'Failure is Not an Option* Gene Kranz to Speak at Fall Lecture, Annual Dinner

LINDA HALL LIBRARY

HEDGEHOG Number 57* Fall 2015

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What Would You Do With More Time? Before the Seattle Mariners faced off against the Los Angeles Angels in July, 108-year-old Evelyn Jones became the oldest person to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball game. A devoted fan, Jones never misses a televised Mariners game.

If granted an extended life, what would you do with the additional years? How would you spend the time? A colloquium presented by the Linda Hall Library Foundation on October 2 - 3 is devoted to the topic of longevity, which has prompted me to think about how others use the gift of time.

A recent study focusing on trends in aging found that 47% of American retirees have to or plan to work, while 72% of pre-retirees anticipate they will keep working in retirement. The results indicate that working retirees are not just looking for income; they are also looking for purpose, stimulation, and personal growth. Furthermore, the study implied that staying active in retirement is an important part of maintaining ones cognitive abilities.

The benefits of meaningful activity were evident for Stephanie L. Kwolek, the inventor of Kevlar, who lived to be 90. Having invented a bulletproof fiber that saved thousands of lives, Dr. Kwolek spent her retired years tutoring high school students in chemistry, grooming young women for work in the sciences. Did Dr. Kwoleks retirement activities extend her life? They surely enriched it as she helped others.

Dr. Ruth Benerito was a USDA chemist who helped perfect wrinkle-free cotton, better known as permanent press, in the mid-1960s. In retirement Dr. Benerito joined the University of New Orleans faculty and taught chemistry until she was 81. Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2008, Dr. Benerito died in 2013 at age 97.

Drs. Kwolek and Benerito appear to support the findings about active retirements and cognitive health. The ways in which we remain active throughout life, along with the technological advancements on the horizon, hold out the promise of longer, more productive lives than previous generations could expect. Join us as we delve into the topic of longevity in October.

Donor Profile: A Personal Side to Giving - Gary Lee McDonald

Longtime Linda Hall Library supporter and President's Circle member Gary Lee McDonald recently extended his philanthropy through a gracious contribution as a planned giving donor, becoming a member of the Herbert and Linda Hall Legacy Society.

An Independence, MO, native, McDonald graduated from Central High School and studied mathematics at Kansas City University, which later became the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He took a job in sales for a number of years and eventually returned to finish his degree and work in computer science at UMKC. McDonald worked next door to the Library for nearly 20 years. He began making frequent visits, became a fan of the exhibitions and programs, is known as one of the Library's most frequent attendees, and has become one of its most committed donors.

Gary Lee McDonald

As a science enthusiast, McDonald frequently attends lectures in the Library's Main Reading Room and is recognizable to other attendees by his blue fanny pack and his habit of reading a thick book while waiting for events to start. McDonald can recall Library events and special guests as if they took place yesterday and cites Brian Greene's 2007 Paul D. Bartlett, Sr. lecture, "The Theory of Everything" as one of his favorites.

The Linda Hall Library is grateful to Gary Lee McDonald for his passion in supporting the continued exploration of science and his generous philanthropic contributions to the public programs.

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NASA Legend Gene Kranz to Deliver Annual President's Circle Lecture

On November 5, the Linda Hall Library will welcome

special guest Gene Kranz, retired NASA Flight Director,

who will deliver the annual President s Circle lecture at 6:30

p.m. at Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 West 47th Street,

Kansas City, MO.

Kranz, sporting one of his famous vests

Kranz was the flight director for Apollo 13's failed mission

to land on the moon. More importantly, he led the effort to

bring that spacecrafts crew safely back to Earth. Kranz was

memorably portrayed in the film Apollo 13 by Ed Harris.

The title of Kranz s talk is "Failure is Not an Option," a phrase

made famous during the scene in Apollo 13 in which Kranz

announced to the NASA team that the crippled spaceship's

imperiled crew would return home alive.

Kranzs lecture is open to the public; however, tickets

are required. Guests can register on the website at

www.lindahall.org/event/failure-not-option.

