Daedalus Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary

Daedalus, the scientific journal whose readers and contributing writers include U.S. Presidents and Nobel Prize laureates alike, and which is published quarterly by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, began as nothing more than a name, says Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics Gerald Holton.

"Each of us is sort of trapped in our own labyrinth," Holton, who is also Professor of History of Science Emeritus, says. "Physics or chemistry, for example, lawyers, business people are each in their own labyrinth. What I want them to do is what Daedalus did. He made himself some wings."

The fledgling journal, named after the Greek mythological hero who escaped from a labyrinth using a self-constructed pair of wings, had an even bigger obstacle to surmount. It had little money, no office and had to be housed in the Jefferson physics laboratories.

But now, the journal, which includes essays in such diverse fields as history, chemistry, philosophy and the visual arts, is commemorating its 40th anniversary with the winter 1998 edition. Not only does this special edition celebrate 40 years of scholarship, but it also honors Holton as the first editor of the journal.

The Wings are Built

Holton says the wider distribution of Daedalus began after a "happy accident" in which he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which is based in Cambridge, Mass.

The 3,300 Fellows and 550 Foreign Honorary Members of the Academy represent the highest, scholarship in the physical sciences, the biological sciences, the social arts and sciences and the humanities and fine arts.

"It is like being elected to Phi Beta Kappa," Baird Professor of Science Dudley R. Herschbach, the Academy's secretary says.

Current Academy fellows confer membership upon notables in 21 different fields after a selection process overseen by Herschbach.

"I am responsible for trying to get this 21-ring circus to operate," he says.

Holton began Daedalus in 1948 with assistance from his wife, Nina.

"I had luck. I am married to a lovely woman," he says. "I dealt with the subjects, and through her job with a publishing firm, she also knew about editing. Together, we published the first issues."

Once he had the idea for the journal, Holton says he went to the Out of Town News stand in Harvard Square to see whether a news outlet would be interested in selling the journal. To this day, students can buy Daedalus from the Harvard Square landmark, Holton says.

Promoting Unity

Holton says Daedalus was never designed to be a "science" journal, but rather a journal for scholars in many fields.

"I made a decision at the time to have each quarter devoted to one important subject that each intelligent person would want to know about, whether he was a scientist, social scientist, humanist or alert layman. I knew of no other such American journal," Holton says.

Holton's idea to publish such a journal stems from his belief that science and the humanities should not be treated as separate fields.

"[Science and the humanities] are not in antithesis to each other," he says. "Rather, there is a commonality in our culture that brings them together."

Herschbach agrees that science and art have much in common.

"[In science] you are interested in whether or not you are asking the right questions. That's what you are always trying to do in science as well as in art--get a new perspective," he says. "If it really hits you and changes your experience, you say it is an important artistic contribution."

Holton says each journal is the result of discussions among a small group of scholars from diverse fields, who are hand-picked by the editor each quarter.

"I thought each [issue] should come out of a conference where the authors meet and discuss ideas," Holton says. "Discussions make the final papers much more coherent."

Journal themes have included everything from race and religion to education.

Since 1962, the Editor-in-Chief has been Stephen R. Graubard, who has "carried on brilliantly," Holton says.

One Step Ahead

Holton says one issue of Daedalus in particular, in which the magazine focused on arms control during the Cold War era, exemplifies the journal as a medium through which intellectuals can voice their ideas and differences on matters of national import.

In "Arms Control," Holton says he brought together "hawks and doves to see if one could clarify the other's statement."

In response to this issue, Holton received a letter from a "young senator"--John F. Kennedy '40--who wished to set up an arms control commission if he were elected President.

Holton says the journal is always at the forefront of intellectual thought and discourse. In the 1960s, the academy published two successive issues on the state of blacks in the U.S. titled "The Negro American," which "no foundation dared to support," Holton says. However, these Daedalus issues managed to carry an introduction by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson.

When it comes to topics of controversy, Holton says the journal tries to clarify issues and to "find bridges" between opposing beliefs.

The 40th anniversary issue focuses on the connection between science and culture with contributions by Kingsley Professor of Fine Arts Emeritus James S. Ackerman, Mallinckrodt Professor of the History of Science and of Physics Peter Galison '77 and Mellon Professor of the Sciences and Pelligrino University Professor Emeritus E. O. Wilson.

The issue includes an essay by Holton titled "Einstein and the Cultural Roots of Modern Science," which explores the way Einstein's theories were shaped by the "cultural soil" of the 19th century. The essay is an extended version of Holton's 1997 Robert and Maurine Rothschild Distinguished Lecture in the History of Science, an annual lecture organized by the Department of History of Science.

Another essay co-authored by Herschbach and Bretislav Friedrich, senior research fellow in the department of chemistry and chemical biology, titled "Space Quantization: Otto Stern's Lucky Star," discusses the saga of the discovery of electron spin and its impact on modern chemistry.

Herschbach says he selected this story in part because it is unfamiliar even to the academic community. "I thought it was a story that was fresh," he says.

He says he also selected the story as a tribute to Holton and his scholarship on Albert Einstein. "Holton is one of the leading historians on Einstein," Herschbach says. "And Stern, some call him the first pupil of Einstein."

Furthermore, Holton says Einstein's work reflects the all-inclusive aim of Daedalus.

According to Holton, much of Einstein's work in explaining natural phenomena were really attempted searches for a unifying principle.

Herschbach says Einstein made the "first great unification" in science when he linked electromagnetism and gravity through his general theory of relativity.

He adds that some scientists today still search for a single equation to connect the scientific phenomena of gravity to other natural phenomena.

Harvard Connection

Although Harvard professors authored six of the ten essays included in this anniversary issue, Holton says Daedalusis only connected to Harvard on a historical level. It was founded by Holton and originally housed in the Jefferson physics laboratories.

Holton says, "I tried to get away from the idea that this is a Harvard or MIT journal. The people who have contributed are from all over the world."

Indeed, former contributors have included past presidents such as Kennedy and Johnson and various Nobel Prize laureates, Holton says.

The Academy

In addition to Daedalus, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences commissions studies which lead to the publication of books and studies on a wide range of interdisciplinary issues such as environment and ecology, intellect and imagination and defense policy.

"What the Academy does is as broad as its membership," says Herschbach, who was elected to the Academy in 1964.

The journal can be accessed by subscription through the World Wide Web at http://www.amacad.org, the web site of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.