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Transcription: [00:03:28]
{SPEAKER name="Paul Devine, Jr."}
I planned to do these for, perhaps for degrees in college.

[00:03:34]
{SPEAKER name="Watson Davis"}
Well, thank you Paul for giving us this light on electro-thermodynamics. Now, in quick succession, let's hear from a few more of the Science Talent Search winners speaking through tape recordings from across the nation.

[00:03:50]
{SPEAKER name="James Gaidis"}
It is James Gaidis, 17, from the Baltimore City College, Baltimore, Maryland.

[00:03:56]
{SPEAKER name="James Gaidis"}
It's funny how much my life has changed since I became one of the Westinghouse's top 40. Before I'd been busy, but now I was becoming entangled in forms, publicity, and my project. My report was based on plans I had to build a transistorized transmitter and receiver, both in small cases.

[00:04:10]
{SPEAKER name="James Gaidis"}
When Westinghouse implied I had already built them in the publicity reports, I worried a little for I was having troubles. Special parts suddenly became scarce. I've noticed that I was becoming too clumsy to work with miniature parts.

[00:04:23]
{SPEAKER name="James Gaidis"}
And one failure followed another. Thus, it was very surprising when friends of my mother's offered me their help. Friends with whom we have not been in contact for years.

[00:04:30]
{SPEAKER name="James Gaidis"}
My family, my friends, my teachers all offered me their help if I needed it. I found that I have friends I never knew before.

[00:04:38]
{SPEAKER name="James Gaidis"}
Things are coming along much better now. I suppose the initial shock has worn off. And I hope to fulfill the trust the Westinghouse has placed in me.

[00:04:46]
{SPEAKER name="James Gaidis"}
Because I am trying to attain a well-rounded education, I try not to concern myself only with studies. I participate in school activities and sports, too. I especially enjoy football and baseball.

[00:04:57]
{SPEAKER name="James Gaidis"}
But really, do you think it practical that a baseball player could get up to 100,000 dollars a year for entertaining some people for a few hours while a scientist gets perhaps a fifth as much for serving all people a lifetime?

[00:05:10]
{SPEAKER name="Elvera Erlick"}
This is Elvera Erlick, 15 from Overbrook High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[00:05:15]
{SPEAKER name="Elvera Erlick"}
My project involved the discovery of a new product in the breaking down of an ordinary and common chemical compound which is generally used in Chemistry I classes in high school.

[00:05:25]
{SPEAKER name="Elvera Erlick"}
I detected the odor of ammonia despite the fact that the teacher's directions, the laboratory's manual, and my own textbook stated that no ammonia was being involved.

[00:05:36]
{SPEAKER name="Elvera Erlick"}
I must admit that I was at first rather reluctant to question the validity of my discovery against that of the textbook. And I was slightly disillusioned to find that the textbook could be wrong.

[00:05:47]
{SPEAKER name="Elvera Erlick"}
However, out of curiosity I continued my experiments and proved definitely that I was getting ammonia.

[00:05:53]