1978

While I would never want to take anything away from the myriad achievements and interests of our class, I must say that Randy Schwartz is pursuing two areas that rank among the more esoteric and exotic! Randy wrote: "I've continued trying to help reconstruct the history of Arab contributions in mathematics. The magnitude of this reconstruction effort still dwarfs, unfortunately, the resources that have been devoted to it worldwide. Over the Christmas break I attended the latest conference on the subject in Rades, Tunisia, and presented my research on the origins of hisab al-khata'ayn (the method of double false position). I have been granted membership on the Commission for the History of Science and Technology in Islamic Civilization.

"Another interest of mine, investigating food history, recently put me in touch with a couple of Dartmouth people. For the winter 2005 issue of Repast, a quarterly that I edit, John F. Swenson '50 of Glenview, Illinois, contributed a wonderful article "Stalking Alliums Along the Silk Road." There he described his participation in a 1989 U.S.-Soviet expedition to track down ancestral wild species of onion and garlic in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan and Kazakhstan. Prof. Carol B. Bardenstein, who taught Arabic language and literature at Dartmouth from 1987 to 1998 and since then at the University of Michigan, kindly invited me to her Arab culture class last April to give a talk on Arab contributions to modern foodways."

Meanwhile, Brace Barach wrote from Niskayuna, New York, where he has spent 18 years as a plastic surgeon. "Oldest son Christopher is off to college next fall. He received a Division 1 golf scholarship to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He is the No. 2-ranked golfer in New York State. My two boys' golf endeavors have kept me busy and resulted in recent reunions with Bob Hyman and Dave Wilson '79, both of whom have sons who are excellent golfers."

Finally, Jack Reeder sent news of the annual Dartmouth mens holiday lunch he hosted with Dan O'Connor last December in Boston. "Many '78s were in attendance, and it was remarkable to see how many reading glasses were pulled out when it was time to read the menu! Joining us for the camaraderie were: Tripp Peake, Jay Murphy, Knud Englested, Andy Cutler, TJ Russell, Whit Johnson, Pete Renner, Chris Lynch, Rich Lougee, Curt Oberg and Jeff Nadherny, along with Rich Horan '76, Pete Cowan '76, Jerry Bird '80, Al Noyes '80, Albert Ellis 'BO and Bill Stout '77. If any classmates are interested in joining us, please let me know and I'll put you on the invitation list for our next get-together."

I hope all of you are enjoying the summer. Please send news!

Box 4115, Jackson, WY83001; maggiehunt@gmail.com