Vincit Veritas: A Portrait of the Life and Work of Norman Abraham Haskell, 1905-1970

219 Pages·2005·4.96 MB·English

Vincit Veritas
A Portrait of
The Life and Work
of
Norman Abraham Haskell,
1905-1970
At the helm of his schooner Aleda II in Boston Harbor,
summer 1958.
Vincit Veritas
A Portrait of
The Life and Work
of
Norman Abraham Haskell,
1905-1970
Ari Ben-Menahem, Editor
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vincit veritas: a portrait of the life and work of Norman Abraham Haskell, 1905-
1970 / Ari Ben-Menahem, editor. p.cm. Includes a selection of the papers of N.A.
Haskell. Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-87590-762-8
1. Haskell, Norman Abraham, 1905-1970. 2. Geophysics. 3. Geophysicists--United
States--Biography. I. Haskell, Norman Abraham, 1905-1970. II. Ben-Menahem, Ari.
C)C805.H37V56 1990
550'.92--dc20 90-1288
IBI cIP
Copyright1 990b y the AmericanG eophysicaUl nion,2 000F loridaA venue,
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Contributors ix
Preface xi
A Tribute to Norman--Frank Press xiii
Haskell at AFCRL--Donald H. Eckhardt xv
Haskella nd ContemporarGy eophysics--MN. afi ToksSz xvi
SECTION I: FAMILY BACKGROUND, GENEALOGY AND CHRONOLOGY
Compiledb y the Editor 3
SECTION I1: IN REMEMBRANCE
My Father--Peter A. Haskell 15
Norman Haskell as l Remember Him--Jack Oliver 19
NormanH askell'sC ontributiontso RestartingG eophysics
at M.I.T.--Theodore R. Madden 125
Recollections of a Grateful Student--James Dorman 126
Dr. N. Haskell,V ela Uniform Impact--William J. Best 128
SECTION II1: APPRECIATION OF COLLEAGUES
NormanA .' Haskell:T he Viscosityo f the Asthenosphere
Freeman'Gilbert 3!
Haskell'sW ork on Atmospherica nd LithospheriWc ave Guides--
David G. Harkrider 34
Haskella nd the Originso f the New SourceT heory--
Ari Ben-Menahem 38
Haskell'sS ource-MechanismPa persa nd Their Impacto n
ModernS eismology--KeiitAi ki 412
Haskell'sS eismicS ourceT heory--LeonK nopoff 46
v
Table of Contents
SECTION IV: SELECTED PAPERS
1935-1938
The motion of a viscousf luid under a surfacel oad, Physics, 6,
265-269, 1935.
The motiono f a viscousfl uid undera surfacel oad, part II, Physics,
7, 56-61, 1936.
The viscosityo f the asthenosphereA, merican Journal of Science,
œ$$,2 2-28, 1937.
Significancoef gravitya nomaliesin relationt o the viscositoy f the
asthenosphereN, ature, 1(cid:127)1, 411, 1938.
1951-1962
Asymptotica pproximationfo r the normal modesi n soundc han-
nel wave propagationJ, ournal of Applied Physics,2 2, 157-168,
1951.
The dispersiono f surfacew aveso n multilayeredm edia, Bulletin
of the SeismologicaSl ocietyo f America, dS, 17-34, 1953.
Crustalr eflectiono f planeS H waves,J ournal of GeophysicaRl e-
search, 65, 4147-4150, 1960.
Crustalr eflectiono f planeP and SV waves,J ournal of Geophys-
ical Research,6 7, 4751-4767, 1962.
1963-1967
Radiationp atterno f Rayleighw avesf rom a fault of arbitraryd ip
and directiono f motioni n a homogeneoums edium,B ulletin of
the SeismologicaSl ociety of America, 53, 619-642, 1963.
Total energya nd energys pectrald ensityo f elasticw aver adiation
from propagatingfa ults, Bulletin of the SeismologicaSl ocietyo f
America, 5(cid:127), 1811-1841, 1964.
Total energya nd energys pectrald ensityo f elasticw ave radia-
tion from propagatingfa ults, Part II. A statisticasl ourcem odel,
Bulletin of the SeismologicaSl ocietyo f America, 56, 125-140,
1966.
Analytica pproximatiofno r the elasticr adiationf rom a contained
undergrounde xplosion,J ournal of GeophysicaRl esearch, 7œ,
2583-2587, 1967.
SECTION V: LETTERS 20]
Dear Dr. HaskelI--G. F. HusseyJ, r., RearA dmiral, U.S. Navy.
Dear Dr. Haskell--HaroldB rown,S ecretaryo f the Departmento f the
Air Force.
vi
Table of Contents
Dear Norm--Alfred R. Deptula, Lt. Col., USAF.
Dear Norm--Robert A. Gray,L t. Col., USAF.
