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-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Greenberg [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: 05 July 2000 15:25
To: <; <Multiple recipients of list; [log in to unmask]; <
Subject: NLM Exhibit Features Nobelist Joshua Lederberg


Dr. Joshua Lederberg, who won a Nobel prize at 33, always knew he wanted to
be a scientist. At age seven he succinctly expressed this desire in a short
essay in
smudged blue ink on school-lined paper: "I would like to be a scientist of
mathematics like Einstein. I would study science and discover a few theories
of
science." 

This piece of early writing can be seen at a small exhibit at the National
Library
of Medicine on the life and work of Joshua Lederberg. The exhibit coincides
with his 75th birthday. Other items on display include pages from a lab
notebook, Lederberg's high school microscope, his Nobel medal and diploma,
letters, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The exhibit will be up
through
November 30. 

Although Lederberg chose the biological sciences over mathematics, he never
wavered in his commitment or desire to be a scientist. During World War II
he
wrote to a friend, "...the laboratory is more than just a dull place where
you wash
test tubes. There, and not on the dance floor, drill field, or battleground
I'm at my
best." 

The dance floor's loss was science's gain. Lederberg won the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine in 1958 for his research showing that bacteria can
reproduce through sexual recombination and that their genetic material can
be
manipulated by bacterial viruses. 

After winning the Nobel Prize, Lederberg became an increasingly public
scientist, as the documents in the exhibit show. A letter from President
John F.
Kennedy thanks Lederberg for his participation on Kennedy's White House
transition team. Lederberg also wrote over 200 editorials on bioethics,
environmental hazards, emerging infectious diseases, and biological warfare.


Dr. Walter Hickel, who curated the exhibit, says, "in combining pioneering
research in genetics and computer science with political commitment in areas
like environmental protection and arms control, Lederberg has bridged the
gap
between science and society." 

Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg, NLM Director, stated, "Joshua Lederberg is a
seminal figure in the world of molecular biology and he has deservedly
earned
the sobriquet, 'father of molecular genetics.'" Dr. Lederberg, who is a
Sackler
Foundation Scholar at The Rockefeller University in New York City, was
appointed to a four-year term on the National Library of Medicine's Board of
Regents in 1998. He chairs the Board's Research and Development
Subcommittee. 

As announced last year, an electronic version of many of Lederberg's papers
are
featured in Profiles in Science, (http://www.profiles.nlm.nih.gov/), the
Library's
web site devoted to great biomedical scientists in the 20th century. There
you
will find some 3,000 documents, including notebooks, manuscripts, personal
correspondence with other scientists, diary entries, newspaper clippings,
video
interviews, and photographs. New images are added regularly to this site.
Other
scientists represented in Profiles in Science are Oswald T. Avery, Julius
Axelrod, and Martin Rodbell. 

The National Library of Medicine, a part of the National Institutes of
Health, is
the world's largest library of the health sciences. It is located at 8600
Rockville
Pike, Bethesda, Maryland, close to the Medical Center stop on Metro's Red
Line.
The Library is open weekdays week from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. After Labor Day the Library will also be open
Thursday
evenings till 9:00 p.m. 


                                       FOR MORE INFORMATION,
                                        CONTACT: Robert Mehnert
                                              Kathy Gardner Cravedi
                                                    (301) 496-6308
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