23rd June, 1972

Professor A.K. Solomon,
Secretary General,
International Union for Pure and

Applied Biophysics,
Biophysical Laboratory,
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHCOL,
Boston, Mass. 02115
U.S. A.

Dear Professor Solomon,

Thank you very much for your kind letter of June 7th. Indeed, all
of us, personal friends of Aharon's, would like to see at least one of
his plans, which were so dear to him lately, flourish into the kind
of intellectually rich and social activity which were so close Lo his heart.
We discussed it recently, before his last trip to the United States, and
the plan that emerged was that in the Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation
a small research group should be set up (8 to 10 people) comprising of
biologiste, anthropologists, psychologists etc.’, who would do in-depth
research on the social , psychological and educational implications of
recent developments in biophysics. The very recent developments in
extra-uteral pregnancy seemed of special importance to Aharon as well
as the fact that seemingly we are nearing a stage of preparing artificial
placentae. In the same vein, I had a long discussion also with Professor
Maurice Wilkins in London, about:. which I reported to Aharon in our
last long conversation in Boston, where he phoned me in Gerry Holton's
home.

Cn the practical side we thought that the Van Leer Jerusalem
Foundation should provide the facilities, the administrative framework
and the seeding money for such a project, while the bulk of it (we
estimated this around $ 5,000 a year) Aharon thought, could be raised
with IUPAB support, perhaps from the Rockefeller Foundation. If I
understood him correctly, he did have some kind of preliminary talks
about it while in the U.S.A., but I do not know whom he exactly met.

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I shall be most grateful for your continued interest and advice on
how we should proceed. In the meantime I wrote to Professor Arieh
Dvoretzky, Vice-Fresident of the Israel Academy of Sciences, suggesting
that the Israeli part should be undertaken jointly by the Academy and the
Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation.

As I am a member of the International Scientific Advisory Committee
of the Centre International d'Etudes Bio anthropologiques et d'Authropoloyie
Fondamentale which Edgar Morin is convening in the Fondation Royaumont
in Paris from September 6th to 9th and as 1 know that many leading biologists
and anthropulogists will be there, perhaps that might be a good time to raise
the issue. Flease let me have your opinion on this.

Mrs. Ruth Goldstein, Aharon's personal assistant, was especially
involved in this aspect of Aharon's work and we can also rely on her
continued interest and help.

This is the way I see things at this time and I am eagerly awaiting
your reactions.

Sincerely,

Dr. Yehuda Elkana
Director

#5.

snes neem

Although this is not the kind of letter in which to enlarge upon the
activities of the Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation, I think that in fairness
to you, I owe you at least a brief description about the Foundation and myself,

Together with the Israel Academy of Sciences, Aharon Katzir was also
instrumental in setting -up an intellectual, cultural center in Jerusalem which
has been very active over the last three years, under his continued friendly
guidance, under the name of the Van Leer Jerusalem Foundation. Cur interests
are all the interfaces between society and knowledge in the broader sense,
dealing with research but also with normative applications of research in
education, cross-cultural research, tradition and change, growth of knowledge

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and lessons of science. Cn the specific Israeli scene, the Fo:ndation
makes an attempt to bring together academics and policy makers, Arabs
and Jews (on this, so far the only successful attempt in Iprael) and again
at attempt to understand the interconnection between the life of an
ideologically motivated organization - the kibbutz - and the scientification
of modern life. This last too was very near to Aharon's heart.

There are sorae ten volumes of proceedings ready for nublication
and the first two of them are the recent two Daedalus volumes On
‘Intellectuals aud Tradition”.

I myself am an historian of science with a physics background and
at present Head of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

ec. Mrs. Ruth Goldstein
Polymer Department
Weizmann Institute of Science

Protessor Arieh Dvoretzky
Israel Academy of Sciences