Following the lecture, members of the President's Circle

are invited to attend the annual groups dinner hosted

by the Linda Hall Library Board of Trustees, President

Lisa Browar, and Presidents Circle Chairs John and

Daisy MacDonald. In addition to the annual dinner,

this membership benefit includes shuttle transportation

to and from Unity Temple, reserved seating for the

lecture, and a signed copy of Kranzs book Failure is Not

an Option.

Dinner guests have the option to park at the Linda

Hall Library and board a shuttle from the Library to

Unity Temple for the lecture. Following the lecture, the

shuttles will return guests to the Library for the annual

dinner, beginning with a cocktail reception at 7:30 p.m.

and dinner at 8:00 p.m. Kranz will make brief remarks

following dinner.

For information about the Presidents Circle and its

member benefits, please contact Angela Tangen at

tangena@lindahall.org or call 816.926.8727.

Apollo 13 Lunar Module pilot Fred Haise, Apollo 13 commander James Lovell,and Gene Kranz

The Science of Longevity: An Interview with Dr. Greg Benford

Dr. Gregory Benford is the co-founder of Genescient, a biomedical company in Fountain Valley, CA, whose mission is to extend healthy human lifespan by using advanced genomics to develop therapeutic substances that attack the diseases of aging. He is also a Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of California-Irvine, and a noted science fiction author. Genescient is the first company founded to exploit artificial selection of animal models for longevity.

Dr. Benford will speak at the Linda Hall Library Foundation's colloquium The Science of Longevity on October 2 and 3. Dr. Benford spoke with Eric Ward, Vice President for Public Programs, about aging research at Genescient.

Dr. Gregory Benford

Eric Ward: You taught physics for several years and have published more than 30 science fiction novels. Why did you decide to leave academia to take up longevity research?

Greg Benford: I've actually never abandoned anything. I'm sort of an intellectual magpie. I still have an office at UC-lrvine in the physics department, and I still do research and publish papers. I just don't teach anymore. I've always been interested in longevity because that is the uniquely human problem. My first encounter with the issue came about, indirectly, through science fiction. I was on the board of the Eaton

Collection, a large library of science fiction, at the University of California-Riverside. They had an annual conference on longevity and aging in science fiction. We had a presentation on cryonics by the people from Alcor Corporation and I eventually wrote a novel about it called Chiller. At that time, a big health issue loomed larger because my wife was very ill and ultimately died of cancer. After that, I gained a fair amount of money by selling our house we had in Laguna Beach, CA, and I started the biotech company. It's based on a rather different idea in the field. A co-investor and I bought the longest-lived animal model in the world.

EW: Those are the fruit flies known as the Methuselah Flies?

GB: We still have them and we've increased the rate of elasticity of selection for longevity in them. These are flies, when we purchased them, that had been bred through around 735 generations for longevity simply by waiting until half of each generation is dead and then take the eggs they lay and start the next generation. It's simple brute force. No one had done it before. It was achieved by Michael Rose, a good friend of mine who is still on the UC-lrvine faculty. We took those flies, did the genetics, and translated that information into genes that flies have in common with humans. This has given us a number of longevity genes that no one else knows and, more importantly, gene networks.

Go to lindahalllibraryfoundation.org to find out more and purchase tickets

for the October 2 & 3 event.

EW: You looked at the flies that lived the longest?

GB: Remember, each generation lives longer than the previous. By the time we bought the flies, they lived about four times longer than ordinary flies. We now have flies that live over five times longer because we've increased the force of selection. So we continue to get more genetic information. The key idea is that flies are like the beta testing for many of the systems we use.

Additional Science of Longevity panelists (clockwise from top left) Evan Snyder, Stephen Badylak, Jonathan Weiner, Martha Montello, and Jay Olshansky

Flies die primarily of cardiomyopathy and diabetes. The same is true of humans, although humans have cancer and flies largely don't. We then tried to find molecules that help regulate these genes and carry out repairs. Aging is the failure to repair.

EW: I read where one of your colleagues said that, "Aging is the disease that we all have."

GB: Right, yet it's not a disease according to the Food and Drug Administration. You can't advertise that something affects aging, which is ironic because that's the deep problem. So we have gone ahead through the last decade discovering molecules that help regulate repair. Just this summer we finished the 23rd month of a human trial on Alzheimer's in which we found we could completely stop Alzheimer's in all the mild patients. So we know we have something that works. And we had a similar smaller trial in cardio conditions.

