Saturday, 8 September 2012
Monday, 19 March 2012
PARTICLE PHYSICS A Very Short Introduction by Frank Close free download
Contents
Foreword viii
List of illustrations and tables x
1 Journey to the centre of the universe 1
2 How big and small are big and small? 12
3 How we learn what things are made of, and what
we found 22
4 The heart of the matter 34
5 Accelerators: cosmic and manmade 46
6 Detectors: cameras and time machines 62
7 The forces of Nature 81
8 Exotic matter (and antimatter) 92
9 Where has matter come from? 106
10 Questions for the 21st century 116
Further reading 131
Glossary 133
Index 139
Foreword
We are made of atoms. With each breath you inhale a million billion
billion atoms of oxygen, which gives some idea of how small each one is.
All of them, together with the carbon atoms in your skin, and indeed
everything else on Earth, were cooked in a star some 5 billion years ago.
So you are made of stuff that is as old as the planet, one-third as old as
the universe, though this is the first time that those atoms have been
gathered together such that they think that they are you.
Particle physics is the subject that has shown how matter is built
and which is beginning to explain where it all came from. In huge
accelerators, often several miles in length, we can speed pieces of atoms,
particles such as electrons and protons, or even exotic pieces of
antimatter, and smash them into one another. In so doing we are
creating for a brief moment in a small region of space an intense
concentration of energy, which replicates the nature of the universe as it
was within a split second of the original Big Bang. Thus we are learning
about our origins.
Discovering the nature of the atom 100 years ago was relatively simple:
atoms are ubiquitous in matter all around, and teasing out their secrets
could be done with apparatus on a table top. Investigating how matter
emerged from Creation is another challenge entirely. There is no Big
Bang apparatus for purchase in the scientific catalogues. The basic
pieces that create the beams of particles, speed them to within an iota
of the speed of light, smash them together, and then record the results
for analysis all have to be made by teams of specialists. That we can
do so is the culmination of a century of discovery and technological
progress. It is a big and expensive endeavour but it is the only way that
we know to answer such profound questions. In the course of doing
so, unexpected tools and inventions have been made. Antimatter
and sophisticated particle detectors are now used in medical imaging;
data acquisition systems designed at CERN (the European
Organization for Nuclear Research) led to the invention of the World
Wide Web – these are but some of the spin-off from high-energy particle
physics.
The applications of the technology and discoveries made in high-energy
physics are legion, but it is not with this technological aim that the
subject is pursued. The drive is curiosity; the desire to know what we are
made of, where it came from, and why the laws of the universe are so
finely balanced that we have evolved.
In this Very Short Introduction I hope to give you a sense of what we
have found and some of the major questions that confront us at the start
of the 21st century.
Foreword viii
List of illustrations and tables x
1 Journey to the centre of the universe 1
2 How big and small are big and small? 12
3 How we learn what things are made of, and what
we found 22
4 The heart of the matter 34
5 Accelerators: cosmic and manmade 46
6 Detectors: cameras and time machines 62
7 The forces of Nature 81
8 Exotic matter (and antimatter) 92
9 Where has matter come from? 106
10 Questions for the 21st century 116
Further reading 131
Glossary 133
Index 139
Foreword
We are made of atoms. With each breath you inhale a million billion
billion atoms of oxygen, which gives some idea of how small each one is.
All of them, together with the carbon atoms in your skin, and indeed
everything else on Earth, were cooked in a star some 5 billion years ago.
So you are made of stuff that is as old as the planet, one-third as old as
the universe, though this is the first time that those atoms have been
gathered together such that they think that they are you.
Particle physics is the subject that has shown how matter is built
and which is beginning to explain where it all came from. In huge
accelerators, often several miles in length, we can speed pieces of atoms,
particles such as electrons and protons, or even exotic pieces of
antimatter, and smash them into one another. In so doing we are
creating for a brief moment in a small region of space an intense
concentration of energy, which replicates the nature of the universe as it
was within a split second of the original Big Bang. Thus we are learning
about our origins.
Discovering the nature of the atom 100 years ago was relatively simple:
atoms are ubiquitous in matter all around, and teasing out their secrets
could be done with apparatus on a table top. Investigating how matter
emerged from Creation is another challenge entirely. There is no Big
Bang apparatus for purchase in the scientific catalogues. The basic
pieces that create the beams of particles, speed them to within an iota
of the speed of light, smash them together, and then record the results
for analysis all have to be made by teams of specialists. That we can
do so is the culmination of a century of discovery and technological
progress. It is a big and expensive endeavour but it is the only way that
we know to answer such profound questions. In the course of doing
so, unexpected tools and inventions have been made. Antimatter
and sophisticated particle detectors are now used in medical imaging;
data acquisition systems designed at CERN (the European
Organization for Nuclear Research) led to the invention of the World
Wide Web – these are but some of the spin-off from high-energy particle
physics.
The applications of the technology and discoveries made in high-energy
physics are legion, but it is not with this technological aim that the
subject is pursued. The drive is curiosity; the desire to know what we are
made of, where it came from, and why the laws of the universe are so
finely balanced that we have evolved.
In this Very Short Introduction I hope to give you a sense of what we
have found and some of the major questions that confront us at the start
of the 21st century.
