Letters from Jim Scanlon

Forrest M. Mims III

Jim Scanlon was as prolific a writer of newspaper articles and letters to editors as he was a correspondent with scientists and friends. He wrote some 100 e-mails to Dr. James Slusser, one of the world's leading ultraviolet scientists and director of the United States Department of Agriculture's UV-B Monitoring and Research Program at Colorado State University. My collection of letters from Jim began with a fax that arrived the morning of 26 May 1994. The fax was preceded by a telephone call from a polite gentleman who introduced himself as a non-scientist but who seemed to have a good understanding of very technical aspects of ozone and solar ultraviolet. He said he had followed my columns in Scientific American and was very intrigued by how I lost the column because I do not accept Darwinian evolution, which he and most scientists do. He politely brought this issue up various times over the years, especially in some of his final e-mails in March 2005. Jim was also interested in our dramatically different views about politics and religion. Jim mainly asked questions and never tried to change my views. I reciprocated in kind, and this mutual respect kept our friendship strong.

Most of our correspondence was about science. And I always enjoyed receiving and answering his telephone calls and e-mails. I especially looked forward to receiving Jim's e-mails and postcards from Punta Arenas, his ozone data, and his questions and comments about my research. Last year we exchanged a string of messages about his assistance in collecting air samples from the Pacific Coast during passage of smoke from Southeast Asia. He was very disappointed that most of the microscope slides in his first package had broken. But I was able to study them anyway, and Jim devised a better way to send future packages. Our mutual love of science fueled our 11-year correspondence, an unedited selection of which follows.

Jim Scanlon's First Letter to Forrest Mims

JIM SCANLON
SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA

May 26, 1994

TO: FORREST MIMS

It was a surprise enough to see your letter in Nature on NASA's satellite underestimate, and then on your comments on fossilized amber and insects (where I can't even remember now) [both Science and Nature]). I should not have been surprised to see your letter [in Nature] on Darwin's reference to God, but I was really taken aback to see your letter in the New Yorker taking a "poke"; at Seymour Hersh. I have always admired Seymour, but it's great to see you treating him the same way you treat NASA.

I have been meaning to write to you about my writing to the New Yorker for them to do a profile on YOU. I admit that I don't know much about you, but I was always a fan of your Scientific American series and from the little I heard about your leaving, it sounds like a very interesting story that I thought you might want to get out.

It seems like your life is a good example of an old fashioned individualist going his own way, and that you can do it today and succeed is amazingly inspirational and a story that should be told.

Please let me know if you do not want me to write to the New Yorker. You have my address and I now can be reached by e-mail at jimscanlon@aol.com.

Best wishes to you and your family.

Jim Scanlon

Asian Air Pollution

Subj: Re: More Interesting information
Date: 11-29-97 18:29:10 EST
From: jscanlon@linex.com (Jim Scanlon)

HI FORREST:

This morning I couldn't sleep. I read The New York Times article about Asian Air Pollution and was trying to read a letter in Nature on the same subject, but there were strange noises coming from outside. There were a couple of drunks arguing and I had to go out twice to yell at them. When I got half through the letter, I looked at the author's name and sure enough it was you.

You are really doing a great job. And what is great is you are getting recognized. Ah, but watch out for the jealousy!

Congratulations,

Jim

Jim Scanlon Captures Asian Smoke for Forrest Mims at Point Reyes

Subj: Re: More Interesting information
Date: 3/31/2004 1:48:33 PM CST
From: j.scanlon@comcast.net (Jim Scanlon)

Hi Forrest:

I made two slides yesterday next to the parking lot at the Point Reyes Lighthouse.

I used a tripod and a modified Whole Foods can that had contained mixed nuts. I cleaned and disinfected the can. I attached the silvered cardboard can to the quick release plate on a camera tripod, put a piece of 2" clear plastic tape over one end of the can and left it for 20 minutes, braced so that it was directly in the wind as it blew off the Pacific. I'll get the altitude and the coordinates later.

I had a little trouble with the "light duty" tape sticking to the slides. I'm not sure if it was the tape or if it was due to moisture. I'll try the "heavy duty tape also. The time was between 5:30 and 6:30 PST, which seemed right for the small chance of success you mentioned.

I used glass slides from my friend Richard Plant who went along for the ride. I cleaned them with the sterilization wipes for diabetics and also with treated wipes used for eye glasses. It seemed that the eyeglass wipes did a better job.

It was very windy, 30-40 mph with gusts of 55 according to a US National Weather Service Meteorologist tourist who happened to be visiting with a portable device for measuring wind.

Where do you want me to send the two slides I have?

I'll send a couple of images I took of he site and the apparatus I set up.

Hope all is well,

Jim Scanlon

More Smoke Collection at Point Reyes

Subj: Smoke Project
Date: 4/17/2004
From: j.scanlon@comcast.net (Jim Scanlon)

Forrest:

Thanks for the update. I got three slides yesterday all from the marine layer. Today I got four more but only one from the marine layer, because I went to some trouble to get over it or around it.

