Rockville MD
20852 (EF)
LANDREVILLE, NANCY M (Dr.) 5302-L Talladega Court, Frederick
MD21703 (M)
LANDWEHR, JURATE MACIUNAS (Dr.) 1923 Kenbar Ct., McLean
VA 22101 (M)
LANHAM, CLIFFORD E. (Mr.) P.O. Box 2303, Kensington MD 20891
(F)
LAWSON, ROGER H. (Dr.) 10613 Steamboat Landing, Columbia MD
21044 (EF)
LECKRONE, DAVID (Dr.) 10903 Rocky Mount Way, Silver Spring MD
20902 (M)
LEIBOWITZ, LAWRENCE M. (Dr.) 3903 Laro Court, Fairfax VA 22031
(LF)
LEMKIN, PETER (Dr.) 148 Keeneland Circle, North Potomac MD 20878
(EM)
LESHUK, RICHARD (Mr.) 9004 Paddock Lane, Potomac MD 20854
(M)
LEWIS, DAVID C. (Dr.) 27 Bolling Circle, Palmyra VA 22963 (F)
LEWIS, E. NEIL (Dr.) Malvern Instruments, Suite 300, 7221 Lee
Deforest Dr, Columbia MD 2 1 046 (M)
LIANG, CHUNLEI (Dr.) MAE, 801 22nd Street NW, Washington DC
20052 (M)
LIBELO, LOUIS F. (Dr.) 9413 Bulls Run Parkway, Bethesda MD 20817
(LF)
LINDGREN, CARL EDWIN (Dr.) lAPSR. 10431 HWY 51, Courtland
MS 38620 (M)
LING, LEE (Mr.) 1608 Belvoir Drive, Los Altos CA 94024 (EF)
LONDON, MARILYN (Ms.) 3520 Nimitz Rd, Kensington MD 20895 (F)
LOOMIS, TOM H. W. (Mr.) 11502 Allview Dr., Beltsville MD 20705
(EM)
Winter 2012
70
LUBAN, NAOMI (Dr.) 4101 Leland Street, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
(M)
LUTZ, ROBERT J. (Dr.) 17620 Shamrock Drive, Olney MD 20832 (EF)
LYON, HARRY B. (Mr.) 7722 Northdown Road, Alexandria VA 22308-
1329 (M)
LYONS, JOHN W. (Dr.) 7430 Woodville Road, Mt. Airy MD 21771
(EF)
MACHLIS, GARY (Dr.) Science Advisor to the Director, National Park
Service, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington DC 20240 (M)
MAFFUCCI, JACQUELINE (Dr.) 1619 Hancock Ave, Alexandria VA
22301 (M)
MALCOM, SHIRLEY M. (Dr.) 12901 Wexford Park, Clarksville MD
21029-1401 (F)
MALLINI, MONICA A. (Ms.) 8017 Lynnfield Drive, Alexandria VA
22306 (M)
MANDERSCHEID, RONALD W. (Dr.) 10837 Admirals Way, Potomac
MD 20854-1232 (LF)
MARTIN, WILLIAM F 9949 Elm Street, Lanham MD 20706-471 1 (F)
MARVEL, KEVIN B. (Dr.) American Astronomical Society, Suite 400,
2000 Florida Ave NW, Washington DC 20009 (F)
MCFADDEN, GEOFFREY B (Dr.) 20117 Darlington Drive, Montgovery
Village MD 20886 (M)
MCNEELY, CONNIE L. (Dr.) School of Public Policy, George Mason
University, 3351 Fairfax Dr. Stop 3B1, Arlington VA 22201 (M)
MENZER, ROBERT E. (Dr.) 90 Highpoint Dr., Gulf Breeze FL 32561-
4014 (EF)
MESS, WALTER (Mr.) 1301 Seaton Ln, Falls Church VA 22046 (LM)
MESSINA, CARLA G. (Mrs.) 9800 Marquette Drive, Bethesda MD
20817 (F)
METAILIE, GEORGES C. (DR.) 18 Rue Liancourt, 75014 Paris,
FRANCE (F)
MEYLAN, THOMAS (Dr.) 3550 Childress Terrace, Burtonsville MD
20866 (F)
MIELCZAREK, EUGENIE A. (Dr.) 3181 Readsborough Ct, Fairfax VA
22031-2625 (F)
MILLER, JAY H. (Mr.) 8924 Ridge Place, Bethesda MD 20817-3364
(M)
MILLER II, ROBERT D. (Dr.) The Catholic University of America,
10918 Dresden Drive, Beltsville MD 20705 (M)
Washington Academy of Sciences
71
MILLSTEIN, LARRY (Dr.) 4053 North 41st Street, McLean VA 22101-
5806 (M)
MIRIEL, VICTOR (Dr.) Salisbury University, Dept, of Biological
Sciences, 1101 Camden Ave, Salisbury MD 21801 (M)
MITTLEMAN, DON (Dr.) Apartment 909, 5200 Brittny Dr. S, St.