Saturday, 3 March 2012
An Introduction to the Science of Cosmology by Derek Raine free download
Contents
Preface xi
1 Reconstructing time 1
1.1 The patterns of the stars 1
1.2 Structural relics 2
1.3 Material relics 4
1.4 Ethereal relics 5
1.5 Cosmological principles 6
1.6 Theories 7
1.7 Problems 9
2 Expansion 10
2.1 The redshift 10
2.2 The expanding Universe 11
2.3 The distance scale 14
2.4 The Hubble constant 15
2.5 The deceleration parameter 16
2.6 The age of the Universe 16
2.7 The steady-state theory 17
2.8 The evolving Universe 18
2.9 Problems 19
3 Matter 21
3.1 The mean mass density of the Universe 21
3.1.1 The critical density 21
3.1.2 The density parameter 21
3.1.3 Contributions to the density 22
3.2 Determining the matter density 23
3.3 The mean luminosity density 24
3.3.1 Comoving volume 24
3.3.2 Luminosity function 25
3.3.3 Luminosity density 25
3.4 The mass-to-luminosity ratios of galaxies 25
3.4.1 Rotation curves 26
vi Contents
3.4.2 Elliptical galaxies 28
3.5 The virial theorem 28
3.6 The mass-to-luminosity ratios of rich clusters 28
3.6.1 Virial masses of clusters 29
3.7 Baryonic matter 30
3.8 Intracluster gas 31
3.9 The gravitational lensing method 32
3.10 The intercluster medium 33
3.11 The non-baryonic dark matter 33
3.12 Dark matter candidates 34
3.12.1 Massive neutrinos? 34
3.12.2 Axions? 35
3.12.3 Neutralinos? 36
3.13 The search for WIMPS 36
3.14 Antimatter 38
3.15 Appendix. Derivation of the virial theorem 39
3.16 Problems 39
4 Radiation 41
4.1 Sources of background radiation 41
4.1.1 The radio background 41
4.1.2 Infrared background 43
4.1.3 Optical background 43
4.1.4 Other backgrounds 44
4.2 The microwave background 45
4.2.1 Isotropy 45
4.3 The hot big bang 47
4.3.1 The cosmic radiation background in the steady-state theory 48
4.4 Radiation and expansion 49
4.4.1 Redshift and expansion 49
4.4.2 Evolution of the Planck spectrum 50
4.4.3 Evolution of energy density 51
4.4.4 Entropy of radiation 52
4.5 Nevertheless it moves 53
4.5.1 Measurements of motion 54
4.6 The x-ray background 56
4.7 Problems 58
5 Relativity 60
5.1 Introduction 60
5.2 Space geometry 61
5.3 Relativistic geometry 62
5.3.1 The principle of equivalence 62
5.3.2 Physical relativity 63
5.4 Isotropic and homogeneous geometry 65
Contents vii
5.4.1 Homogeneity of the 2-sphere 66
5.4.2 Homogeneity of the metric 67
5.4.3 Uniqueness of the space metric 67
5.4.4 Uniqueness of the spacetime metric 68
5.5 Other forms of the metric 68
5.5.1 A radial coordinate related to area 69
5.5.2 A radial coordinate related to proper distance 69
5.6 Open and closed spaces 70
5.7 Fundamental (or comoving) observers 70
5.8 Redshift 71
5.9 The velocity–distance law 73
5.10 Time dilation 74
5.11 The field equations 74
5.11.1 Equations of state 75
5.11.2 The cosmological constant 75
5.11.3 The critical density 76
5.12 The dust Universe 78
5.12.1 Evolution of the density parameter 79
5.12.2 Evolution of the Hubble parameter 79
5.13 The relationship between redshift and time 80
5.13.1 Newtonian interpretation 81
5.14 Explicit solutions 82
5.14.1 p = 0, k = 0, = 0, the Einstein–de Sitter model 82
5.14.2 The case p = 0, k = +1, =0 84
5.14.3 The case p = 0, k = −1, =0 86
5.15 Models with a cosmological constant 87
5.15.1 Negative 87
5.15.2 Positive 88
5.15.3 Positive and critical density 88
5.15.4 The case > 0, k = +1 89
5.16 The radiation Universe 90
5.16.1 The relation between temperature and time 91
5.17 Light propagation in an expanding Universe 92
5.18 The Hubble sphere 93
5.19 The particle horizon 95
5.20 Alternative equations of state 96
5.21 Problems 97
6 Models 101
6.1 The classical tests 101
6.2 The Mattig relation 102
6.2.1 The case p = 0, = 0 103
6.2.2 The general case p = 0, = 0 104
6.3 The angular diameter–redshift test 104
viii Contents
6.3.1 Theory 104
6.3.2 Observations 106
6.4 The apparent magnitude–redshift test 107
6.4.1 Theory 107
6.4.2 The K-correction 108
6.4.3 Magnitude versus redshift: observations 110
6.5 The geometry of number counts: theory 113
6.5.1 Number counts: observations 114
6.5.2 The galaxy number-magnitude test 115
6.6 The timescale test 118
6.6.1 The ages of the oldest stars 118
6.7 The lensed quasar test 119
6.8 Problems with big-bang cosmology 120
6.8.1 The horizon problem 120
6.8.2 The flatness problem 121
6.8.3 The age problem 122
6.8.4 The singularity problem 122
6.9 Alternative cosmologies 123
6.10 Problems 124
7 Hot big bang 128
7.1 Introduction 128
7.2 Equilibrium thermodynamics 130
7.2.1 Evolution of temperature: relativistic particles 132
7.2.2 Evolution of temperature: non-relativistic particles 132
7.3 The plasma Universe 134
7.4 The matter era 135
7.5 The radiation era 136
7.5.1 Temperature and time 136
7.5.2 Timescales: the Gamow criterion 137
7.6 The era of equilibrium 138
7.7 The GUT era: baryogenesis 138
7.7.1 The strong interaction era 139
7.7.2 The weak interaction era: neutrinos 140
7.7.3 Entropy and e− − e+ pair annihilation 140
7.8 Photon-to-baryon ratio 141
7.9 Nucleosynthesis 142
