The 1919 Solar Eclipse That Made Albert Einstein a Mega Pop-Star

On April 8, of this year, a total solar eclipse occurred across the United States that caused much public awe and excitement. The path of totality ran from Texas on a northeasterly trajectory which took it through upper New England – a rare opportunity for millions of Americans to bask in the awe and wonder of temporary night occurring in mid-day.

Many Americans booked airline tickets to be in the path of totality where our close friend, the moon, comes precisely between our earth and the solar furnace which provides us daylight hours and sustains all life on this planet. Aside from weather problems in some locations, few who made plans to “be there” were disappointed as daylight slowly dissolved into total night producing skies in which even faint stars were visible. Viewers were in awe. Birds and other creatures became confused and excited and then quiet over a nightfall which came on relatively suddenly and completely out of sync with their biological clocks. Even local temperatures dropped several degrees during the eclipse.

In 1919, a very famous total eclipse occurred on the Island of Principe, off the coast of west Africa. A small band of scientists and technicians set sail for that very remote destination with a mission of overriding importance. Their purpose? To test the validity of Albert Einstein’s 1915/16 theory of general relativity.

                                The 1919 Principe Solar Eclipse and Albert Einstein:                         Time Magazine’s Person of the Century

A revolutionary central tenant of Einstein’s earlier theory of special relativity, dating from 1905-1907, declares that mass and energy are equivalent entities in the world of physics. It seemed plausible to Einstein, at that time, that they might even be inter-changeable, in some unknown way, in accordance with Einstein’s derivation that e=mc² where e=energy, m=mass, and c=the constant speed of light (300 million meters per second – a very large number). Accordingly, a very small quantity of mass is theoretically equivalent to a very large energy! The two atomic bombs which ended Japan’s role in WWII proved that the exchange can indeed take place whereby tremendous energy is liberated through nuclear reactions which only slightly reduce the mass of fissionable material in the bomb’s core.

From 1909 to 1916, Einstein was working feverishly to extend special relativity to a new, advanced theory of general relativity which, unlike special relativity,  applies to the physics of systems under gravitational influences – like our solar system…and the universe at large. The nature of this endeavor was mathematically far more intense than any physics Einstein had tackled before. By the time he finally published his perfected conclusions in 1915/16, his mind and body were ravaged by the effort, leaving him near physical and mental collapse.

The four-dimensional space/time framework of special relativity was now revealed as subject to a “curvature” caused by bodies of mass in the system. Essentially, mass curves (or warps) four-dimensional space/time in its region and it is this curvature which determines the (natural) motion of the planets around the sun and not some force of attraction between bodies of mass as Isaac Newton had declared in his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (aka the Principia). Newton’s equations for his force-based “universal gravitation” worked perfectly for most practical purposes…and still do. Today, NASA routinely computes spacecraft orbits using Newton’s three laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. But Einstein, by 1911, was convinced that space/time curvature due to bodies of mass in the region is the real root-explanation of gravity, not Newton’s long-revered theory of an attractive force between bodies of mass.

By 1916, the mathematics and physics all came into harmony for Einstein, and he was absolutely convinced that general relativity would overturn one of physics’ most sacrosanct theories – Newton’s theory of universal gravitation. There were, however, many sceptics in scientific circles – in no small part due to the difficult mathematics required to even comprehend general relativity.

A Brief Review of Space, Time, and Gravity – from Newton to Einstein

Newton’s concise view of the universe (from 1687):

-Conventional three-dimensional absolute space.

-An independent “arrow” of absolute time whose master clock applies simultaneously everywhere throughout space: all clocks run at the same rate.

-Gravity: a force of attraction between any two bodies of mass in the universe whose magnitude is directly proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the separation distance.

-The gravitational force of attraction between the sun and planets and Newton’s famous (and still valid) three laws of motion are what determine the planets’ elliptical paths around the sun. 

Einstein’s modified view of the universe (after 1916):

-We reside in four-dimensional space/time where time is a fourth dimension integral with three-dimensional space.

-Space is not absolute. There is no definable reference-point (think coordinate origin) in space.

