February 19, 1963

Dr. Nicholas Anastas!iow
Coordinator of Research
Board of Education

25 Churchil! Avenue
Palo Alto, California

Dear Dr. Anastastow:

We are conducting a study on the effect of season of birth on hunan .
performance. To help clear up some of the nonsense that has been pub- 7
lished on this subject In the past It would be helpful to have more
information on the distribution of birthdates of children born to
familles of different occupational groups. While the numbers aval lable
probably will not allow very profound statistical conclusions, | propose .
a pilot study on the Stanford and Escondido School records, which should oN
at least help to expose the problems Involved In a more extensive study. -

The specific Information we request on each Item [s merely the birthdate ~
and the father's occupation. There are additional data we might seek, .
e@.g., kindred records, birthplace, parents birthdates, and perhaps acadenic
performance (within an occupational group, specifically the Stanford faculty),

but these questions are doubtless better left for a later stage. We have

no special Interest In names except Insofar as these may help to Identify
duplications of data and siblings, and any Information that could be related

to Individuals would be regarded as confidential.

This study is a project of the Kennedy Laboratories under my direction.
Miss Dagmar Cechanek, R.N. Is assisting. We will of course keep you in-
formed of the results of the study, and are much obliged for your cooperation.

Sincerely yours,

Joshua Lederberg
Professor of Genetics