7.9.1 Weak interactions: neutron freeze-out 143
7.9.2 Helium 144
7.9.3 Light elements 146
7.9.4 Abundances and cosmology 146
7.10 The plasma era 148
7.10.1 Thomson scattering 148
7.10.2 Free–free absorption 149
Contents ix
7.10.3 Compton scattering 150
7.11 Decoupling 151
7.12 Recombination 151
7.13 Last scattering 153
7.14 Perturbations 153
7.15 Appendix A. Thermal distributions 154
7.15.1 Chemical potentials 154
7.15.2 Photon energy density 156
7.15.3 Photon number density 157
7.15.4 Relativistic neutrinos 157
7.15.5 Relativistic electrons 158
7.15.6 Entropy densities 158
7.16 Appendix B. The Saha equation 159
7.17 Appendix C. Constancy of η 159
7.18 Problems 160
8 Inflation 163
8.1 The horizon problem 164
8.2 The flatness problem 165
8.3 Origin of structure 165
8.4 Mechanisms 167
8.4.1 Equation of motion for the inflaton field 168
8.4.2 Equation of state 169
8.4.3 Slow roll 170
8.5 Fluctuations 172
8.6 Starting inflation 172
8.7 Stopping inflation 173
8.7.1 Particle physics and inflation 175
8.8 Topological defects 176
8.9 Problems 176
9 Structure 179
9.1 The problem of structure 179
9.2 Observations 180
9.2.1 The edge of the Universe 181
9.3 Surveys and catalogues 181
9.4 Large-scale structures 182
9.5 Correlations 183
9.5.1 Correlation functions 183
9.5.2 Linear distribution 185
9.5.3 The angular correlation function 185
9.5.4 Results 185
9.6 Bias 187
9.7 Growth of perturbations 187
9.7.1 Static background, zero pressure 188
x Contents
9.7.2 Expanding background 189
9.8 The Jeans’ mass 190
9.9 Adiabatic perturbations 192
9.10 Isocurvature (isothermal) perturbations 193
9.11 Superhorizon size perturbations 194
9.12 Dissipation 194
9.13 The spectrum of fluctuations 194
9.14 Structure formation in baryonic models 196
9.15 Dark matter models 197
9.15.1 Growth of fluctuations in dark matter models 197
9.16 Observations of the microwave background 198
9.17 Appendix A 200
9.18 Appendix B 202
9.19 Problems 203
10 Epilogue 205
10.1 Homogeneous anisotropy 205
10.1.1 Kasner solution 206
10.2 Growing modes 207
10.3 The rotating Universe 208
10.4 The arrow of time 208
Reference material 210
Constants 210
Useful quantities 210
Formulae 211
Symbols 212
References 213
Index 217
Preface
In this book we have attempted to present cosmology to undergraduate students
of physics without assuming a background in astrophysics. We have aimed at a
level between introductory texts and advanced monographs. Students who want
to know about cosmology without a detailed understanding are well served by
the popular literature. Graduate students and researchers are equally well served
by some excellent monographs, some of which are referred to in the text. In
setting our sights somewhere between the two we have aimed to provide as much
insight as possible into contemporary cosmology for students with a background
in physics, and hence to provide a bridge to the graduate literature. Chapters 1 to
4 are introductory. Chapter 7 gives the main results of the hot big-bang theory.
These could provide a shorter course on the standard theory, although we would
recommend including part of chapter 5, and also the later sections of chapter 6 on
the problems of the standard theory, and some of chapter 8, where we introduce
the current best buy approach to a resolution of these problems, the inflation
model. Chapters 5 and 6 offer an introduction to relativistic cosmology and to the
classical observational tests. This material does not assume any prior knowledge
of relativity: we provide the minimum background as required. Chapters 1 to 4
and some of 5 and 6 would provide a short course in relativistic cosmology. Most
of chapter 5 is a necessary prerequisite for an understanding of the inflationary
model in chapter 8. In chapter 9 we discuss the problem of the origin of structure
and the correspondingly more detailed tests of relativistic models. Chapter 10
introduces some general issues raised by expansion and isotropy. We are grateful
to our referees for suggesting improvements in the content and presentation.
We set out to write this book with the intention that it should be an updated
edition of The Isotropic Universe published by one of us in 1984. However, as
we began to discard larger and larger quantities of the original material it became
obvious that to update the earlier work appropriately required a change in the
structure and viewpoint as well as the content. This is reflected in the change of
title, which is itself an indication of how far the subject has progressed. Indeed, it
would illuminate the present research paradigm better to speak of the Anisotropic
Universe, since it is now the minor departures from exact isotropy that we expect
to use in order to test the details of current theories. The change of title is at least
in part a blessing: while we have met many people who think of the ‘expanding
xi
xii Preface
Universe’ as the Universe, only more exciting, we have not come across anyone
who feels similarly towards the ‘isotropic Universe’.