Petersburg EL 33715-1538 (EF)
MORGOUNOV, ALEXEY (Dr.) CIMMYT, P.K. 39, Emek, Ankara
06511 , Turkey (M)
MORRIS, JOSEPH (Mr) Mail Stop G940, The Mitre Corporation, 7515
Colshire Dr., McLean VA 22102 (M)
MORRIS, P.E., ALAN (Dr.) 4550 N. Park Ave. #104, Chevy Chase MD
20815 (EF)
MOUNTAIN, RAYMOND D. (Dr.) 5 Monument Court, Rockville MD
20850 (F)
MOXLEY, FREDERICK (Dr.) 64 Millhaven Court, Edgewater MD
21037 (M)
MUMMA, MICHAEL J. (Dr.) 210 Glen Oban Drive, Arnold MD 21012
(F)
MURDOCH, WALLACE P. (Dr.) 65 Magaw Avenue, Carlisle PA 17015
(EF)
NOE, ADRIANNE (Dr.) 9504 Colesville Road, Silver Spring MD 20901
(M)
NORRIS, KARL H. (Mr.) 1 1204 Montgomery Road, Beltsville MD
20705 (EF)
OHRINGER, LEE (Mr.) 5014 Rodman Road, Bethesda MD 20816 (EF)
OLSEN, KATHIE L. (Dr.) 1504 N. 22 Street, Arlington VA 22209 (M)
OSBORNE, CAROLYN (Dr.) 900 N. Stafford St., Arlington VA 22203
(M)
OTT, WILLIAM R (Dr.) 19125 N. Pike Creek Place, Montgomery Village
MD 20886 (F)
O'HARE, JOHN J. (Dr.) 108 Rutland Blvd., West Palm Beach FL 33405-
5057 (EF)
PARIS, ANTONIO (Mr.) 650 Americana Dr.. T7, Armapolis MD 21403
(M)
PARR. ALBERT C (Dr.) 2656 SW Eastwood Avenue, Gresham OR
97080-9477 (F)
PATEL, D. G. (Dr.) 1 1403 Crownwood Lane, Rockville MD 20850 (F)
PAZ, ELVIRA L. (Dr.) 172 Cook Hill Road, Wallingford CT 06492
(LEE)
Winter 2012
72
PICKHOLTZ, RAYMOND L. (Dr.) 3613 Glenbrook Road, Fairfax VA
22031-3210 (EF)
PLESCIA, JEFFREY (Dr.) Applied Physics Eaboratory, The Johns
Hopkins University, MS 200-W230 11100 Johns Hopkins Road,
Laurel MD 20723-6099 (M)
POLAVARAPU, MURTY 10416 Hunter Ridge Dr., Oakton VA 22124
(LF)
POLINSKI, ROMUALD (Mr.) 01-201 WARSZAWA, UL., Wolska 43 ,
Poland (M)
PRIBRAM, KARL (Dr.) PO Box 679, Warrenton VA 20188 (EM)
PROCTOR, JOHN H. (Dr.) 102 Moray Firth, Ford's Colony,
Williamsburg VA 23 1 88 (LF)
PRZYTYCKI, JOZEF M. (Prof.) 10005 Broad St, Bethesda MD 20814
(F)
PYKE, JR, THOMAS N. (Mr.) 4887 N. 35th Road, Arlington VA 22207
(F)
RADER, CHARLES A. (Mr.) 1101 Paca Drive, Edgewater MD 21037
(EF)