-Time is not absolute (no master clock). There is no such thing as “simultaneous events” occurring across space.

-Distance and time measurements in one system are relative only to those in another system. To repeat: there is no standard ruler or clock in the universe.

-There is no force of gravitational attraction between two bodies of mass as postulated in Newton’s theory of universal gravitation. A curvature in four-dimensional space/time occurs in regions near a body of mass (like the sun). A body passing by the sun (like a planet) is not subject to an attractive force keeping it in orbit; instead, a planet naturally follows the curved space/time around the sun’s mass, thus defining its orbit.

Comment on Einstein’s contributions: The concept of four-dimensional space/time along with the relative natures of space and time emanated from the special theory of relativity ca. 1905-1907. The redefinition of Newton’s force of gravitational attraction came from Einstein’s 1915/16 general theory of relativity in the form of a curved four-dimensional space/time around regions of mass.

                                      How to Prove That Einstein Was Correct?                                      Enter the 1919 Principe Total Eclipse!

On October 14, 1913, Albert Einstein wrote a famous letter to astronomer George Ellery Hale of the Mount Wilson observatory, near Los Angeles. I have seen the original letter in the Huntington Library Collection – a memorable experience. Einstein asks Hale if it would be possible to measure the deviation from a straight-line path which might result when a ray of starlight passes close by a sizeable mass like the sun. Einstein reasoned that any such detected deviation could prove his theory of curved four-dimensional space/time in the regions surrounding such a mass. A ray, or beam, of starlight is essentially electromagnetic energy which, historically, was assumed to travel in a straight line through Newtonian three-dimensional space. Any deflection of the light path would indicate the presence of curved four-dimensional space/time in the region near the sun’s mass – per Einstein’s proposed theory of general relativity. Newton’s universe, as revealed in his masterwork book, the Principia, would not produce such a deflection.

However, since Einstein’s revelation in 1907 that e=mc², the energy/mass equivalence inherent in that most famous equation in physics suggests that the mass aspect of a light beam’s energy would, in fact, be susceptible to an attraction to the sun’s mass in accordance with Newton’s interpretation that gravity represents an attractive force between any two bodies of mass – the sun and the mass aspect of the light beam, in this case!

Given the above statement, one might ask how a measured deflection in the starlight’s path would possibly prove Einstein’s contention that curved space/time is the cause of the deflection, and not Newton’s force between masses?

The answer: the calculated deflection for Einstein’s curved space/time is twice the value which would be result from the gravitational attractive force of Newton! Clearly, any deflection measurements made in the field would require extreme care and accuracy in order to conclusively prove Einstein’s general theory.

A Total Eclipse of the Sun Is Required

Recall that on October 14, 1913, Einstein had written a letter to the famous astronomer, George Ellery Hale, of the Mount Wilson Observatory in Los Angeles, California. Einstein asked if it might be possible to detect and measure any deflection in the normally straight-line path of starlight as it passes close-by the sun on its way to earth.

From the above version of the sketch Einstein made in his letter to George Hale, one can see how any deflection in the beam of starlight passing close to the sun could be determined by comparing the calculated actual position of the star in question with the observed apparent position of the star as seen through the astronomer’s optical equipment. A total eclipse of the sun would be required to have any hope of seeing the star in question next to a normally very intense solar brightness. The greater the deflection of the light beam, the greater the difference between the calculated actual vs. observed apparent positions of the star in the heavens.

In Einstein’s 1913 letter to Hale, he had assigned a 0.84 arc-second deflection as the expected value. He later, in 1915, refined his estimate to be roughly 1.75 arc-seconds – close to the measured value recorded at Principe in 1919. Note: one arc-second is 1/3600 of a degree – very small. 

                                     The 1919 Total Eclipse Verified Einstein’s                                 Claim for Curved Space/Time!

The observed angular deflection at Principe of approximately 1.75 arc-seconds of angle was close enough to that predicted by Einstein in 1915 as his general theory of relativity was being published. To repeat, the calculated angular deflection to be expected using Newton’s theory of gravitation based on an attractive force between any two bodies of mass yields an angular deflection of approximately half the 1.75 arc-seconds observed and predicted by the curved space/time hypothesis of general relativity!

