Research in the Sciences...
is a stimulus to good teaching, some of the very best of which is to be found at Dartmouth today in the departments making up the Division of the Sciences. Both basic and applied research is being carried out by members of the faculty, and in many cases undergraduates doing advanced work are having the exciting intellectual experience of sharing in these' projects. We are able to present here only a limited representation of this important alliance of teaching and research, which is to be found in the Humanities and the Social Sciences at Dartmouth as well as in the Sciences.
ROY P. FORSTER '48h, Professor of Zoology and department chairman, who has enthusiasm for both teaching and research, is engaged in basic research in cell physiology, specifically as related to kidney function. The Rockefeller Foundation is now supporting this work with a $10,000 grant, with the objective of providing knowledge which may lead to cures for kidney disorders. Professor Forster was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1949 and is a prominent member of the summer research staff at the Mt. Desert Island Biological Laboratory.
GEORGE Z. DIMITROFF '47h, Professor of Astronomy, is conducting research in the luminosity of the night sky and the content of the upper atmosphere 200 and more miles above the earth. In connection with this he maintains photo-electric measuring equipment on the top of Cannon Mt. in Franconia, N. H. Professor Dimitroff, with the rank of Commander USNR, is commanding officer in Hanover of a Naval Research Company activated three years ago to keep unit members informed of basic scientific developments in the Office of Naval Research.
JOHN H. WOLFENDEN '51h, Professor of Chemistry and department chairman, teaches the large introductory course in his department as well as advanced courses in physical chemistry. He has recently been engaged in research on the kinetics of some of the chemical reactions of iodine and received a grant from the Research Corporation, New York, to support this work. Professor Wolfenden came to Dartmouth in 1947 from Oxford University, England, where he was Fellow and Tutor in Exeter College and chairman of the sub-faculty of chemistry.
WILLIS M. RAYON '47h, Professor of Physics, centers his research interest in the field of ionospheric radio wave propagation. Until recently, when the duties of department chairman were added to his work, he was also associated wish Prof. Millett G. Morgan of Thayer School in the ionospheric research undertaken for the Office of Naval Research and the U. S. Bureau of Ships. During the war Professor Rayton worked on fundamental research in the field of sound propagation in the sea, as part of the Navy's effort to perfect submarine detection.
CHARLES J. LYON '34h, Professor of Botany and department chairman, has for many years been engaged in research projects as an adjunct to teaching and writing. At present, under a grant from the New Hampshire Planning and Development Commission, he is testing the possible usefulness of N. H. feldspar, a constituent of granite, as a source of potash fertilizer. Two of Professor Lyon's students are taking sections of this project for their research studies.