We have also taken the opportunity to rewrite the basic material in order to
appeal to the changed audience that is now the typical undergraduate student of
physics. So no longer do we assume a working knowledge of Fourier transforms,
partial differentiation, tensor notation or a desire to explore the tangentialmaterial
of the foundations of the general theory of relativity. In a sense this is counter
to the tenor of the subject, which has progressed by assimilation of new ideas
from condensed matter and particle physics that are even more esoteric and
mathematical than those we are discarding. Consequently, these are ideas we can
only touch on, and we have had to be content to quote results in various places as
signposts to further study.
Nevertheless, our aim has been to provide as much insight as possible into
contemporary cosmology for students with a background in physics. A word of
explanation about our approach to the astrophysical background might be helpful.
Rather than include detours to explain astrophysical terms we have tried to make
them as self-explanatory as required for our purposes from the context in which
they appear. To take one example. The reader will not find a definition of an
elliptical galaxy but, from the context in which the term is first used, it should be
obvious that it describes a morphological class of some sort, which distinguishes
these from other types of galaxy. That is all the reader needs to know about this
aspect of astrophysics when we come to determinations of mass density later in
the book.
A final hurdle for some students will be the mathematics content. To help
we have provided some problems, often with hints for solutions. We have tried to
avoid where possible constructions of the form ‘using equations . . . it is readily
seen that’. Nevertheless, although the mathematics in this book is not in itself
difficult, putting it together is not straightforward. You will need to work at it. As
you do so we have the following mission for you.
It is sometimes argued, even by at least one Nobel Laureate, that
cosmologists should be directed away from their pursuit of grandiose selftitillation
at the taxpayers’ expense to more useful endeavours (which is usually
intended to mean biology or engineering). You cannot counter this argument by
reporting the contents of popular articles—this is where the uninformed views
come from in the first place. Instead, as you work through the technical details of
this book, take a moment to stand back and marvel at the fact that you, a more or
less modest student of physics, can use these tools to begin to grasp for yourself
a vision of the birth of a whole Universe. And in those times of dark plagues and
enmities, remember that vision, and let it be known.
D J Raine
E G Thomas
Friday, 2 March 2012
America's Home Front Heroes By Stacy Enyaart free download
CONTENTS
Foreword by Larry Aasen ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction: Bust, Boom, and Beyond xvii
Civilian Home Front Recollections xxv
It Was a Time for . . . Heightened Passion 1
Civilian Survivor of Pearl Harbor Bombing—Margaret Motivalli 3
Bail or Jail—Robert Greenberg 7
Sad News from the War Department—Earl Kerker 9
Mixed Emotions duringWWII—E. Harold Greist, Jr. 13
World War II through the Eyes of a Child—Charles Hazelip 16
Dear Daddy . . . From Lynette and Bud—Lynette Leynes 19
I Was a Ten-Year-Old Mascot at Panama Canal—John E. Schmidt, Jr. 21
Saying Goodbye to a Loved One—Lucille Barrett 23
Mourning the Death of a Living Soldier—Terri Webster 24
Journal Notes from a College Student—Helen Toles Buffington 26
From German Immigrant in 1927 to Doctorate in
1956—Norman Jasper 36
Waiting for MIA News—Gordon P. Brown 39
It Was a Time for . . . Caution and Prejudice 45
A Japanese American Interned—Gene Takahashi 48
An American’s Viewpoint of Internment Camps—Mary E. Williams 52
What’s More Important, Pants or Your Soul?—
Mozzelle Bearden Ivey 54
Conscientious Objector to the War—Gregg Phifer 56
Facing the War at Home as a 4-F—W.V. (Mac) McConnell 59
The Riot that Brought an Army Together—Clarence Inniss 62
It Was a Time for . . . Flag Waving 67
Wartime Housewife/Mother of Martha Stewart—Martha Kostyra 69
War Bond Tour with Jack Dempsey, Boxing Champ—Marion
McManus 72
A Fighter to Be Reckoned With—Justin Barzda 75
The Corsair . . . Lean and Mean—Lee DiBattista 77
Navy WAVE Pharmacist Mate—Anne Cole-Beers 79
USO Volunteer . . . Dramatic Experiences—Vivian van Allen 82
My Postwar Experience—–Del Markoff 84
Working Together in a Time of War—Mary Kowalsky 86
Key West, Florida, 1941—Armer White 89
Newspaperman in a World War II Shipyard—Frank S. Hopkins 91
It Was a Time for . . . War-Plant Women 95
Nineteen-Year-Old Depth Charge Factory Worker—Mina Burke 100
From Civilian Directly to Army WAAC—Anne Breise 102
One of the First Women Workers in the Brooklyn Navy
Yard—Ida Pollack 105
From Receptionist to Payroll Unit Factory Worker—Jean Gates 107
Aiding the War Effort, as a High School Student—
Josephine Maupen 110
Single in Florida . . . Date at a POW Camp—Helen Rezendes 112
A New Wave of Female Engineers—Jean Geelan 115
Reflections: Yesterday 119
Reflections: Today 121
Index 123
viii Contents
FOREWORD
What happened on our home front while the world watched World
War II? Stacy Enyeart felt the need to share that experience with those
who know little or nothing of its impact on our country’s history. Using
her expertise as a professional writer, television producer, and community
activist for seniors, she started her journey into the past. America’s
Home Front Heroes is the result of that journey. It reveals the highly
emotional time generated by the war and its effect on people back
home.