Once Arthur Eddington and colleagues thoroughly combed through the myriad photographic plates and data logs involved in team’s efforts at Principe, the announcement of confirmation was made and carried world-wide.

The interest and adulation of the global audience that quickly followed changed Albert Einstein’s life forever. He was no longer regarded as an ivory-tower scientist who made former, radical claims about light, space, and time (some of which were, as yet, not convincing even to scientists of stature). With general relativity, he had successfully embellished even his previous, startling claims for special relativity. The total eclipse at Principe had revealed the genius and the validity of his foundational efforts over the previous decade. Now, he had, literally overnight, achieved a world-wide pop-icon status that could hardly have been imagined possible. Einstein’s catapult to fame and public recognition will, likely, never be equaled again – certainly not by mere entertainers. The global public could not get enough of the doe-eyed professor/philosopher with the curly, unruly hair that we saw so often in later life. Ordinary peoples of the world, 98 per-cent of whom had no real sense of Einstein’s accomplishments were, nevertheless, suddenly in awe of this other-worldly figure because his claims that seemed so contrary to common-sense, were being now accepted by the best and brightest minds in the world.

His subsequent elevation in the scientific world was akin to riding a high-speed elevator directly to the pinnacle of scientific fame. For most of us who know something of science and its historical development, Einstein is the only serious challenger to the genius of Isaac Newton who has long occupied the lonely top of the intellectual/scientific pyramid.

Unlike Newton, Einstein was, inherently, a very sagacious philosopher in addition to his scientific status. His numerous and oft-published quotations reveal both a philosopher’s acuity and a rascally sense of humor peppered with self-deprecating commentary. My yardstick for scientific greatness asks the questions, “Who has most changed our concept of the world around us and the way we live our lives today, and who else, at the time, could have possibly advanced science in the same way to the same degree?” In my opinion, Newton and Einstein are in a class of their own.

My Motivation for This Blog Post

The public enthusiasm for the recent eclipse of April 8 made me think of Einstein and the famous 1919 Principe total eclipse which proved Einstein correct in his assertions for general relativity. Einstein’s 1915/16 publication of general relativity has been referred to as one of the most remarkable and sublime creations ever to emerge from the human mind: this from people who really understand the content and magnitude of the effort.

I love that the public became so enthralled over the recent eclipse, but I am also saddened over the lack of awe and wonder for the many scientific miracles inherent in nature that we so often take for granted while barely noticing. The story of Principe is the story of just another total solar eclipse – a relatively mundane fact of nature compared to the incredible scientific content of the accompanying story – the confirmation of general relativity. It saddens me that, today, there is not more public curiosity – not to understand, but to merely know and wonder about such things. It has been my goal to help the cause by sharing some information!

First Edition Offprint of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity – 1916

 

Oppenheimer: The Movie and the Man

Two so-called “summer blockbuster” movies were recently released to theatres in the grand tradition of past studio offerings. In recent years, the movie industry has had to face the new world of mass-produced entertainment, multiple streaming outlets, large home-theatre screens, and video overload for the public. Notable theatre releases have become rare and the old concept of “going to the movies” is now a quaint memory for us older folks.

Hollywood’s current answer to all of this are two high-budget films, Barbie and Oppenheimer, whose themes and target audiences could not be more different. Linda and I went to see Oppenheimer in all its imax glory, recently. This post is both a review of the movie and a brief retrospective on the real-life J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico. With the success of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer and his colleagues not only abruptly ended the War with Japan in 1945, they forever changed the world in which we live while emphasizing the dire need for international peace and cooperation between the peoples of this earth. From all reports, the Barbie film adroitly adds fanciful humor and adult insight to the nostalgia of Mattel’s iconic Barbie Doll – pure entertainment! Oppenheimer tells the story of what, in my personal opinion, is the most dramatic and impactful event in the annals of recorded history – the story of Los Alamos and the development of the atomic bomb and what it portends for humanity.

