Tercentenary Tidbits

No matter what's discussed at the 106 academic symposia this week, the theories and predictions are not likely to match those made 50 years ago, at Harvard's Tercentenary.

The New York Times, which won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the University's 300th anniversary events, carried front-page stories headlining a variety of claims arising from the two-week-long gathering of scholars from around the world. Among The Times reports:

.A Columbia University mathematician, Edward Kasner, announced the discovery of a new type of geometry, in which, The Times said, "the sum of the measure of the parts is greater than the measure of the whole."

.A German chemist, Friedrich Bergius, detailed a process for converting "wood waste, such as sawdust, into virtually unlimited supplies of synthetic food products containing all the fundmental elements of nutrition."

.A Yale biologist, Ross G. Harrison, unveiled his concept of a "sculptor" and "master builder" within each living cell. The sculptor, The Times said, "molds the aboriginal clay of life into his own image," while the master builder "organizes the stuff of life into its various tissues and organs."

.A panel of experts outlined "a new link bridging the gap between the animate and the inanimate, which offers evidence for the existence of a twilight zone between living and non-living matter inhabited by shadowy creatures, some of which produce deadly diseases, while others aid man to combat diseases."

Also discussed at the Tercentenary Conference of Arts and Sciences were scores of other discoveries, ranging from a new speed record set by an exploding star to the latest in mathematical puzzles. The social sciences and humanities also received attention, but experts in the pure and applied sciences apparently generated the most excitement.

Perhaps the most remarkable announcement was that of the German professor, Friedrich Bergius, who claimed to have developed a means for converting sawdust into food. Across two columns atop its front page on September 12, 1936, The Times reported the following:

"Professor Bergius said "the process is not only suited to supply foodstuffs to countries lacking such but also gives an opportunity to turn a waste product into something useful."

"The scientist revealed that the German Government had been conducting "extensive tests over a period of two years" which "have proven that the food value of the raw sugar (obtained from the sawdust) is equivalent to that of barley." The substance so obtained, he added, could be stored for a long time.

"The synthetic sawdust-food will cost very little, according to Professor Bergius, as the raw materials are now waste poroducts. After the cost of the initial plant installation the upkeep will be small, as the materials used in the process are fully recoverable and can be used over and over again. Even the fuel for use in the plant is obtained from a waste by-product of the sawdust. The final result is a yield of fully 100 percent.

"For the present, Dr. Bergius stated, the product was used mostly as fodder for animals, but when necessary it could be converted into food for human consumption."

Had any sawdust burgers lately?