CURRENT RESULTS OF BOB AND ANN ROWLAND'S RESEARCH
Bob was trained to be a meteorologist in World War II. He has written a history of
what were then called Premetorology Programs, designed to prepare college
students for an intense study of meteorology. About 30,000 students applied to
enter these programs, and about 10,000 were actually accepted. However, the
program was soon terminated, so only about 5,000 actually received commissions
as meteorologists in the Army Air Force.
Ann once attended the Parker Practice School in Chicago. She has written an essay on Francis W. Parker's influence on education, and the opposition mounted by Chicago politicians who wanted to block his attempts to improve the educational system. See FRANCIS W. PARKER
Because of the adventures told to her by Ann's mother about her experiences in Arizona in 1893 when she was eight years old. Ann has been inspired to learn all she could about the building of the railroad bridge over the daunting Canyon Diablo in 1880. See CANYON DIABLO for more information. Also see An Arizona Family Adventure. 1893 for the story of that trip ro Arizona.
Bob is interested in the natural radioactivity of our planet. All human beings
contain several different radioactive elements in their bodies, which they
acquire from the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the food they eat.
While there is little we can do to change this, it is worth noting that mankind
evolved on our radioactive earth, and there was more radioactivity on the earth
in the past than there is today. It is not unreasonable to assume that not only
is the radioactivity in our bodies good for us, but without it man may not have
evolved from his earliest primitive state into the long-lived, intelligent
being he is today.
A discussion of the kinds and quantities of radioactive elements that are in all humans today will be found in OUR RADIOACTIVE PLANET
The estimated quantities of the radioactive elements in the body are shown in tabular form in Body Activity
A discussion about the most abundant radioisotope in the human body is in K40
Did you ever wonder what actually happened to all of the young women who became radium dial painters? The industry started about 1915, and by the mid-1920s some of these painters were suffering from what became known as radium poisoning. A brief account of this tale of "the women doomed to die" may be found at RADIUM DIAL PAINTERS
Radium in Drinking Water is a problem for many areas in the United States. Those investigators who worked on the Dial Painter study became quite aware of the risks to those individuals who acquired radium within their bodies. The risk increased with the amount of radium ingested, but below a certain intake level there appeared to be no risk due to the acquired radium. This "threshold" behavior has significant implications for the process of setting permissible levels for radium in drinking water. This problem is addressed in RADIUM IN DRINKING WATER
My cousin Ramon was my closest friend when we were growing up. Ann knew him too, for we often did things together. He and I both enlisted in the Army Air Force about the same time. He trained as a B-24 pilot, and was assigned to the 15th Air Force in Italy. He was killed in April of 1945. I have pieced together the facts about his last days, and the story of his death is recounted in RAYMOND E. PATHEAL
Some facts of Ramon's death were obtained from Missing Air Crew Reports (MACRs). The three MACRs mentioned in the above report can be viewed in the following links:
We would both be interested in our reader's comments. Please email your comments and suggestions to:
abrowland@holmstad.com