We are also contemplating doing a Parkinson's human trial soon, and we're continuing the arc of the Alzheimer's research with an even larger trial with maybe 1,500 people in it.

EW: Do you have a goal to increase lifespan by a certain number of years?

GB: We concentrate not just on lifespan, but on what we call healthspan, remaining healthy and vibrant as long as possible. Because one thing we learned from the Methuselah flies is that the longest-lived flies are more robust than the shorter-lived flies. In humans, everybody gets frail in the end, but the bulk of the really long-lived people are vibrant into their 90s and sometimes even into their 100s.

EW: And many of them seem to have unhealthy habits. Interview continued on next page.

Interview continued from previous page.

GB: I often point out to people that the longest lived person ever, Jeanne Calment, in southern France, decided, finally, to give up smoking at the age of 115. She continued her ration of at least a half-liter of red wine a day until 122. So it simply isn't true that longevity equals frailty. We learned from the Methuselah flies that they are more robust, perform better athletically, and laid more eggs than the control flies.

EW: Can you envision the average lifespan, or healthspan, reaching 150 years by the end of this century?

GB: I think it's possible. We don't know anything about this frontier because nobody has lived longer than 122. The goal really is to push forward your ability to repair, use that to extend the human healthspan, and to get more productivity from everybody. We are learning a lot of real biology here. There are fundamental reasons why we age and die.

EW: I understand that you plan to share new research data at the colloquium. Can you give us a hint about what that will be?

GB:The principal thing I want to show is the data from the human Alzheimer's trial, which plainly shows that, if you catch it early, then you can stop it.

EW: You mean stopping the disease, not just slowing it?

GB: That's right. In fact, in mild patients, we were able to reverse the number of symptoms significantly, particularly in memory.

EW: That will be fascinating to hear about. We're looking forward to your presentation at the colloquium on October 2 and 3. Thank you for your time.

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Linda Hall Library Fellows 2015-2016

The Library Welcomes New Fellows This summer and fall, several scholars will gain access to resources at the Linda Hall Library for research projects on topics ranging from motivating students toward better math comprehension to interfering with motion and matter theory.

Since 2012, the Library has awarded 20 fellowships, determined on a competitive basis through vetting by internal and external reviewers. Library Fellowships have been awarded to the following scholars for residency periods in 2015-2016:

Karl L. Galle, Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo Dr. Galle's research project is, "Scholar, Bureaucrat, Diplomat, Revolutionary: CopernicusThrough the Eyes of His Contemporaries." Dr. Galle will be in residence for nine months beginning in November 2015.

Andre Hahn, PhD Candidate, Oregon State University Hahn's dissertation is entitled,"Finding Form: Goethe's Morphology Among Twentieth Century English Speakers." He was in residence for three months beginning June 16,2015.

Cynthia Huffman, Professor of Mathematics, Pittsburg State University Dr. Huffman's research focuses on "Influential Books in the Development of European Mathematics from 1500-1820." One of the anticipated outcomes of Dr. Huffman's research is the publication of materials for use by mathematics teachers at various levels to motivate students to develop a more meaningful comprehension of mathematics. She will be in residence for six weeks beginning August 31.

Reem Elghomini, PhD Candidate, University Texas, Austin Elghomini's residency will be used to refine the focus of her dissertation,"Interfering with Matter and Motion Theory: Optics, Alchemy, and the Naturalization of Arabic in England, 1640-1672." She will be in residence for the month of September 2015.

Black & Veatch Signs On as a Corporate Partner

Engineering firm Black & Veatch has announced its support as a Corporate Partner to the Linda Hall Library to assist science, technology, and engineering firms as they perform their jobs, while investing in public programming that spreads and enhances knowledge of these vibrant disciplines.

Craig Connell, Vice President and Director of Technologies for B&V's Energy Division, cited the Library's collections in engineering, science, and technology as a perfect match for B&V's commitment as a global leader in building critical infrastructure in energy, water, telecommunications and government services. While B&V has a corporate library for engineers to use globally, it still relies on the Linda Hall Library for access to standards, specifications, journal articles and other materials not readily available to them.

