Anercan Asceidion of Nusaynen, Suc

835 SOUTHERN BUILDING, 15TH & H STREETS, N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005 «© 202/737-4060

OFFICERS

WILLIAM FLEMER, III, President

Pencetor Nurseries
PO Ris 194
Princetor New sersey 8540

HAROLD R. NICKEL, Vice President

& Treasurer
Greenleaf Nu'sery Company
Route 5 Boa 184 6

 
 

G
Muskoxen Okiaroma 74401

STAFF

ROBERT F. LEDERER
Executive Vice President

F. RAYMOND BRUSH
Secretary

PHILIP E. BACON
Administrative Assistant

RICHARD F TURNEY
Administrative Assistant

WAYNE H. DICKSON
Director af Public Relations

DIRECTORS

Region |
PALMER W. BIGELOW. JR

Fagelow Nutsere. 1,
455 Wo Main Stet
Rerthoct Massa qusetts boa!

Region Il
LOUIS HILLENMEYER. JR

Hiieripeqer Nupseros
fernetan Kerf ey 40404

Region III
KENNETH J. ALTORFER

Mi tay Nasery Company
254 fetersen Street
Waterias Wesccusin hasga
Region IV
HAROLD So CRAWFORD
we ay Cooma

ay

 

  

nie “Goa Shiibe
Region V
HAROLD R. NICKE!

rat N

    

Region VI
JOSEPH Ho KEUPENGER

 

At Large
HOSKINS A SHADOW
Te Valew Nasery be

Denne, oe

 
 
 

Allied Associate

JOHN H. POWELL
Leenaee babel sates Ca ba
PO Bag sh

Higbee Reach fieda oh]

 

y& Seertniges |e

Dr. Joshua Lederberg
Genetics Department

School of Medicine

Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305

Dear Dr. Lederberg:

May 8, 1970

The possibility that many urban ills can be traced directly to
a specific biological need, which typical urban surroundings arouse
in the city dweller, is suggested by the authors of the enclosed re-
print from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

 

According to the authors, the basic cause of maladjustment is
man's deep-rooted longing for the type of surroundings in which his
forebears lived, on the savanna, at the dawn of human history. Drs.
Iltis and Loucks, and Mr. Andrews, conclude that man is "genetically
programmed" to require the presence of warm, humid air, green plant
life, and even the animal "companions" which were part of the scene

on the high plains of Africa

As horticulturists, the
Nurserymen wish to determine

from which man emerged.

members of the American Association of
the nature and extent of the role of

green things in the psychological adaptation of man to his environ-
ment. The contribution of the nursery industry to the improvement

of urban conditions might be

affected measurably by the substantia-

tion of the I[ltis-—Loucks—Andrews thesis.

Our immediate interest is to obtain an evaluation of the sound-
ness of the conclusion stated in the article, "Criteria for an Opti-

mum Human Environment," with

particular reference to the need for

research in depth to test the validity of the assumption on which

the Iitis article was based.

Your own established reputation in a field of science which re-
lates to the subject in question would make any comment you might
wish to volunteer most welcome to us.

RFL: gb
Enclosure

Sincerely yours,

—Prbos TL Deroe

Robert F. Lederer
Executive Vice President