Central to the drama and historical consequence of Los Alamos are the personal stories of two of the greatest minds in the annals of physics: Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer. Einstein was, deservedly, Time Magazine’s Person of the (20th) Century for revolutionizing the physics of space and time with his theories of special and general relativity. If J. Robert Oppenheimer was the father of the atomic bomb, Einstein was its unwitting godfather by virtue of his early findings on relativity. Einstein’s genius and his contributions to physics are second only to those of Isaac Newton (a close call). Oppenheimer’s brilliant mind was, reputedly, and arguably, of course, second to none in recorded history.

           “It was clear also at Los Alamos that he was intellectually superior to us”                                     – Hans Bethe, Nobel Laureate in physics

Hans Bethe went on to say that “Oppenheimer was a tremendous intellect,” and that he had never known anyone quite so quick in comprehending both scientific and general knowledge. He recalled that Oppenheimer knew everything that happened at Los Alamos – from the physics laboratory to the machine shop. Similar testimonials left behind by Nobel Prize winning physicists who were recruited to Los Alamos by Oppenheimer and worked under him bear irrefutable witness to his brilliance. Almost to a person, those who were there said the success of the bomb program at Los Alamos could not have happened without “Oppie” conducting the technical orchestration required across multiple disciplines. These testimonials came from the best minds that Europe and the United States had to offer, scientific minds not given to hyperbole. With no managerial experience whatsoever prior to his appointment as THE technical leader on the atomic bomb project – no surprise to anyone – he proceeded to astonish even his scientific colleagues with his ability to quickly acquire and implement the management skills necessary to complement General Leslie Groves’ efforts as military liason in charge of the Manhattan Project – reporting to the highest levels in Washington.

Why were so many European scientists involved at Los Alamos, and why the remote, high-desert wilderness of New Mexico? Significantly, many of America’s top scientific minds in 1942 were recent Jewish refugees who came to this country in the nineteen-thirties to escape the Nazi threat sweeping Europe. Many of them had been working abroad at the cutting edge of the new science of quantum mechanics. Einstein himself arrived here in 1931 for that very reason, although he never worked on the atomic bomb program and remained a resident fellow at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study during the war effort where his sole charter was to continue satisfying his curiosity about the laws of nature. The very real possibility that German physicists might be first to develop a nuclear weapon struck terror in the hearts of these immigrants from Europe who had no doubts concerning Hitler’s motives.

As for the unlikely choice of remote Los Alamos as the gathering place for some of the world’s finest scientific minds, there were two justifications. First: absolute military secrecy was a requirement for developing the most powerful weapon known to man. We were at war with both Germany and Japan, and our supposed ally, Russia under Stalin, was suspect at best. Second: Oppenheimer’s prosperous family had access to a cabin in the Pecos Wilderness, near Los Alamos – a place where Robert and his younger brother, Frank, spent youthful summers exploring the landscape on horseback. Oppenheimer knew and loved this high desert wilderness, far from the hum and crowded conditions of academic and industrial centers back east where strict secrecy would be impossible.

It was Oppenheimer who recommended Los Alamos as the site of one of history’s most dramatic developments, and it was Oppenheimer who convinced the necessary legion of Nobel Laureates and the best and brightest of developing young minds to follow him there. He and General Leslie Groves, the military officer who, with Oppenheimer would run the program, could not describe to this mother-lode of scientific talent just where they (and their families – of necessity) were to be relocated or just what they would be working on! Yet most of them signed-on to such a vague circumstance because they believed in J. Robert Oppenheimer and because of the need to insure that German scientists had no unrecoverable, top-secret head start on nuclear weapons technology. Many of the recruits had already surmised that the work at Los Alamos would be connected to the earlier blockbuster reports from Germany that Hahn and Strassman had succeeded in “splitting the atom” in 1938.

