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June 26, 1955

Dr. H. B. Glass

Biology Department

Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, iid.

Dear Bentley:

I an writing to you specifically in your capacity as President of the
American Institute of Biological Selences, but without precluding a pes-
sible relationship to your other interests.

I want to ask whether you would not think that an adequate dictionary
would be of very great value to biologists in all fields, and be especially
useful to help maintain communication from one field to another. The problem
first came to my attention when an editor of one of the batter technical-medi-
cal dictionaries asked for some advice on a few terms. After looking through
this dictionary, asd a number of others, I concluded 1) the best thet was now
available was not nearly good enough; 2) how very valuable a reliable techni-
cal dictionary would be.

An enterprise of this kind is not going to be easy. fowever, if the 4.1.3.3.
were to take an interest in it, ani act as liasion between oha of the co mercial
publishers and the comunity of biolgists, I think we would see a great im rove-
meant over what is now available. The existing dictionaries suffer mostly from
being stuffed with deadwood, but also (perhaps especially in genetics!) the
d:finitions are not often enough precise and up—to-date, and too miny terms
are left out. To my mind, a project of this kind would probably be at least as
valuable as the Handbook of Biological Data which is being pursued so extensively.

Yours sincerely,

Joshua Lederber2
oS

Pee Tan sending a copy of this letter to Margaret Green and nerhaps a
couple of others to ses what kind of reaction they have tuo.