FEB 1 1963
UNIVERSITY of PENNSYLVANIA

PHILADELPHIA 4

The School of Medicine

 

DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY
327 Anatomy Chemistry Bldg. January 30, 1963

Dr. Joshua Lederberg

Department of Genetics

Stanford University Medical Center
Palo Alto, California

Dear Josh:

There were a few students of mine in Comparative Biochemistry who might
fill your requirements. One of these is Bruce Levenberg, now at the Univer-
sity of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He obtained his degree with Buchanan at MIT, r
worked with Kaufman at NIH, and has more recently discovered some odd com- ~
pounds and enzymes in mushrooms, etc. at Michigan. He has recently described
a phenylhydrazide and a unique carbamyl phosphate synthetase and appears to
be more nonconformist than most. In any case, he recognizes the gold mine

available when one steps off the well-worn fashionable paths. Perhaps he will
be interested in your post.

Walp

In your letter to me, which I take as an indirect comment on my essay,
you have underlined "the underlying unity of terrestrial and cosmic life",
I just don't know what you are talking about; perhaps you would care to define
this term. You may conceivably be right about terrestrial life, though I
don't consider the evidence overwhelming if you are referring to a monophyletic
path of evolution, but if you toss in "cosmic life" as well, I would suggest
that you are extrapolating without any evidence whatever. You might be right,
anyway, and it certainly is easier to look for terrestrial life everywhere.
However, I would imagine that the nature of the assumptions used in designing
the gadgetry ought to be looked at pretty closely and not accepted on faith.

Perhaps I am misinterpreting that phrase, however; if so, I would really like
to know what it means to you.

Anyway, the job sounds like fun and I wish I were involved in it a bit
myself.

With best regards, I remain

Sincerely yours,
2

 

Seymour 'S. Cohen

SSC :db