Wald Takes Sabbatical Next Year; Assistants to Teach Nat Sci 5

Natural Sciences 5 will be offered next year although George Wald, who founded the course on an experimental basis three years ago, will take a sabbatical. Wald, professor of Biology, said yesterday that the course will become a permanent part of the curriculum after its National Science Foundation grant expires in June.

Nat Sci 5 is an introductory survey of biology which, unlike most elementary courses, emphasizes a molecular approach to biological phenomena. Wald stresses atomic structure and basic physical concepts in the Fall before turning to the more standard aspects of biology in the Spring.

Returns in 1964

The three assistant professors who lecture in the Spring--Peter Albersheim, John E. Dowling '57, and Johns W. Hopkins--and a visiting professor will give the course during Wald's absence. The popular lecturer will return in September, 1964.

Wald will conduct research on the eye-sight of fish at the Woods Hole laboratories during the summer. In September he will go to Cambridge, England, where he will write and continue his experiments. Before returning to Woods Hole for the summer, 1964, he plans a two-month visit to Stazione Zoologica, the world's leading marine station, in Naples, Italy.

Wald has been teaching at Harvard for 29 years and has never taken a sabbatical before. Nat Sci 5 was Wald's vision, and, by repute, has turned as many scientists into philosophers as it has turned humanists into scientists. His course has been recommended "especially for poets" and persuaded many that the bridge between the Cultures can be bridged.

Talk With Crabs

Previously he taught physiology for six years and biochemistry for 19 years, and his sabbatical will naturally come as a change of pace. Wald plans no teaching, just a year's conversation with crabs."

His wife, also a biologist, and his two children will accompany Wald on his leave. His wife will assist him in his experiments.