"Because of Linda Hall Library's strong emphasis in engineering literature it's fair to assume Black & Veatch has been accessing information since the beginning of Linda Hall Library," Connell said. The dedicated Linda Hall Library reference staff has a strong tradition of assisting B&V staff in finding the exact information on a timely basis.

R l l BLACK & VEATCH m l M Building a wor ld of difference.3

Since 1915, B&V has worked on projects that have improved people's lives in more than 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations, and program management. Together, the Linda Hall Library and B&V will collaborate to promote science, technology, and engineering learning that doesn't end with a diploma, but remains a lifelong endeavor.

To learn more about the benefits of becoming a Linda Hall Library Corporate Partner; contact Angela Tangen at 816.926.8727 or tangena@lindahall.org

Library's Acquisition of Sought After Work Dedicated to Retired Staff

Earlier this year, the Linda Hall Library added to its holdings a long sought after copy of Le Regne Animal by Georges Cuvier in honor of recently retired staff members.

The 20 volume Disciples of Cuvier edition includes nearly 1,000 hand-colored plates. Cuvier was one of the leading naturalists in the history of science. He had a passionate interest in anatomy, and sought to learn how each animals systems came together to form its unique character.

The work was purchased to honor 11 longtime Linda Hall Library staff members who retired at the end of 2014. Library President Lisa Browar called the acquisition an important way to remember the commitment of those staff members.

"Those 11 individuals represent more than 300 years of experience and knowledge," Browar said. "They were dedicated and passionate about the Library and the scholarly advancement of science, engineering and technology We felt the best way to honor them was to dedicate this important acquisition to them."

Le Regne Animal was first published in 1817 in four volumes. Cuvier trained many of the next generation of French natural scientists, and the 1836 Disciples of Cuvier, in 20 volumes, was compiled by those students.

Linda Hall Library SCIENCE, ENGINEERING &TECHNOLOGY - INFORMATION FOR THE WORLD

5109 Cherry Street Kansas City, MO 64110-2498 USA

Levy Donates Observation Logs to Library The 25 observation logs that comet hunter David Levy is donating to the Library may tell us as much about the making of an astronomer as they do about comets.

Levy is donating the logs following his September 10 presentation, "Writing the Same Book Over Almost Sixty Years: A Record of a Nightwatchman's Journey Under the Night Sky." The donated logs are an initial set that span 1955

A notation from one of Levy's observation logs

to the summer of 2015, and the remaining logs have been bequeathed to the library.

Levy began keeping the observation logs as a youngster in the 1950s, and over the years he has discovered or co-discovered 22 comets, including nine using a backyard telescope. The logs trace Levy's development from someone who knew nothing, to somebody who developed a passion for the night sky, and finally to somebody "who got the hang of how to search for comets," Levy wrote in an email.

Levy first considered the donation during a 2004 trip to the Linda Hall Library, when he was shown several volumes from the Library's astronomy collection, including observation logs by famed 19th century British astronomer Sir WilliamHerschel. Levy's donation will enhance an already significant astronomy collection at the Library, with an estimated 4,000 books and more than 500 journals devoted to the subject.

Go to lindahall.org to register for tickets to Levy's free lecture on September 10 at the Library. W

HEDGEHOG N u m b e r 5 7 • F a l l 2015

The Fall 2015 issue shows an illustration of a hedgehog from Claude Perrault's Memoires pour servir a I'histoire naturelle des animaux, 1676. More illustrations from this book can be found in the LHL Digital Collections as part of The Grandeur of Life collection.

Cover photo: Gene Kranz in NASA Mission Control with Astronaut Gene Cernan.

HEDGEHOG is published twice a year by

The Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology

5109 Cherry Street Kansas City, Missouri 64110

816.363.4600 fax 816.926.8790

www.lindahall.org

EVENT SCHEDULE Linda Hall Library • F a 11 2 0 1 5

SCIENCE, ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY-INFORMATION FOR THE WORLD

SEPTEMBER 10

Writing the Same Book Over Almost Sixty Years: A Record of a Nightwatchman's Journey Under the Night Sky David Levy, Astronomer and Best-selling Author 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 10,2015 Linda Hall Library Reading Room

David Levy is a science writer who co-discovered, along with Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker of the Palomar Observatory in California, the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994, producing the most spectacular explosion ever witnessed in the solar system. Mr. Levy will share some of these experiences as he donates his observation logs he kept over the past 60 years to the Linda Hall Library.

