Biographical Memoirs: Volume 62 (1993)
Chapter: THE BIOPHYSICS GROUP AT THE DEPARTMENT OF TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM
calling our committee, going to the council, etc., had changed history a slight bit in the right direction.
He was a strong proponent of U.S. and U.S.S.R. submarines as the only deliverers of nuclear missiles as the ultimate safe strategic deterrent. The logic, at least, is still sound. From AB:
The idea was to have two Polaris fleets. Ours would be stationed in the Caribbean and the Russian one behind Japan. Both would be out of range but could move out to attack after a week's cruise. Both sides would want the other to know the fleets were at home and out of range so both sides would allow the other to observe and verify that there was no danger. But if necessary they could move out. It was like the solution to a double dummy bridge problem. Levering Smith, who was then in command of the Polaris fleet, said it would suit him. We published it but of course nothing happened. Implementing a good policy is far more difficult than inventing it.
THE BIOPHYSICS GROUP AT THE DEPARTMENT OF TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM
This group grew out of a wartime cyclotron-oriented biophysics group, and initially Phil Abelson was group leader. It was really created when Dick Roberts joined Abelson and Dean Cowie after convincing Merle Tuve (director of DTM) and Vannevar Bush (president of CIW) that a permanent group might do good science. Soon it was joined by Ellis Bolton and later by me. For a long period all of us were jointly listed as the authors of all of the work in the annual reports. The group members were all very cooperative, and the research interests ran in parallel for many years as a result of continuous discussion, but it never operated as a research team with appointed jobs. Dick had chosen to give up personal power when he turned down a good offer from the Kellex Corporation and left the Ap-
