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President Robert Gordon Sproul
University of California
Berkeley 4, California
Dear President Sproul:
I wish to endorse the request of the Secretary of
the Navy that Professors rR. Le. Overstreet and Louis Jacobson
participate in the Bikini resurvey being undertaken by the
Navy Department during the coming summer.
As you know, the
possible biological effects of radioactivity from nuclear
fission products are of great concern to the Atomic Energy
Commission, not only as they directly involve problems of
human physiology but also in connection with possible effects
on agriculture and fisheries.
The enormous amounts of fission
products deposited on the reefs and in the waters of Bikini
Atoll as a result of the underwater burst last summer,
and
the very large accumulations of these materials by plants and
animals, make this area an important and unique field experiment station for radiobiological problems of plant nutrition
and soil chemistry.
petence,
Recause of their special experience and mature com-
Professors Overstreet and Jacobson are widely recog-
nized as leaders in these fields.
it is believed that their
participation in the expedition will insure the successful
accomplishment of its most important objectives and that
without them great difficulty may be experienced in attaining
these objectives.
I therefore strongly urge that you authorize the diversion of the time and energies of these scientists
and whatever assistants they may desire from their present inportant work so that they may take part in the expedition.
Sincerely yours,
(6 G
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