OCTOBER 22

IceCube: Seeing the Universe in Neutrinos from the South Pole Dr. Naoko Kurahashi Neilson, Assistant Professor of Physics, Drexel University 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 22,2015 Linda Hall Library Reading Room

IceCube is a neutrino observatory located at the U.S. Amundsen-Scott Station at the geographic South Pole. This is a new kind of astronomy, which uses detectors to observe radioactive decay, opening a new window into the universe by seeing what optical telescopes cannot. Learn firsthand what it's like to live, work, and do science at the South Pole.

NOVEMBER 5

Failure Is Not An Option Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 5,2015 at Unity Temple on the Plaza

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the aborted flight of Apollo 13. Gene Kranz led NASA's "Tiger Team" of flight directors who brought the spaceship safely back to Earth, and orchestrated what many historians consider to be NASA's greatest engineering achievement. (Actor Ed Harris portrayed Kranz in the film Apollo 13.) Kranz served as flight director for the 33 missions of Projects Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab, and led the flight control team during NASA's first lunar landing.

Lectures are free and open to the public; however, seating is limited and e-tickets are required. The e-ticket registration form is available at wwwJindahall.org/events. If you have questions, please email events@lindahall.org or call 816.926.8772 to leave a message.

Science Matters - Second Saturday Conversations SEPTEMBER 12 OCTOBER 10

Dairy Tech September 12,11:00 a.m. - Noon Matt Shatto, Shatto Milk Company

Located in Osborn, MO, Shatto Milk Company is a family owned and operated dairy farm and bottling plant

with a 100 year history. Bottles of their varieties of milk have become a familiar sight in Kansas City stores. But what goes into getting fresh milk from cow to bottle to shelf? Join Matt Shatto for an insider's look at the science involved in his family's dairy.

The Art and Science of Winemaking October 10,11:00 a.m. - Noon Jerry Eisterhold, Owner and Founder, Vox Vineyards; and Moss Bittner, Winemaker

Vox Vineyards is an emerging winery on the outskirts of Kansas City, dedicated to retrieving the heritage of rare Midwest native vines. Join Jerry Eisterhold for a conversation about the

founding of the vineyard and its philosophical foundation. Moss Bittner will discuss his work to bring out the varietal character of the more than 40 varieties being studied at the vineyard.

NOVEMBER 14

At press time, Linda Hall Library's programming team is finalizing details for the Second Saturday lecture on November 14. Please look for updates on our website at lindahall.org. You can sign up for our monthly Hedgehog Express newsletter, which will give you the latest information on all of our programming.

DECEMBER 12

Comet Hunter: Observation Logs of David H. Levy December 12,11:00 a.m. - Noon Eric Ward, Vice President for Public Programs, Linda Hall Library

In conjunction with the Library's exhibition "Comet Hunter," Eric Ward,

Vice President for Public Programs, will lead a gallery talk showcasing observation logs from over 60 years, which Dr. David Levy has donated to the Library. Along with Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker, Levy discovered the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994. Levy either discovered or co-discovered 22 comets, including nine using a backyard telescope.

SOCIAL Science Tired of being stuck in rush hour traffic? Need to spice up your social life? Drop by the Library on your way home for a little science and socializing with like-minded friends. Social Science is an adult event, welcoming those 21 and over to grab a drink and enjoy a science talk on a fun topic.

SEPTEMBER 21 I OCTOBER 14

Dark Horse Distillery Monday, September 21,5:30 p.m. -6:30 p.m.

Damian Garcia, Director of Marketing and Sales, and Patrick Garcia, Head Distiller, Dark Horse Distillery

The team from Dark Horse Distillery will talk about the science of distillation and how they create their hand-crafted spirits from grain to bottle.

Kansas City Bier Company Wednesday, October 14,5:30 p.m. -6:30 p.m.

Kansas City Bier Company opened in 2014 and has become Kansas City's largest locally-owned craft brewery. Join Steve Holle, founder and

brewmaster, for a look at the technology and science of brewing traditional German-style beers.