Albert Einstein’s “Bit Part” in the Film

Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos have the central starring roles in Oppenheimerwhich does an excellent job of telling both stories. Einstein has but a bit part in the film even though it was he, in 1905, who unwittingly paved the long road leading to Los Alamos in the high desert of New Mexico and  then onward to today’s massive arsenals of nuclear weapons. Albert Einstein, a world-class pacifist, was never attempting to build bombs. His scientific efforts were motivated solely by an insatiable curiosity regarding nature’s most elusive secrets.

Einstein’s 1905 paper on special relativity ended (almost as a footnote) with the most famous equation in all of physics: e=mc² which suggests that a tiny bit of mass is equivalent to a very large quantity of energy – the fundamental principle behind the immense destructive power of nuclear weapons. Einstein’s theory of special relativity changed not only our notions of absolute space and absolute time, but our long-held belief that energy and matter are separate and distinct entities – not interchangeable. Einstein’s famous and simple equation expressed that (theoretically, at least) mass and energy are two manifestations of the same entity and that one could possibly be converted into the other – but how? That question had no answer for the next thirty-three years – until 1938 when the two German researchers (Hahn and Strassman) demonstrated nuclear fission in the laboratory on a tiny, experimental scale. Einstein’s mass/energy principle had been visited, and now the die for future nuclear development was cast.

In an atomic bomb, a number of atomic nuclei in fissionable material such as plutonium or enriched uranium 235 are bombarded by atomic particles (bullets). Some of these target nuclei split into separate individual masses whose collective mass is slightly less, in each case, than their original nuclear mass before “fissioning.” High-energy neutrons are released by the fission process (in accordance with Einstein’s equation, e=mc²) which then, like still more random bullets, split neighboring atomic nuclei in still greater numbers and the process continues to build exponentially. Such a run-away “chain reaction” produces tremendous net energy (virtually instantaneously) before the nuclear material is totally spent. The Trinity Test which produced history’s first atomic explosion occurred on July 14, 1945 at Los Alamos. A plutonium core no larger than a bowling ball liberated the energy equivalent of close to ten-thousand tons of TNT – enough to completely flatten a small city with a single bomb.

Imagine the pressures on those involved in the Manhattan Project, especially Oppenheimer. The task? Leveraging the infant laboratory results of Hahn and Strassman from 1938 (fission in a teapot, one might say) and, from that meager beginning, advancing atomic physics far enough to build and demonstrate an immensely powerful, deliverable weapon of war in less than three years while working from a remote, start-from-scratch outpost like Los Alamos. The stakes: ending World War II and ensuring that Nazi fascism would not triumph over the west should Germany initiate a successful bomb program of its own. Imagine the ignominy for Washington and all involved with Los Alamos if, after spending tremendous national resources on the Manhattan Project, the initial test was a dud. Not only was the Trinity test a complete success on July, 14, 1945, but two successful detonations over Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war less than a month later.

As for the Film, Itself:

The film, Oppenheimer, is a triumphantly successful effort to bring the complete story alive for the public audience. For those who are scientifically and historically inclined, the film delivers the goods. For those more interested in human beings – their conflicts and their triumphs, the film displays brilliantly, the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the center of gravity for the entire Los Alamos story.

Cillian Murphy is perfectly cast as J. Robert Oppenheimer. The sparse, slender frame/persona is spot-on, the gaunt, angular face and cheekbones register, and the critically important, prominent blue eyes could not have been closer to the real thing. From the many film clips and pictures I have seen over the years, Oppenheimer’s eyes could belie, at times, a piercing impatience with the merely- mortal intellects he found around him, and, at other times, a far-away preoccupation with distant thoughts and formative ideas. What really registered with me was Murphy’s obvious grasp of the personal mannerisms and speech of his subject. Oppenheimer’s exaggerated flair with the ever-present cigarette and his many other gestures are perfectly captured by the actor.

For the typical move-goer, these things might not seem so important to the credibility of the film. To me, they are important, for just as the real J. Robert Oppenheimer was the indispensable ingredient for the success of the Manhattan Project, Cillian Murphy and his fine portrayal is critical to the full impact of the film on those of us who know and understand the human and historic story of Los Alamos. I hope the Motion Picture Academy is listening.