This important book paints a vivid picture of on-going sacrifices on
the home fronts across the United States. Luxuries were practically
nonexistent and food, clothing, gasoline, and many other items were
strictly rationed. New car production came to a halt. There was a ceiling
price on just about everything. For those in combat each day could
mean death. Those at home lived in constant fear that they would
receive a dreaded telegram from the War Department. There was a
daily connection, at least in spirit, between the home front and battle
fronts.
Across the country, most Americans were very patriotic putting flags
on their houses, collecting money for the USOs, purchasing war bonds,
and making do with what they had. When the service people came
home on furlough, they were treated like the heroes they were.
I saw both sides of World War II—first on the home front, then as a
soldier from 1943 to 1945. As a sergeant in the glider regiment, I
served in France in the 13th Airborne Division, which was one-half
paratroopers and one-half glider troops. I was prepared to silently transport
and drop troops across the Rhine in Germany to help General
George Patton’s advance toward victory. So, from two different wartime
perspectives, I submit the following.
THE HOME FRONT ON AN AMERICAN FARM
As a civilian on the home front until 1943, my life, just as everyone’s,
took on many new challenges but at least we were still at home
in America. As a boy, growing up on a wheat farm near Fargo, North
Dakota, I found that life was a constant struggle. American farms were
not happy places to be during World War II. First of all, the war
seemed remote to most farmers who had few if any contacts with
Europe. Their machinery was old because new products were nonexistent.
The country needed more food, and farmers worked double time
to produce it because during the war, little or no food could be
imported from abroad.
For many years before World War II, there were plenty of farm
hands available to help with the harvest. During the war, most of these
workers were in the army. The workers who were available were above
the draft age and many were too old to be much help. More day
laborers had to be found so colleges gave their students leave time to
work on farms.
German prisoners of war were forced to bring in the crops. Most of
these men were so happy to be out of the war that they worked hard
and were well behaved and friendly. It was strange to think that only a
short time before, these men—now prisoners—might have been shooting
at our troops.
In America’s Home Front Heroes we meet a few of the many women
who took over wartime factory jobs when men went into the service.
Well, the same routine took place down on the farm. Many housewives
learned how to drive tractors, bring in the hay, and milk the cows.
Although they did not look like fashion models on the tractors in all
the dirt and dust and they missed their pre-war dresses, they were proud
to show their husbands “that anything you can do, we can do better!”
My mother’s diaries reveal some of the more subtle effects of the war
on the farm home front. Two of her three sons served in France during
the war. Every day she worried about them. Her good days were the
days she got a letter from France. The home front story on the farm
was not very pretty. It meant work from early morning to late at night.
At this time our home, like many other houses, lacked electricity, central
heating, and indoor plumbing. Our family’s farm was near a
x Foreword
railroad track and we would often see troop trains going by. The farmers
would sometimes yell, “go kill those bastards.”
THE HOME FRONT EFFECT ON SOLDIERS
In 1943 I enlisted in the army and was confronted as a soldier by the
new world across the Atlantic Ocean in France. Every day soldiers
thought of home and hoped for a letter. When a soldier got cheerful,
happy letters from home, he knew their intent. And, when soldiers
wrote home, they, too, tried to be cheerful. The death of my best friend
by a landmine left behind by the Germans was an example of the kind
of news that never got into letters to the home front.
The home front did a remarkable job of providing the soldiers with
candy, cookies, and other welcome items. Soldiers would sometimes get
their hometown newspapers. These were closely read because they
wanted to know the news—both good and bad—from home, the casualties
of war, those who had been discharged, and the girls who had
gotten married. “Dear John” letters were often received.
To be perfectly candid, soldier’s morale was crushed by news of draft
dodgers, war profiteers, and photos of people living it up in the night
clubs. Although most people on the home front supported the war and
realized sacrifices had to be made, there were times when they, too,
needed a break from the stress it caused. The familiar weekend pass
served the same purpose for armed services personnel.
From my own perspective as a soldier, the home front seemed a million
miles away. Although my head was on the fighting front, my heart
was still at home! America’s Home Front Heroes challenges typical history
books’ emphasis on facts and figures. Instead, without dismissing
the harsh realities of a world at war, it highlights the human experience
and brings us closer to those who went through the ordeal at
home.
Sgt. Larry Aasen,
Retired U.S. Army
Foreword xi
PREFACE
One may be prompted to ask why I was inspired to write on the overwhelming
subject of the World War II home front. Frankly, it was a
challenging project written to provide a nostalgic voyage for “the greatest
generation,” and to remind the “baby boomers” what terrific parents
they have. It was also to open the eyes, minds, and hearts of today’s
generation by exposing them to the amazing strength and resilience of
their grandparents in the face of war. Finally, it was to share a unique
moment in time revealing a unified country at war to preserve peace.
History will recall the home front heroes of the Second World War,
but only they can verify the facts. The writing was an irresistible and
rewarding experience.
America became involved in World War II in response to the Japanese
bombing of our naval installations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on
December 7, 1941. We were blindsided by their sneak attack, which
led to immediate action. That the war intimately touched the lives of
innocent civilian men, women, and children worldwide is a wellknown
fact. More elusive today with recent generations is the impact it
had on the civilian American home front.
