UNIVERSITY of PENNSYLVANIA

PHILADELPHIA 4 oO

The College
Division of Biology

January 29, 1958

Dr. Joshua Lederberg
Department of Medical. Genetics
University of Wisconsin
Madison 6, Wisconsin

Dear Josh:

I have your memorandum and I am willing to circulate it to
the members of the Botanicsl Section, but I am doubtful that this method
will be effective. The nature of the Academy's structure and operation
is such that the members of the Section can bring no influence to bear
on the Academy except at an annual meeting, anc tis would mean nearly
hay first. Only one member of the Section is a merber of the Council,
Dr. “. J. Robbins,

I would provose an alternate procedure, and that is that vou
try to interest a few members of the Academy, not necessarily limited to
our Section, who would join you in this statement or a similar one. Cff-
hand, I think of Beacle, Delbruck, Tatum, Van Niel, Colin Macleod, and
yourself. Ifa sroup of vou were to send a statement to each member of
the Academy Council, you might have some impact on them. Further, es
individuals there is no reason that your staterent should not ¢o to dev £
Dr. Kaplan, who is chairman of the Geophysical Year, and to the nerson Is

 

in the Defense Department who is coordinator of the rocket prosrams. ov
I will not do anything until I hear from you as to how you will

proceed, but i hardly telieve that circulating the Botanical Section will
produce the results in wich you are interested, We will hold the convies
of your statement here until I have your advice.

With best regards,

» Om,

David R. Goddard

DRG/rwp Dear Dave: I thank you for your advice, .I decided to write directly

to the members of the Council; looking “at whe they are, they should be

in about as good a position as the people on your list to judge the
cogency of the proposal (to set up an ad hoe comrittee to review the
problem of contamination >>which might be radiochemical as well as
microbiological>>), I see no harm, and some benefit in also distributin
the memo to the section so there can be some forethought among the i
scientists who may be asked to offer their subgestions for action. fe