Even though there is no forecast of smoke near the surface, I'm going to get two more samples tomorrow from Mt Tamalpais, the highest point in my county, about 2,400 feet above sea level. I will not take any more until the prognosis improves.

After you review the samples I intend to send on Monday (properly packed and by Airborne Express unless you specify Fed Ex or UPS) then we can get a better idea of the best site and conditions to take samples in the future.

I will send along with the slides images of where I took the samples.

I am not at all discouraged. One of the insights I got from my interest in the environmental effects of ozone depletion is HOW HARD IT IS TO COLLECT DATA. And how seductive and illusory it is to work with models and preconceived notions of what should be happening. This one of the reasons I so deeply admire the British Antarctic Survey for their years of patient work and why I am so supportive of our field scientists who do the "pick and shovel"

Of course you are an exception, a "lone wolf" now working with the assistance of one of your "cubs". I am happy that I am able to do something to assist.

Best wishes,

Jim Scanlon

PS In addition to taking the samples today, I had a delightful drive down the California coast, just stunningly beautiful in springtime green with intermittent misty fog blowing from the water. I bought an avocado, some ham, some fromage d'afinouir, a loaf of bakery fresh bread and a bottle of water. I listened to a tape of a book by James Glieck and had a really nice day and now I'm going to bed.

Letter from Punta Areana, Chile

Subj:Re: Hello from South America
Date:11/3/2004 10:16:23 AM Central Standard Time
From:j.scanlon@comcast.net

Dear Forrest:

Yes, things are looking good for my little project with the Museum. I am" IN" as the saying goes. I spent the morning scanning temperature, humidity and wind speed tables for the years 1909-1910. I am going to see tonight how my OCR program handles the scans. This afternoon I hope to get up to 1915. The data is in form of bound post cards. Apparently there were subscriptions and the data was sent in the form of a fold up post card.

The data from 1915 to 1945 is in the form of a booklet, probably 100 pages or so. The oldest data is in the form of ledgers a few notebooks. It starts in 1887. I will be looking especially carefully for the tropospheric ozone data taken over an 8 year period around the turn of the century.

I was glad to have the boring work to do since it took my mind off the election, of which I have only "echoes"down here.

Best wishes,

Jim

Planning to Write for The Citizen Scientist

Subj:Re: Hello from South America
Date:11/16/2004 10:15:18 AM Central Standard Time
From:j.scanlon@comcast.net

Dear Forrest:

Things are progressing nicely down here. I should have at least a preliminary article with photos for The Citizen Scientist. which I hope to be able to send from Santiago. Last year I couldn't have done it because I usually can't connect my lap top to the Internet there as I an here in Punta Arenas.
Now, if I can't connect wirelessly from La Moneda plaza where I read in the paper it is now possible, I can use a Cyper Cafe PC and one of the little pocket USB drives which I have with me.

Will you be going to the AGU meeting in December? Or, if you want to stay in my humble abode and take the ferry each day, you can stay with me. It's not as simple as staying at a hotel near Mosconi, but it is much less expensive and you get free taxi service to and from the ferry from me. It makes life a little complicated, but if I can contribute towards your work, I would feel honored.

Best wishes,

Jim Scanlon

Doing Science at Punta Arenas

Subj:Re: Hello from South America
Date:11/28/2004
From:j.scanlon@comcast.net

Hi Forrest:

I'm back in Punta Arenas and that little project of mine to digitize the hundred and some odd years of weather data collected by five Salesian (Worker) priests has proven very successful so far. I could not have expected so much progress from such a small investment: a good HP workstation, a scanner and a few thousand dollars. The records are all separated by year and is being digitized. I am going to look through what is there tomorrow and will start scanning myself, the data booklets that were published starting in 1887 until 1953 I think. There is overlap until the present I believe.

What is, I think, most important is that the Director, who was kind of reserved with me when I spoke to him in June is much different now and I feel he trusts me because of the off handed way I gave him the money and didn't interfere in any way with what he was doing. He said he would give me something to take back to the US for the AGU fall meeting and I am just going to sit back and see what I get. I will have free rein of the library and the room in which two young women are working. It is hard to believe that they are being paid by me! I am going to look first for the tropospheric ozone data.

What surprised me was that the Museum has some 40,000 old photographs, many on glass plates which are being digitized and stored in an access data base. There are many images of mountain glaciers and snow fields which can be compared to today. I'm not sure how useful this might be scientifically, for after all, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, "If you've seen one shrunken glacier, you've seen'em all!" But you never know.

I have half a mind to take a two day trip and boat ride to Puerto Natales to visit the Balmaceda glacier and photograph it. I made that trip in 1990 and have slides. That's the trip I got snow blindness. I already saw the 18?? old photo. I have the 1990 slides and with one today and maybe a postcard of two it would make a nice computer slide presentation.