From 1941 to 1945 each day involved a sacrifice in some way tied to
helping the war effort. Luxuries were a thing of the past. Just imagine
in the “land of plenty,” food, clothing, and gasoline being strictly
rationed, new car production coming to a halt, and a sudden and serious
lifestyle change for all! The O.P.A. (Office of Price Administration)
was created to put a ceiling price on just about everything. Did
we complain? Absolutely! Grumbling was rampant, but patriotism was
flying high so we adjusted to the imposed regulation. Unfortunately, we
must make note of those who took advantage of these tough times and
showed a disregard for patriotism. When the O.P.A. was created,
money-hungry individuals operated “black markets” for those who
could afford their excessive prices for goods.
America’s Home Front Heroes is an uncomplicated look at the complex
American home front. It is not focused on dates that we tend to
forget or details typically offered by historians; instead, it highlights the
civilian impact and mood of an emotionally charged era. It was shakeup
time for American traditions, including the conventional female
role of the housewife, shifting her into the wartime workplace outside
the home. It spawned an unprecedented period of America’s growth
and prosperity. It left in its wake a self-sacrificing generation of young
people; some of whom, sixty-three years later, have chosen to share
through letters, journals, and interviews their recollections and often
bittersweet experiences, painting an eyewitness portrait during a wartime
home front. It is important to look back and reflect on the home
front as we survived its trials and tribulations. I can’t help thinking
how fortunate we are to have this valuable resource as an example from
which to draw strength and resilience today.
The World War II home front as a subject has intrigued this author
for decades. It has been the focus of writers and film makers over the
years, but few from the generation who lived through the era. In reading
their personal submissions, a feeling of kinship with each participant
and an obligation to share these collective experiences became
my contribution. It became even more important to me as the passage
of time will soon silence the voices of those who lived the experience,
leaving history books as the only source of reference.
xiv Preface
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is with endless appreciation that I acknowledge those men and
women who made possible the writing of this book—namely the home
front heroes of World War II and their personal sacrifices. To complete
the picture, my thanks for the help and support of those mentioned
below and their steadfast belief in the project. Their names are presented
in no particular order of recognition.
To Joanne Dearcopp—For her patience; firm, soft-spoken advice;
her clear concept of the book’s content and her valuable
consultation.
To Dr. David Harper, D. Min—Over a long journey of writing, his
spiritual and pragmatic counsel were inspiring. His ability to relate to
the subject matter and empathize with the task at hand was a constant
source of encouragement.
To the Westport Public Library reference department staff—For
those who always provided the urgently needed answers to questions.
And, of course, to the library as an amazing research source.
To Teresa Errico and Neal Casaubon—Local college students, who
served as editorial assistants and grew to understand the significance of
the World War II home front, a subject rather unfamiliar to them and
apparently many other young students.
To my Pen Women pals (National League of American Pen
Women)—For those who served, sometimes unknowingly, as a support
group of creative women.
To Florida State University, Institute on World War II and the
Human Experience—for the wealth of their resources.
And last, but not least, to a variety of other people who kept me on
track with their positive reaction to the book’s concept.
THE GENOMICS AGE By GINA SMITH free download
CONTENTS
Before We Begin . . . 1
An introduction
1 It’s Who You Are 9
You need to understand some basic terms and ideas to make sense of
the DNA sciences. Don’t know a gene from a chromosome? This is the
place to start.
2 How We Got Here 27
Fifty years after Watson and Crick discovered the DNA double helix, the
Human Genome Project announced the final version of the human
genome. How did we get here from there? Here’s an inside look at how
one of the biggest discoveries in the history of mankind came about.
3 Your Genome—An Owner’s Manual 55
You are of the first generation in the history of the human race to
understand what makes you . . . well, you. The fascinating discoveries
scientists have made about DNA could change your life, your health,
and society.
4 The DNA Files 69
The most important advance to come out of his work, says DNA double
helix discoverer James Watson, is the exoneration of death row
inmates. DNA fingerprinting has revolutionized crime solving, and is
helping historians solve centuries-old mysteries.
5 Fa incg Destiny 87
It would’ve seemed like science fiction just a few decades ago, but
today genetic testing can predict susceptibility for hundreds of disorders.
Who are the innovators? What tests are out there? Will government
permit insurance companies and employers to discriminate
using the new knowledge? Genetic testing, in plain English.
6 The Fountain of Aging Well 113
It is one of DNA science’s most exciting fields. Biogerontology. A San
Francisco scientist has increased a worm’s lifespan sixfold! Two
gerontologists are betting a half-billion dollars that in 2150, at least
one person alive today will still be alive! Meanwhile, companies vie to
create a pill that will help tomorrow’s baby-boomer senior citizens
seem decades younger than their years.
7 Closing in on Cancer 133
In the 1970s, Nixon declared war on cancer. This was back when doctors
thought it was a single disease. By the mid-1990s, most scientists
had lost hope, and cancer deaths were at an all-time high. Now, for the
first time, the majority of cancer specialists have renewed faith that,
thanks to the DNA sciences, most cancers will be cured—in the next
twenty years. Here are the players and the technologies.
8 Cloning and Stem Cells 157
It doesn’t get more controversial than this. Despite calls for a global ban
on cloning—both the kind that produces “mini me” humans and the kind
that yields potentially life-saving stem cells—the world’s scientific community
is pushing hard to keep stem cell work alive, saying it’s our best
hope of curing most of the degenerative diseases that kill people today.
Here is an inside look at the players, and the arguments from both sides.