RAMAKER, DAVID E. (Dr.) 6943 Essex Avenue, Springfield VA 22150
(F)
RAVITSKY, CHARLES (Mr.) 37129 Village 37, Camarillo CA 93012
(EF)
READER, JOSEPH (Dr.) National Institute of Standards and Technology,
100 Bureau Drive, MS 8422, Gaithersburg MD 20899-8422 (F)
REDISH, EDWARD F. (Prof) 6820 Winterberry Lane, Bethesda MD
20817 (F)
REINER, ALVIN (Mr.) 1 1243 Bybee Street, Silver Spring MD 20902
(EF)
REISCHAUER. ROBERT (Dr.) 5509 Mohigan Rd, Bethesda MD 20816
(F)
RENAUD, PHILIP (Capt.) Living Oceans Foundation, 8181 Professional
Place Suite 215, Landover MD 20785 (M)
REYES, RIMA (Ms.) 1021 N Garfield St. #728, Arlington VA 22201 (M)
RHYNE, JAMES J. (Dr.) 501 Rio Grande Ave., H-10, Santa Fe NM
87501 (F)
RICH, PAUL (Dr.) 1527 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington DC
20036 (M)
RICKER, RICHARD (Dr.) 12809 Talley Ln, Damestown MD 20878-
6108 (F)
WasHington Academy of Sciences
73
RIDGELL, MARY P.O. Box 133, 48073 Mattapany Road, St. Mary’s
City MD 20686-0133 (LM)
RJGAUD, TAMARA M. (Ms.) 3509 Split Rail Lane, Ellicott City MD
21042 (M)
ROBERTS, SUSAN (Dr.) Ocean Studies Board, Keck 752, National
Research Council, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington DC 20001 (F)
ROGERS, KENNETH (Dr.) 355 Fellowship Circle, Gaithersburg MD
20877 (M)
ROOD, SALLY A (Dr.) PO Box 426, Clifton VA 20124-0426 (F)
ROSENBLATT, JOAN R. (Dr.) 701 King Farm Blvd, Apt 630, Rockville
MD 20850 (EF)
RUBIN, VERA C (Dr.) 3308 McKinley NW, Washington DC 20015 (M)
SAENZ, ALBERT W. (Dr.) 6338 Olde Towne Court, Alexandria VA
22307-12227 (F)
SANDERS, JAY (Dr.) 7850 Westmont Lane, McLean VA 22102 (F)
SAUBERMAN, P.E., HARRY R (Mr.) 8810 Sandy Ridge Ct., Fairfax VA
22031 (M)
SAVILLE, JR, THORNDIKE (Mr.) Apt. 2303, 3050 Military Road NW,
Washington DC 20015-1344 (LF)
SCHINDLER. ALBERT 1. (Dr.) 6615 Sulky Lane, Rockville MD 20852
(EF)
SCHLOSSBERG, PETER 31 14 Worthington Cir, Falls Church VA
22044-2631 (M)
SCHMEIDLER, NEAL F. (Mr.) 7218 Hadlow Drive, Springfield VA
22152 (F)
SCHNEPFE, MARIAN M. (Dr.) Potomac Towers, Apt. 640, 2001 N.
