Jerry Wiesner, Scientist, Statesman, Humanist: Memories and Memoirs

637 Pages·2003·5.99 MB·English

by  Walter A. Rosenblith

Jerry Wiesner: Scientist, Statesman, Humanist
In MIT’s Killian Court. (Photo by Calvin Campbell. Courtesy of the MIT Museum.)
Jerry Wiesner: Scientist, Statesman, Humanist
Memories and Memoirs
Edited by Walter A. Rosenblith
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic
or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and
retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book was set in Sabon by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jerry Wiesner—scientist, statesman, humanist : memories and memoirs / edited by Walter A.
Rosenblith.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-262-18232-7 (hc.: alk. paper)
1. Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915–2. Electric engineers—United States—Biog-
raphy. 3. Scientists—United States—Biography. I. Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert),
1915– II. Rosenblith, Walter A.
TK140.W54J47 2004
621.3¢092—dc21
[B]
2003051288
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
A work
conceived and initiated by Walter A. Rosenblith
completed by Judy F. Rosenblith

Contents
Foreword xiii
Edward M. Kennedy
Preface xvii
Joshua A. Wiesner
Introduction xxi
Judy F. Rosenblith
MEMORIES 1
Brothers 3
Walter A. Rosenblith
Abiding Optimist 19
Louis D. Smullin
Ace Communicator 29
Alan Lomax
Scientist, Educator, Sailor 33
Robert I. Hulsizer, Jr.
A View from the White House 39
Theodore C. Sorensen
International Perspectives 43
Michael Sela
A Man for All Seasons 49
Eugene B. Skolnikoff
An Enlightenment Man 55
Philip Morrison
viii Contents
Educator, Political Leader, Much Loved Friend 65
John Kenneth Galbraith
Race, Education, and Community 69
Elma Lewis
The Search for Soviet Cybernetics 81
Spurgeon M. Keeny, Jr.
A Passion for the Arts 89
Catherine N. Stratton
Peace Became His Profession 99
Carl Kaysen
Excellence in Action 107
Paul E. Gray
A Lesson in Wisdom 113
Shirley Ann Jackson
Three Glimpses 117
Robert M. Solow
A Man of Courage and Integrity 123
Willard R. Johnson
Giving Women a Break When Few Men Did 137
Carola Eisenberg
Campaigner for Urban Justice 145
Melvin H. King
The Origins of the Media Lab 149
Nicholas Negroponte
Continuing Communication 157
Emma Rothschild
Commitment to International Peace and Security 165
Ruth S. Adams
A Voice of Reason 177
Anthony Lewis
Coda 183
Howard W. Johnson
Contents ix
JERRY IN HIS OWN WORDS 189
MEMOIRS 191
A Random Walk through the Twentieth Century 197
Remembering the Rad Lab and RLE 207
Los Alamos 219
Technological Capabilities Panel 233
Up the Ladder to the White House 241
Kennedy 267
ABM 293
Gorbachev’s Revolution 327
SELECTED SPEECHES AND PAPERS 341
Convocation Speech 343
MIT, October 15, 1969
Science, Technology, and the Quality of Life 347
Inaugural address as MIT president, October 7, 1971
Commencement Address 361
Valedictory address as MIT president, June 2, 1980
Communication Theory and the Learning Process 367
CBS, Westchester, New York, October 23, 1980
Disenthralling Ourselves 379
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., April 28, 1984
Creating with Computing 389
Wiesner Building dedication, MIT, October 2, 1985
The Rise and Fall of the President’s Science Advisory Committee 399
Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C., April 27, 1987
Survival, the Moral Equivalent of the Arms Race 413
National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., January 1988
A Department of Development 429
Cambridge, Mass., May 17, 1988