9 Gene Therapy 173
Gene therapy—or actually modifying defective genes in patients to
cure them—was once the holy grail of DNA medicine. Then came setbacks—
a teenager dies in a gene therapy trial and several French children
get leukemia—and everything changed. Now gene therapy
experts are trying to fight their way back to the forefront with a long
list of therapies and cutting-edge trials in labs around the country.
VI ~ CONTENTS
10 DNA and Society 193
When most people hear the word eugenics, they think of the Nazis’
attempt in the 1930s and 1940s to murder their way to an Aryan
Germany. But few people know that eugenics—the pseudoscience of
genetically breeding humans—was first popularized decades earlier in
America. Eugenics was the first societal effort to manipulate genetics.
Should we fear that a new eugenics is in the offing? What are the
ethical issues as the DNA sciences barrel into the future?
Notes 211
Glossary 225
Every word you’ll ever need to know to keep up with DNA researchers
and companies in the news, for investing and making societal and personal
choices.
Index 255
IT IS A GREATER achievement than the discovery of vaccines
and antibiotics combined. And it is no exaggeration to say that, as a
result of it, the world of human beings will never be the same.
I am talking, of course, about the discovery of the DNA double
helix by an American and a Brit, James Watson and Francis Crick,
in 1953. On a chilly February day, something profound happened.
It barely got a mention in the papers that whole year. But Watson
and Crick, they knew. “We found it!” Crick shouted upon bursting
into The Eagle, an off-campus pub close to their University of
Cambridge lab. “We have found the secret of life!”1
In April 2003, fully fifty years later, history was made again. A
group of scientists announced they had taken Watson and Crick’s
great insight to yet another level. They published an enormous
list—a list of the chemicals that make up all the genes in the DNA
BEFORE WE BEGIN. . .
I N T R O D U C T I O N
of the human race. In other words, they published the sequence of
the human genome. And now the life-changing work can begin.
Knowing what a human being is made of is the first step toward
knowing how to fix that human being when something goes wrong,
or how to prevent something from going wrong in the first place.
Eventually, it might even mean knowing how to build a better
human being altogether. All of this is important, critical, even. But
something also happened when this knowledge came to light. We
humans—who are so happy with ourselves and our ability to reason,
to investigate, to manipulate nature—became the first beings
on the planet to take a look at ourselves at the most primary level,
discovering the language in which our very existence is written.
The sum total of genes in a species—the DNA information that
determines whether you have hair or hooves, teeth or a tail—is
called the genome. Genomics is the emerging science of understanding
the human genome, and of determining how the DNA in
every human being affects identity, health, and disease. And
genomics is launching other sciences almost as quickly as you can
learn the terms. First functional genomics, then comparative
genomics, then proteomics . . . the science breaks into subsets and
into subsets again.
But one thing is certain. No matter how you slice and dice it, the
new science of DNA will transform everything it touches: Medical
treatment and diagnosis, especially. Criminology and genetic profiling.
Cancer research and anti-aging. History. Ethics. Politics. And
don’t forget about the economy. Universities and businesses are
sinking tens of billions of dollars into DNA-related fields.
“It’s a giant resource that will change mankind, like the printing
press,” says James Watson, who should know.2
Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press
around 1450, and by the year 1500, there were a thousand books in
Europe. That pace of change is generally considered to be extraordinary,
but this DNA revolution puts that progress to shame.
2 ~ THE GENOMICS AGE
In 1985, when I was an undergraduate studying chemistry at
Florida State University, my organic chemistry professor told the
class that the human genome wouldn’t be mapped in our lifetimes.
For a while, it looked like he was right. After all, the first genome—
of the simple bacterium that causes meningitis—wasn’t even
decoded until 1995. It was tiny, and even that took years to do.
Then science turned a corner. Thanks mainly to advances in
computer technology, researchers were able to outline the first draft
of all three billion components of human DNA, about 200 New
York City phone books worth of As, Cs, Ts, and Gs.
There still is an enormous amount of work to be done.
Researchers are now trying to understand the contents of the book
they have opened. According to Francis Collins, Human Genome
Project leader, it is as if we have discovered the Book of Life, only
to find the book is written in an unknown language. That means
there is much left to do, and the benefits of the DNA sciences will
arrive piecemeal, as we become increasingly fluent in its grammar
and peculiar turns of speech.
And we must be careful not to get carried away with the hype
surrounding this high-profile work. The tendency, says Collins, is
to hear about the discovery of a new gene—such as a gene related
to diabetes or heart disease—and immediately expect a cure for
the ailment.
“Predictions in science tend to be over-optimistic in the short
run,” Collins told me as I was finishing up the first draft of this
book. “But they tend to be under-optimistic in the long run. I think
that applies here, too. Wildly overstated expectations of immediate
benefits and [disease cures] from the Human Genome Project
helped fuel the biotech frenzy of the late 1990s, but no one I knew
thought that these expectations had any chance of happening at
such a rapid pace.
“When the investment bubble burst,” he added, “some people
began to complain that the Human Genome Project was a failure
BEFORE WE BEGIN ~ 3
and hadn’t paid off. But it was the outrageous predictions that failed
and didn’t pay off. We will get there. It will happen. But not tomorrow
or the next day. After all, it’s one thing to derive the three billion
letters of the code accurately and publicly. We’ve done that. But
it will now require the best and brightest brains on the planet to go
to the next level of understanding.”3
But anyone wanting to put their excitement on hold because of
that long to-do list need only look at extremely important genomics
work that has already arrived. These results would’ve seemed like
science fiction just a few years ago.