Adams Street, Arlington VA 22201 (EF)
SCHROFFEL, STEPHEN A. 1860 Stratford Park PI #403, Reston VA
20190-3368 (F)
SEBRECHTS, MARC M. (Dr.) 7014 Exeter Road, Bethesda MD 20814
(F)
SEVERINSKY, ALEX J. (Dr) 4707 Foxhall Cres NW, Washington DC
20007-1064 (EM)
SHAFRIN, ELAINE G. (Mrs.) 4850 Connecticut Ave NW Apt 818,
Washington DC 20008 (EF)
SHAW, JINESH (Mr.) 1111 Arlington Blvd, Arlington VA 22209 (M)
SHETLER, STANWYN G. (Dr.) 142 E Meadowland Ln, Sterling VA
20164-1144 (EF)
SHRIER, STEFAN (Dr.) PO Box 320070, Alexandria VA 22320-4070
(EF)
Winter 2012
74
SHROPSHIRE, JR, W. (Dr.) Apt. 426, 300 Westminster Canterbury Dr.,
Winchester VA 22603 (LF)
SILVER, DAVID M. (Dr.) Applied Physics Laboratoiy', 1 1 100 Johns
Hopkins Road, Laurel MD 20723-6099 (M)
SIMMS, JAMES ROBERT (Mr.) 9405 Elizabeth Ct., Fulton MD 20759
(M)
SMITH, CARL (Mr.) 1060 Autumn Avenue, Morgantown WV 26508
(M)
SMITH, THOMAS E. (Dr.) 3121 Brooklawn Terrace, Chevy Chase MD
20815-3937 (LF)
SOBIN, JAKE (Mr.) Marine Technology Society, 1 100 H St. NW, Suite
EL- 100, Washington DC 20005 (M)
SODERBERG, DAVID L. (Mr.) 403 West Side Dr. Apt. 102,
Gaithersburg MD 20878 (M)
SOLAND, RICHARD M. (Dr.) 3426 Mansfield Road, Falls Church VA
22041-1427 (LF)
SPANO, MARK (Dr.) 9105 E. Hackamore Dr., Scottsdale AZ 85255 (F)
SPILHAUS, JR, A.F. (Dr.) 10900 Picasso Lane, Potomac MD 20854
(EM)
STARAI, THOMAS (Mr.) 11803 Breton Ct. 21, Reston VA 20191-3203
(M)
STERN, KURT H. (Dr.) 103 Grant Avenue, Takoma Park MD 20912-
4328 (EF)
STIFF, LOUIS J. (Dr.) 332 N St., SW., Washington DC 20024-2904 (EF)
STOMBLER, ROBIN (Ms.) Auburn Health Strategies, 3519 South Four
Mile Run Dr., Arlington VA 22206 (M)
STONE, JAMES L 405 Tearose PI. SW, Leesburg VA 20175 (M)
STRAUSS, SIMON W. (Dr.) 4506 Cedell Place, Temple Hills MD 20748
(LF)
SUBRAMANIAN, ANAND (Dr.) 2571 Sutters Mill Dr., Herndon VA
20171 (M)
SUCHER, JOSEPH (Dr.) Apt. 421, 31 16 Gracefield Rd, Silver Spring
MD 20904 (F)
SYKES, ALAN O. (Dr.) 304 Mashie Drive, Vienna VA 22180 (EM)
TABOR, HERBERT (Dr.) NIDDK, EBP, Bldg. 8, Rm. 223, National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD 20892-0830 (M)
TAYSING-LARA, MONICA (Ms.) 3343 Dent Place NW, Washington
DC 20007 (M)
TEICH, ALBERT H. (Dr.) PO Box 309, Garrett Park MD 20896 (EF)
Washington Academy of Sciences
75
THAYER, MYRA LYNN KOOPS (Ms.) 2073 Golf Course Dr., Reston
VA 22030 (M)
THOMPSON, F. CHRISTIAN (Dr.) 661 1 Green Glen Ct, Alexandria VA
22315-5518 (LF)
TIDMAN, DEREK A. (Dr.) 6801 Benjamin St., McLean VA 22101-1576
(M)
TIMASHEV, SVIATOSLAV (SLAVA) A. (Mr.) 3306 Potterton Dr., Falls
Church VA 22044-1603 (F)
TOUWAIDE, ALAIN Department of Botany - MRC 166, National
Museum of Natural History, PO Box 37012, Washington DC 20013-
7012 (LF)
TOWNSEND, LEWIS R. (Dr.) 8906 Liberty Lane, Potomac MD 20854
(M)
TOWNSEND, MARJORIE R. (Mrs.) 3529 Tilden Street, NW,
Washington DC 20008-3194 (LF)
TRAN, NICK (Dr.) Suite 300, 6363 Walker Lane, Alexandria VA 22310
(M)
TROXLER. G.W. (Dr.) PO Box 1 144, Chincoteague VA 23336-9144 (F)
