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The International Conference

For four days, prior to the general assemblies held to celebrate M.I.T.'s Centennial, scholars and leaders in many disciplines, from many nations, met to ponder problems of scientific and engineering education, the interaction of science and engineering with society and the implications for international relations. Their discussions were summarized for Alumni and friends of the Institute at the first general assembly by members of the M.I.T. Faculty.

In opening this assembly, Dean John E. Burchard, '23, chairman of the Centennial, explained that the Institute now feels a triple obligation: "To help to advance the boundaries of scientific knowledge, to help put this knowledge to work, and most difficult of all, to help to see to it that the outcome of the work is benign."

Professor Max Millikan, Director of the Center for International Studies, reported on the discussion of the newly developed nations' problems. These countries, he said, require a wide spectrum of scientific and engineering talent, and the key bottleneck in meeting their needs now appears to be the lack of adequate personnel to assist them. 

Professor Martin Deutsch, '37, of the Department of Physics, reporting on discussions of the advanced countries' problems, said the need for engineers had been especially emphasized, and that it was felt that the increasing complexity and rapidity of developments in engineering "would change the face of engineering education in all of the advanced countries."

Professor Elting Morison of the School of Industrial Management was the reporter for conferees concerned with interactions of science, engineering and society. They felt, he said, that the rate of change was "the most significant fact about the world today," and had asked him to convey to the Centennial audience "a sense of the excitement of living in at least two different cultures, three different countries, and four stages of history, all at the same time." 

Walter A. Rosenblith, Professor of Communications Biophysics, concluded these reports with a review of the implications of science and engineering in international relations. The conferees in this topic, he said, had the International Council of Scientific Unions and had pointed out that CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) represents "a new kind of international institution." 

The Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, re-emphasized points made in the international conference in his address at a general assembly. To a considerable extent, he said, foreign policy is in the hands of people themselves, and the "international community of science and scholarship" plays na important role in our foreign relations. 

Historically, Dean Rusk noted, human needs have been a cause for war, but now nations and peoples seem to be pinning their hopes on science, and technological developments. Hence, he argued we must make, "tolerable advances." We are committed, he said, "to aa job of building," and to succeed we must "elevate our sights as to the role of education."

In The Review Next Month
Further reports on the events arranged to observe M.I.T's Centennial, including the full text of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's address, President Stratton's response to the greetings, and reports on the panel discussions prior to the convocation, will be published in the June and July issues of The Review–with many photographs. 

The Solar Wind Is Found
A climax to much work in the Laboratory for Nuclear Science at M.I.T. came this spring when Explorer X detected a "solar wind." It consists of electrically neutral streams of magnetized, ionized particles apparently emitted from the sun in masses which interact with interplanetary magnetic fields, and this wind was found with a plasma probe designed and assembled at the Institute. The probe was carried about 140,000 miles from the earth in a satellite launched March 25 from Cape Canaveral.  

The 78-pound satellite also carried magnetometers from the Goddard Space Flight Center, which revealed the existence of considerably stronger magnetic fields than had been expected ata distances beyond 60,000 miles from the earth. 

Interactions between the plasma and these fields are on a scale that cannot be duplicated on earth. Hence, they interest not only communications engineers and prospective space travelers, but all physicists, cosmologists, meteorologists, and other scientists whose work involves magnetohydrodynamics. 

The findings of the instruments on Explorer X were transmitted to tracking stations around the world for nearly 60 hours, although the batteries which powered the transmitter had been expected to last only about 55 hours. The Blossom Point, Md., Minitrack Station's records were the first ones examined, and a "quick look" at them was sufficient to indicate to the scientists directing the experiment that it had been successful. Further analysis of the abundant harvest of data is under way. 

The plasma probe was built by Herbert S. Bridge, '50, Frank Scherb, '53, and Alan J. Lazarus, '53, of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science, and Ervin F. Lyon, 3d, '59, of Lincoln Laboratory. Professor Bruno Rossi, the Institute's internationally known expert on cosmic rays, directed the interplanetary plasma project, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's project manager for the shot was Dr. James P. Heppner of the Goddard Space Flight Center. 

This was the first of two experiments in space this spring which were planned at the Institute. 

Tuition Increase in 1962
Students were notified this spring that tuition at M.I.T., which is now $1,500, will be increased to $1,700 in the summer of 1962, to raise salaries of the teaching staff. Tuition still will cover less than one-half the cost of educating each student. "M.I.T.," President Stratton pointed out, "must support a salary schedule that is on a par with the best of other educational institutions." 

[[footnote]] The Technology Review [[/footnote//