Consider. DNA evidence testing has proved the innocence of
144 convicted inmates—and counting—as of this writing.4 It’s
cleared so many people on death row that, in 2003, then-governor
George Ryan of Illinois commuted all the state’s death sentences to
prison terms of life or less.
Even historical crime mysteries are finding solutions. For
instance, DNA evidence seems to have posthumously vindicated
Sam Sheppard, who was accused of killing his wife in 1954. (You
may remember the Sheppard case as the inspiration for the TV
show and movie, The Fugitive.) The long-standing rumor that
Thomas Jefferson fathered children with his slave, Sally Hemings,
is now confirmed. Genetic tests show that some of the Hemings
children were directly related to a Jefferson male.
And DNA evidence is being used to figure out everything from
where Christopher Columbus is buried to whether Billy the Kid
actually died in the1880s or, as rumored, lived on to be known as
Brushy Bill, the elderly nursing home resident who, in the 1950s,
claimed to be him.
The field of genetic testing is currently exploding, too. As
researchers peg more and more gene mutations to specific disorders,
DNA tests allowing you to be tested for them are right
behind. You and your unborn child can already be tested for susceptibility
for hundreds of diseases. In some case, finding out
4 ~ THE GENOMICS AGE
about a potential disorder and taking measures now to avoid it can
save your life.
DNA medications are starting off more slowly, but they’re coming,
too. The startling effectiveness of DNA medicines such as
Enbrel for rheumatoid arthritis and Gleevec for a certain kind of
leukemia paints an optimistic future for medicines that precisely target
the genetic problem behind a disease. And scientists believe they
are on the threshold of creating personalized medicines—chemicals
specially designed to work best with your particular genetic makeup.
The holy grail of the DNA sciences—the immediate tracing of
every human disease and disorder to a single gene or group of
genes—is further off. Yes, there has been progress in finding the
genes linked to diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
You’ll read about a lot of that progress in this book. But it is certain
to be more difficult than people once suspected. Most disorders
aren’t just mutations of a single gene, but many. And to treat
genetic diseases, it will be necessary not only to understand the
gene involved, but also the proteins the gene makes and everything
that happens along the pathway from mutation to disorder. This
will be the hard part.
Yet whether it takes years or decades, this much is certain:
Medicine is forever changed. Because scientists now understand
something about DNA, they are already using DNA knowledge to
manufacture human hormones, help reduce heart blockages, shrink
tumors, and treat multiple sclerosis. More developments are coming
and, if history is any guide, they will greet us at a faster and
faster rate.
Eventually, we will be living in a world where diseases are not
just treated; they will be prevented from occurring in the first place.
Nobel Laureate David Baltimore told me that he had chills when
he first read the paper that detailed the human genome. And he’s
seen a lot of biology in his long career. He is now the president of
the California Institute of Technology.
BEFORE WE BEGIN ~ 5
Biology, he says, has entered a new era. “Instead of guessing
about how we differ one from another, we will understand and be
able to tailor our life experiences to our inheritance. We will also
be able, to some extent, to control that inheritance. We are creating
a world in which it will be imperative for each individual person
to have sufficient scientific literacy to understand the new riches
of knowledge, so that we can apply them wisely.”5
Scientists such as Baltimore have long understood the frontier
of the human genome and what it means to human beings. For the
rest of us, it’s taken a little longer. For most Americans, the science
and terminology of the DNA revolution are brand new, just now
appearing in the papers and on TV.
The science of DNA is simple, elegant, and ultimately graspable.
You just need a little background in it, a little insight into who’s
doing what, what’s coming, and what’s just plain hype.
Cutting to the quick of the so-called DNA revolution is what this
book is all about.
✸ ✸ ✸
My goal with this book is to stick to developments likely to
unfold in the next several years, detailing the advances that DNA
research is expected to bring. That way, you can profit from the
knowledge in your lifetime.
In the first three chapters, I’ll get you familiar with the terms,
techniques, and background you need to understand the rising tide
of DNA stories in the news. If you don’t know a gene from a chromosome—
or if you just need a refresher on some newer terms and
techniques—this section is for you.
Then, we’ll take a look inside the labs, where key developments
are happening in the hot areas of DNA fingerprinting, gene testing,
cancer research, gene therapy, cloning and stem cell research,
and anti-aging experimentation. In Chapters 4 through 9, you’ll
6 ~ THE GENOMICS AGE
meet the minds behind the science, plus gain a plain English understanding
of how they’re taking on the challenge.
Finally, we’ll reflect. Though I’ve included comments from ethicists
and social scientists throughout, Chapter 10 digs deeper into
the ethical issues facing us all. Should governments be permitted to
compile DNA databases of each and every one of us? Could genetic
testing result in an uninsurable and unemployable underclass? How
will the DNA revolution affect your life and that of your family? I’ll
examine how current developments and their rush to reality will
change the world for our children and our children’s children.
These are issues we all need to think about. But without a decent
grounding in the science of DNA—who the players are and what
the technology is all about—the right decisions are difficult to
make. You can’t invest in or follow the DNA industry without knowing
this stuff, either.
It’s my hope that this book will give you not only the insight into
what’s happening in this historic revolution, but also the lay language
and background to ask the hard questions—of yourself, the
politicians who represent you, the business world, and the scientific
community. There aren’t too many other books that take on this
challenge, but you’ve found one.
Now, onward!
BEFORE WE BEGIN ~ 7
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