TURGEON, DONNA (Dr.) 8701 Running Fox Ct., Fairfax Station VA
22039 (M)
TYLER, PAUL E. (Dr.) 1023 Rocky Point Ct. N.E., Albuquerque NM
87123-1944 (EF)
UBELAKER. DOUGLAS H. (Dr.) Dept, of Anthropology, National
Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
20560-0112 (F)
UHLANER. J.E. (Dr.) 5 Maritime Drive, Corona Del Mar CA 92625
(EF)
UMPLEBY, STUART (Professor) The George Washington University,
2033 K St NW, S. 230, Washington DC 20052 (F)
VAISHNAV, MARIANNE P. (Ms.) P.O. Box 2129, Gaithersburg MD
20879 (LF)
VAN TUYL, ANDREW (Dr.) 3618 Littledale Road, Apt. 203, Kensington
MD 20895-3434 (EF)
VARADI, PETER F. (Dr.) Apartment 1606W, 4620 North Park Avenue,
Chevy Chase MD 20815-7507 (EF)
VAVRICK, DANIEL J. (Dr.) 10314 Kupperton Court, Fredricksburg VA
22408 (F)
VIZAS, CHRISTOPHER (Dr.) 504 East Capitol Street, NE, Washington
DC 20003 (M)
Winter 20 12
76
WALDMANN, THOMAS A. (Dr.) 3910 Kickover Road, Silver Spring
MD 20902 (F)
WALLER, JOHN D. (Dr.) 5943 Kelley Court, Alexandria VA 22312-
3032 (M)
WAYNANT, RONALD W. (Dr.) 6525 Limerick Court, Clarksville MD
21029 (F)
WEBB, RALPH E. (Dr.) 21-P Ridge Road, Greenbelt MD 20770 (F)
WEGMAN, EDWARD J. (Dr.) GMU Center Computer Statistics, 368
Research Bldg. Stop 6A2, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax VA 22030-
4444 (LF)
WEIL, TIMOTHY (Mr.) SECURITYFEEDS, PO Box 18385, Denver CO
80218 (M)
WEISS, ARMAND B. (Dr.) 6516 Truman Lane, Falls Church VA 22043
(LF)
WERGIN, WILLIAM P. (Dr.) 1 Arch Place #322, Gaithersburg MD
20878 (EF)
WHITE, CARTER (Dr.) Naval Research Laboratory, Chemistry Division,
4555 Overlook Ave SW, Washington DC 20375 (M)
WIESE, WOLFGANG L. (Dr.) 8229 Stone Trail Drive, Bethesda MD
20817 (EF)
WILLIAMS, CARL (Dr.) 2272 Dunster Lane, Potomac MD 29854 (F)
WILLIAMS, E. EUGENE (Dr.) Dept, of Biological Sciences, Salisbury
University, 1101 Camden Ave, Salisbury MD 21801 (M)
WILLIAMSON, TIMOTHY (Mr.) 1410 N. Scott St., Apt. 635, Arlington
VA 22209 (M)
WITH, CATHERINE PO Box 6481, Silver Spring MD 20916 (M)
WITHERSPOON, F. DOUGLAS ASTI, 11316 Smoke Rise Ct., Fairfax
Station VA 22039 (M)
WOOD, H. JOHN (Dr.) 15806 Pinecroft Lane, Bowie MD 20716 (M)
WOOTEN, RUSSELL (Mr.) 42508 DeSoto Terrace, Brambleton VA
20148 (M)
WULF, WILLIAM A. (Dr.) Quill Spring, 3897 Free Union Road,
Charlottesville VA 22901 (F)
ZAMBRANO, ZACK STROCK (Mr.) 5000 Buena Vista Rd, Prince
Frederick MD 20678 (M)
ZELKOWITZ, MARVIN (Dr.) 10058 Cotton Mill Lane, Columbia MD
21046 (M)
Washington Academy of Sciences
77
Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences
Instructions to Authors
The Washington Academy of Sciences publishes its interdisciplinary
peer-reviewed Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences four times
a year — Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
1. Deadlines for quarterly submissions are:
• Spring - March 15 • Fall - September 15
• Summer - June 1 5 • Winter - December 1 5
2. Draft Manuscripts using a word processing program (such as
MSWord), not PDF.