I don't have daily access to the Internet and the connection I do have is slow. I'm thinking that I could write a follow up for the Citizen Scientist site on this Museum Project. It might be good for America's Roman Catholics to be reminded of how some members of the Church were in the forefront of scientific investigation during the 19th Century and had the goal of "improving humanity by way of science and technology" I can't tell the whole story, it's really too weird, but it is still a good story.

Let me know what you think.

Best wishes as always

Jim Scanlon

Jim Scanlon Down on Intelligent Design and Up on the Ozone Layer

Subj: Intelligent Design
Date: 3/25/2005 11:11:39 PM Central Standard Time
From:j.scanlon@comcast.net

Dear Forrest:

I hesitated sending you this article which I wrote for the Coastal Post, thinking you might be offended but after my original hesitation I am sending it for your information because I truly believe that the promotion of "Intelligent Design" and Creationism is a terrible mistake.

Hope all is well with you and your family. I noticed today the tremendous difference in stratospheric ozone between the northern and southern hemispheres.

Best wishes,

Jim Scanlon

Jim Scanlon on Darwin, Vitamin D, Ozone and Asian Smoke

Subj: Re: Thanks for your kind comments
Date:3/28/2005 4:43:31 PM Central Standard Time
From:j.scanlon@comcast.net

Dear Forrest:

I agree with you on [Charles Darwin's] "The Voyage of the Beagle," which, as I said, I read when I was either 17-19 or when I was 21. I remember reading in in the back yard of my home and I also remember frequent references to God and other pious comments. This is what bothers me about the attacks on him by the sincere fundamentalists and the hucksters of religion.

The first CD ROM I ever purchased was called Darwin and was a Ph.D. project by a man from Washington State. I later used it to search for a comment by a scholarly man who ran a paint store in Punta Arenas in 1990. He said that Darwin referred to the "strength of the sun" in Tierra del Fuego. I read and re read the chapters on Chile and Argentina and could not find anything excerpt on incident where sailors towing the Beagle somewhere down the got sunburned. That would not be surprising on a clear day during the summer or late spring, especially with sailors who might have taken off their shirts and exposed their very white skin.

I never continued the search into Darwin's Journal which I understand was published. I was not aware that the text had been altered to remove the references to a, or the, Creator. That would be falsification of the past and attempting to make the man into something he wasn't! It is obvious that Darwin was pained by the implications of his work and that he tried to avoid the controversy that he knew would be caused by publication.

I wrote a little essay twenty years or so ago stating that it was only when confronted by a competitor, Alfred Wallace, who might claim precedence, that he aroused himself , and the rest is history which is as you seem well aware, is crude and easily twisted.

I only meant to ask if you were familiar with Dr. Grant's work., not with vitamin D. It follows you hypothesis about the environmental effects of diminished UVB.

I am not sure if I wrote you the other day about the tremendous difference in stratospheric ozone in the northern and southern hemispheres based on the Earth Probe TOMS web site.

Several people asked me about your work with Asian smoke. Is there anything new? Are you going to need more samples from the Pacific Coast? My equipment is still in the trunk of my car. And I have a gross of slides I never used. Do you need any? I can ship them right away since they are still in the shipping container.

Best wishes and I'll make sure to check out your web site after I do my taxes.

Jim Scanlon

Jim Scanlon's Last E-Mail to Forrest Mims

Subj:Congratulations!
Date:4/3/2005 12:03:32 AM Central Standard Time
From:j.scanlon@comcast.net

Dear Forrest;

I just finished your short essay on the history of MITS. Very exciting and interesting and very nicely done. Your article confirms my contention that science and technology are branches of the arts. What a bunch of guys, all with wives and children and mortgages and car payments all spending what little free time they have imagining, creating, making something happen, work!

And all in one lifetime! You were there at (please excuse the analogy) the Cambrian Electronic Explosion! I finished doing my taxes this morning using Turbo Tax and the intricacy of that software reaching out to the IRS to the tax people in California, Intuit's computer and especially the flawless way their software functions! It amazed me every time I went back and changed something and how the recalculations were made --- unfortunately always toward paying more taxes!

(The high taxes were my responsibility. I knew what I was doing funding my little southern hemisphere climate data project. I wanted to get it done!)

But, the big news is that you are a grandfather! Congratulations to you and your wife. There is so much violence and death in the news that it is nice to be reminded of the good things do happen to good people.

I talked to Stan Anderson about something, I can't remember what, about ten years ago. So the Microtops II is, in a way, a MIMS continuation of MITS.

I have a new appreciation of the hard work you have done over the years in expressing your scientific artistry. What is even nicer is that your family supports and sustains you as you do them. Wonderful!

Best wishes for your continued success.

Jim Scanlon