Dear Dr. Haskell--LeoA . Kiley,B rigadierG eneral,U SAF.
vii
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Frank Press William J. Best
PresidentN, ationalA cademyo f Sciences 907 Westwood Dr., NE
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Vienna, VA 22180
WashingtonD, C 20418
Freeman J. Gilbert
Donald H. Eckhardt Instituteo f Geophysicasn d PlanetaryP hysics
Director, Earth SciencesD ivision ScrippsIn stitutiono f OceanographUyC SD
GeophysicLsa boratory La Jolla, CA 92093-0225
Air ForceS ystemsC ommand
Hanscom AFB, Bedford, MA 01731 David G. Harkrider
Divisiono f Geologicaaln d PlanetaryS ciences
M. Nafi ToksSz CaliforniaIn stituteo f Technology
Director,E arth ResourceLsa boratory Pasadena, CA 91125
MassachusettIsn stituteo f Technology
E34-400, 42 Carleton St. Ari Ben-Menahem
CambridgeM, A 02142 Earth Sciences Division
GeophysicLsa boratory
Peter A. Haskell HanscomA ir Force Base, MA 01731
19924 Acre Street and
NorthridgeC, A 91324 Departmento f AppliedM athematics
Weizmann Institute of Science
Jack Oliver Rehovot 76100, Israel
Departmenot f GeologicaSl ciences
Snee Hall Keiiti Aki
CornellU niversity Departmenot f GeologicaSl ciences
Ithaca, NY 13853-1504 Universityo f SouthernC alifornia
LosA ngeles,C A 90089-0741
Theodore R. Madden
Departmento f Earth, Atmospherica, nd Leon Knopoff
PlanetaryS ciences Instituteo f Geophysicasn d PlanetaryP hysics
MassachusettIsn stituteo f Technology Universitoyf CaliforniaL, osA ngeles
CambridgeM, A 02139 LosA ngeles,C A 90024-1567
James Dorman
Associate Director
Centerf or EarthquakeR esearcha nd
Information
MemphisS tate University
Memphis,T N 38152
ix
List of Contributors
Individuals and Institutions That Contributed Information and Doc-
uments
Ruth P. Liebowitz, GL Historian, HanscomA F Base, MA 01731
RobertA . Shrock,L exingtonM, A 02173
Nancy Haskell,C ummaquidM, A 02637
Peter A. Haskell,N orthridgeC, A 91324
HarvardU niversityA lumniR ecordO ff:iceC, ambridgeM, A 02138
The M.I.T. MuseumC, ambridgeM, A 02139
PREFACE
Upon my arrivalt o AFGL in the autumno f 1988, I found in my offices ome
of Haskell'so ld papersa nnotatedw ith his own handwriting. I started to look
for morei n the neighborinogf ficesa nd finallyc ame acrossa box of lettersa nd
notesi n the ResearchL ibrary..VVheIn s howedt his materialt o Don Eckhardt,h is
immediater eactionw as: Why don't you edit a Haskellm emorialv olume?. I
soond iscoveredth at this undertakingw ould not be easy. I had met Normana
few timesd uringS SAa ndA GU meetingisn the sixtiesb, ut apartf romt heseb rief,
professionaeln counters,I knew little about him. The old timers at AFGL, few as
they were,c ouldc overo nly narrowa spectso f his life and career. Eighteeny ears
mayh aven os ignificancoen the geologicatilm e scale,b ut it sufficesto erasem any
traces of a man's material existence.
Apartf rom an extensivsee archin the literature,I begant o lookf or nexto f kin
and true friends.T hroughH arvard'sa lumnir ecordo fficeI reachedh is daughter,
Nancy,a nd met her at her Cummaquidh omew here Haskells pent the last three
yearso f his life. In the serenet ranquilityo f the Cape, overlookingB arnstable
Harbor,t he housea nd its interiors eemt o belongt o somer etireds ea captaino f
bygoneti mes. The family room hasb eenk ept intact and its atmosphereim bues
one with a feelingt hat time stoods till. There, Nancyt old me the story of the
family clock,w hich I shall narratei n SectionI .
Later I flew to Californiat o meet Norman'ss on, Peter, and obtainedf rom him
additionadl ocumentsa nd an invaluablev, ivid imageo f his father, whicha t my
requesth e agreedt o portrayi n this book. Someo f Haskell'sp eers,c olleagues,
friendsa, nds tudentsc herishehdi sm emoryth roughoutth e yearst o sucha n extent
that, four decadesla ter, they still were undert he spello f his charisma.A ir Force
Generalsh, ighr ankingg overnmenotf ficialsa, nds cholarfsr omt he academicw orld
alikew ereu nitedi n their respecta nd appreciationo f his scientifica chievements
and exceptionapl ersonality.H owever,i t is commonlyf elt by all participantso f
this volume that the world of scienceb ears an overdue debt to Norman A. Haskell,
whosec ontributiontso moderns eismologayn d geophysichsa ve been underesti-
mated. I hopet hat this volumes ervesa s a tokeno f recognitionan d gratitude.
I acknowledgteh e endeavorosf all thosew hoc ontributedd irectlya ndi ndirectly
to this book. Foremosits Dr. Don Eckhardtf or his unfailinge ffortst o issuea nd
improveth isv olume.I am indebtedto Dr. FrankP ressf or hise ncouragemenatn d
to Dr. M. Nafi ToksSzf or his advicei n the productiono f the manuscript.I cannot
overstatem y thankst o Nancya nd Peter Haskellw, ho haves uppliedm e with most
of the biographicaml aterial.
Drs. Jack Oliver, James Dorman, Ted Madden, FreemanG ilbert, David Harkrider,
Keiiti Aki, Leon Knopoff,N afi ToksSz,a nd Mr. William Best respondedto my call
and dedicated their time to the success of this book. I thank them all.
xi