3. Papers should be 6,000 words or fewer. If there are 7 or more
graphics, reduce the number of words by 500 for each graphic.
4. Include an abstract of 150-200 words.
5. Graphics must be in graytone, and be easily resizable by the editors to
fit the Journal’s page size. Reference the graphic in the text.
6. Use endnotes not footnotes. The bibliography may be in a style
considered standard for the discipline or professional field
represented by the paper.
7. Submit papers as email attachments to the editor or associate editors.
8. Include the author’s name, affiliation, and contact information -
including postal address. Membership in an Academy-affiliated
society may also be noted.
9. Manuscripts are peer reviewed and become the property of the
Washington Academy of Seiences.
10. There are no page charges.
11. Manuscripts can be accepted by any of the Board of Discipline
Editors.
Please see the Academy’s web site, www.washacadsci.org. for the library
subscription rate, listing of articles dating to 1899, and information on
aceessing them.
Winter 2012
78
Washington Academy of Sciences
1200 New York Avenue, NW
Room 113
Washington, DC 20005
Please fill in the blanks and send your application to the Washington
Academy of Sciences at the address above. We will contact you as soon
as your application has been reviewed by the Membership Committee.
Thank you for your interest in the Washington Academy of Sciences.
(Dr. Mrs. Mr. Ms)
Business Address
Home Address
Email
Phone
Please indicate your preferred mailing address Business Home
Present Occupation or Professional Position
Please list memberships in scientific societies - and include office held:
Washington Academy of Sciences
Washington Academy of Sciences
Affiliated Institutions
National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST)
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
The John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress
Potomac Overlook Regional Park
Koshland Science Museum
American Registry of Pathology
Living Oceans Foundation
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
Winter 2012
80
Delegates to the Washington Academy of Sciences
Representing Affiliated Scientific Societies
(continued on next page)
Washington Academy of Sciences
Delegates to the Washington Academy of Sciences
Representing Affiliated Scientific Societies
(continued from previous page)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Washington DC Section
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Northern Virginia Section
Institute of Food Technologies
Institute of Industrial Engineers
International Society of Automation
Marine Technology Society
Mathematical Association of America
Medical Society of the District of Columbia
National Capital Astronomers
National Geographic Society
Optical Society of America
Pest Science Society of America
Philosophical Society of Washington
Society of American Foresters
Society of American Military Engineers
Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Soil and Water Conservation Society
Technology Transfer Society
Virginia Native Plant Society, Potomac Chapter
Washington Evolutionary Systems Society
Washington History of Science Club
Washington Chapter of the Institute for
Operations Research and Management
Washington Paint Technology Group
Washington Society of Engineers
Washington Society for the History of Medicine
Washington Statistical Society
World Future Society
Richard Hill
Murty Polavarapu
Vacant
Neal F. Schmeidler
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Jay Miller
Vacant
Jim Cole
Vacant
Eugenie Mielczarek
Daina Apple
Vacant
Vacant
Vacant
Terrell Erickson
Clifford Lanham
Vacant
Vacant
Albert G. Gluckman
Russell Wooten
Vacant
Alvin Reiner
Vacant
Mike Cohen
Jim Honig
Washington Academy of Sciences
Room 1 1 3
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005
Return Postage Guaranteed
NONPROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PAID
MERRIFIELDVA 22081
PERMIT# 888
!‘''Hl!llil'l'‘Mil'llllil|'
4* 1 1 '**'’*»*»2 1 4** ***'********
f‘l"'*ili’iiiil*iii'i“!"‘'!|'iii|
*AU1 C“MIXED ADC 207
ERNST Pv'iAYR LIBPAvRV
MUSEUM COM'3 ZOCLCGY
HARv^ARD UNIVERSIT /
26 OXFORD ST
CAMBRIDGE MA 02138-2902