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OSU professor aimed to prove “We are not alone”

November 16, 2012 / drobik.5@osu.edu / Comments Off

J. Allen Hynek, 1954

We are taking a little break from “Fridays filled with Fun Football Facts” to look at the bigger picture – a much bigger picture, according to Josef Allen Hynek, a former OSU professor, whose research inspired the Steven Spielberg film, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Hynek was an astronomer who conducted independent research into Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs. Here’s his story:

Hynek was born on May 1, 1910, in Chicago to Czechoslovakian parents. He went on to attend the University of Chicago; he graduated with honors and was valedictorian of the class of 1931, and then went on to receive his Ph.D. in 1935. He came to Ohio State later that year as an instructor of astronomy, and he later taught in the Department of Physics.

During World War II, Hynek was granted a leave of absence to work at Johns Hopkins University, where he was reported as developing “proximity fuses” in its applied physics laboratory. In November 1950, he was named OSU’s Assistant Dean of the Graduate School. During that appointment, Dr. Hynek continued to teach both astronomy and physics, and to act as Director of the McMillin Observatory on campus. Hynek became well-known for his research with rockets, leading to more time away from campus on government projects. He resigned from Ohio State in January 1960, to take over leadership of Northwestern University’s Department of Astronomy.

Hynek inside OSU’s McMillan Observatory, 1940s

Dr. Hynek went on to pen The UFO Experience, which was published in 1972. In that book, Hynek describes three types of UFO encounters. The first kind is one in which a UFO appears, but leaves no evidence; the second kind is one in which a UFO leaves physical evidence, such as broken branches or burns. The third kind is one in which contact is made. In 1977 Steven Spielberg released his multi-million dollar movie inspired by Dr. Hynek’s book. Hynek was a technical advisor for the movie and made a cameo appearance. The movie has grossed $300 million worldwide so far.

It seems that all of the publicity surrounding Dr. Hynek’s work ultimately embarrassed Northwestern University administrators, who called for his Center for UFO Studies to be kept entirely separate from the university. Hynek ultimately retired from Northwestern in 1978 and moved to Arizona to continue his work. He passed away in 1986.

Now, while we are on the subject of space and extraterrestrials, did you also know that OSU was also looking for life on other planets? Beginning in 1973, Ohio State’s radio telescope has been scanning for radio emissions from space as part of a project called “Big Ear,” the name of the telescope.

“Big Ear”, 1982

The Big Ear telescope was located on land leased from the Ohio Wesleyan University, near Perkins Observatory in Delaware, and was a joint project between Ohio State and Ohio Wesleyan. At the time, it was the only radio observatory in the world to continuously search for signals from space. The project was ultimately terminated when Ohio Wesleyan sold the land in 1996 to the Delaware Country Club so the club could extend its golf course. As for the big question: Did they hear anything? Scientists said that they did receive some signals. However, E.T. will now have to use another telescope to call for a ride home.

Filed by C.N.

Summer School: Who needs to be in a classroom to learn?

July 12, 2012 / drobik.5@osu.edu / Comments Off

During the warmer months of the year, especially, learning doesn’t have to take place in a classroom. For OSU’s civil engineering students, in particular, fieldwork has long been a part of their studies.

In June 1888, some of these students went to camp – sort of – led by OSU Prof. Charles N. Brown – future Dean of the College of Engineering. He and seven students headed about sixty miles southeast of Columbus to prepare a “reconnaissance, preliminary and location survey for a proposed electric railway 2 ½ miles long.” Maps were made and earthwork was partially computed. (We’re pretty certain their idea of “computing” was different from ours.) It wasn’t really our idea of camp, either: The group stayed in a local hotel.

There was then a hiatus from such summer trips until 1900, when Brown again took students off-campus, and this time it really was to a “camp.” (Brown apparently grew up traipsing through the woods with his father, a surveyor in Brown County.)

Nelsonville, 1900

Students on the 1900 trip to the Nelsonville area stayed in tents, two to four students per tent. A tent was set up where a cook prepared the meals; Brown, as camp director, purchased the groceries locally. The camp lasted for four weeks, and cost $20 per student. In that time, students worked on railroad-related projects, “running 12 miles of reconnaissance, 9.2 miles of preliminary line, 5.7 miles of location and taking 4 miles of topography;” in addition, students practiced cross sectioning, computing and drafting.

Yellowstone, 1905

This camp marked the first of many formal summer camps for engineering students, all of which took place in Ohio, with the notable exception of the 1905 trip to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. In 1905 the group entered into a six-week contract with the U.S. Engineering Officer, Major Hiram Chittenden, in charge of the improvement plan for Yellowstone Park. The U.S. government furnished the camp equipment, and all food and transportation within the park for their stay. All members of the group were also given a four-day. all-expense-paid journey through the park. In exchange, the students located 45 miles of “stage road” through surveying and mapping. Topography was taken 500-600 feet on each side of the road and prepared an atlas.

The last outdoor “camp” took place in 1946, after which all camps “went under roof.” The last “contract camp,” in which students and professors were under contract to do work, was in 1941. The last record of a civil engineering camp was in 1952.

Summer School: At OSU, the “practice” of baby-rearing

July 3, 2012 / drobik.5@osu.edu / Comments Off

Home Management House, 1942

OSU could never be called an orphans’ home, but it did once include a program through the Department of Home Economics that focused on the care of orphaned babies.

The Home Management House, run by the Department of Home Economics, was established to teach young women how to run an efficient home and life skills, such as finances, nutrition, and child care. At first these courses were mandatory for all senior women, in place of cadet training required of male students.

Eventually, this requirement was dropped, and the Department of Home Economics established an apartment, and then a house, in which these practical experiences could be taught. The house moved to several locations; its last site was the Alumni Scholarship House on 11^th Avenue near Canfield Hall.

OSU Alumni Monthly, November 1946

These practical experiences included the care of real children: In the early days (1918-1920s), the department ran a nursery school on weekdays and at large events on campus, such as agricultural fairs. Many students also were sent to help out at the homes of married students or graduates of the department who had young children.

During the 1930s, as at many colleges across the country, OSU’s Home Management House introduced a program in which young women could learn mothering skills using a “practice baby.” At that time, groups of young women lived in the Home Management House for half a quarter as part of the coursework for all Home Economics majors.

Every few days, each resident rotated duties: cook, assistant cook, laundress, household manager, and “baby director.” So, for about a week each quarter, students had to change diapers and provide everything else the baby needed. The babies apparently came to the House when they were about three months old and were returned to the adoption agency when they were a year old, to be put in foster care or to be adopted.

The practice of having students take care of practice babies was discontinued sometime around 1958 at which time babies belonging to OSU students were dropped off during the day, as a sort of day care center.

Learn more:

“Coeds In Management House Provide Cozy Home And Family For Orphan Babies” The Lantern, August 21, 1947

“What Were Practice Apartments?” Cornell University Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

“‘Practice babies’: An Outdated Practice, Rediscovered” NPR, January 6, 2011

“A Controversy at Eastern Illinois State Teacher’s College” Eastern Illinois University

Filed by C.N.