Science on the Air: Popularizers and Personalities on Radio and Early Television

325 Pages·2008·1.55 MB·English

by  Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette

Science on the Air
Science on the Air
Popularizers and Personalities on
Radio and Early Television
Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette
The University of Chicago Press
ch i c a g o a n d l o n d o n
mar c e l c ho t k ow s k i l a f o l l e t t e is an independent historian who has taught at the
Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. She is the author of several books, including Making Science Our Own: Public Images
of Science, 9 0– 955, also published by the University of Chicago Press, and Reframing Scopes:
¹ ¹ ¹
Journalists, Scientists, and Lost Photographs from the Trial of the Century.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2008 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2008
Printed in the United States of America
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 1 2 3 4 5
isbn-13: 978-0-226-46759-7 (cloth)
isbn-10: 0-226-46759-7 (cloth)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
LaFollette, Marcel Chotkowski.
Science on the air : popularizers and personalities on radio and early television /
Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
i s b n -13: 978-0-226-46759-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
i s b n -10: 0-226-46759-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Science news—United States—History. 2. Communication in science—United
States—History. 3. Radio—United States—History. 4. Television—United
States—History. I. Title.
q 225.l 343 2008
′
509.73 0904—dc22
2007049905
⃝∞ The paper used in this publication meets the
minimum requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48–1992.
In memory of my grandfather,
carl albert bischof ,
who taught me to read and to listen
Contents
List of Figures ix
Prologue 1
1 Tuxedos and Microphones 7
2 The Radio Nature League 27
3 Syndicating Science 45
4 Cooperative Ventures 65
5 Shifting Ground 87
6 A Twist of the Dial 113
7 Facts and Fictionalizations 133
8 Adventuring with Scientists 157
9 Broadcasting the Voice of the Atom 179
10 Illusions of Actuality 211
Epilogue: Entertaining Lessons 239
Notes 247
Bibliography 281
Acknowledgments 295
Index 299
vii
Figures
1. Austin Hobart Clark, Smithsonian curator and arranger of one of
the first series of science programs on American radio 15
2. Thornton Waldo Burgess, children’s book author and founder
of the Radio Nature League 31
3. Harlow Shapley, director of the Harvard College Observatory 41
4. Hiram Percy Maxim, founder of the American Radio Relay
League, with Science Service director Edwin Emery Slosson 54
5. Watson Davis, managing editor of Science Service 57
6. Watson Davis, Charlotte Davis, and Science Service biology editor
Frank Thone 69
7. Frank Thone at WMAL microphone 70
8. Science Service journalist James Stokley at WMAL microphone 98
9. Austin Clark’s certificate of membership in the Burgess Radio
Nature League 109
10. Cover of the March 1940 educational supplement for the
Smithsonian radio series The World Is Yours 125
11. DuPont Company exhibit advertising Cavalcade of America,
December 1938 136
12. Live broadcast of Cavalcade of America, New Brunswick,
New Jersey, April 19, 1948 138
13. Ernest O. Lawrence, director of the University of California
Radiation Laboratory, April 1939 176
14. Broadcast of the dedication of the new Science Service
headquarters building, December 13, 1941 181
ix