In summary, everything about Oppenheimer, the film and its production, is laudable. It covers a complex four-year period quite completely, accurately, and at a very brisk clip. This is a film everyone should see.

A highly recommended prerequisite to viewing the film, Oppenheimer!

 By all means, first watch the 1980 documentary by Jon Else named The Day After Trinity. In only ninety spellbinding minutes, it will beautifully set the scene for you, largely through the first-hand accounts of the scientists and others who lived the story and who personally contributed to Los Alamos’ success. You will understand the fast-paced movie far better after viewing this film. It is an absolute gem of a documentary – my favorite of all the numerous documentaries in my DVD collection – covering many subjects!

Finally, the human drama at-play in Los Alamos and its immediate aftermath – the dropping of two atomic bombs on the Japanese Cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which abruptly ended our war with Japan – that is the real message that both The Day After Trinity and Oppenheimer wish to convey. Now it has been done, and it should never be done again. J. Robert Oppenheimer was, in many ways, a victim of the bomb, as were others who worked on the program. The heavy responsibility he bore, and the inevitable misgivings which surfaced over its use ultimately consumed Oppenheimer in his remaining years.

For me, nothing can match the drama and the human lessons that stem from the Los Alamos saga, a story which begins back in 1905 with the purely scientific determination by Albert Einstein that e=mc², and then proceeds to document the abrupt end of World War II in August of 1945 using the atomic bomb. Today, we struggle with the world-wide proliferation of nuclear weapons – weapons with routinely one-hundred times the destructive power of the bombs dropped on Japan. It is precisely the situation that J. Robert Oppenheimer feared once the nuclear genie was let loose from the bottle.

Despite Oppenheimer’s best personal efforts after the war, the world community never reacted sufficiently to his plea. He felt that the world control of nuclear weapon production and proliferation should have begun “the day after Trinity.” Alas, that did not happen.

 

Note: As always, the author has no commercial involvement or interest in any product or service mentioned in this document.

A Decorated World War II P-51 Fighter Ace: Vanishing Traces in a Decaying Detroit Suburb

There are few things in this world that do not interest me. The 225 posts which comprise this blog – observations and musings of a lifetime – illustrate the contention, I believe.

In this post, I dwell on two seemingly diverse and unrelated aspects of life and living. I will relate to you, the reader, how my primary interest led to the second.

The history and art of manned flight is foremost among the many categories to which I devote my time and energy. For that, I thank the legacy of my father.

One of the most fascinating categories within man’s recent relationship with space and powered flight are the accounts of fighter pilots and bomber crews during World War II. The stories that come down to us from those who flew in the storied Eighth Air Force, operating out of England, are riveting. The fighter pilots of the “Mighty Eighth” were primarily responsible for the defeat of Nazi Germany’s vaunted Luftwaffe as a necessary pre-requisite for the bomber commands, stationed in England, to safely traverse German airspace and obliterate German military/industrial installations.

To decisively break the morale of German public support for the war, the Eighth’s mission turned, in late 1943, to obliterating whole German cities – at a final cost to the “Mighty Eighth” of 53,000 Army Air Force aviators by war’s end. The stories of those who flew for the Eighth relate long periods of training, relocating abroad, more training, and extended boredom while awaiting action. Even harkening back to Civil War times, the ground soldier’s lot has been described as “long stretches of boredom and waiting, punctuated with moments of sheer terror.”

When action arrived for these pilots and crews, it was intense and often deadly. Death in the skies came quickly for many of the 53,000 airmen of the Eighth who did not survive.

I first encountered Lt. Urban Drew, who hailed from Detroit, Michigan, only recently when the Corgi Aviation Archive issued a 1/72 scale model of Detroit Miss, Drew’s P-51D Mustang in which he made wartime history over Germany by downing two German Messerschmidt jet-powered fighters on a single mission in late 1944. The Me 262 was the first operational jet fighter in history – the product of Nazi Germany’s early embrace of advanced aeronautical engineering. With its superior swept-wing design and jet technology, the Me 262 was fully150 mph faster than the Army Air Force’s best fighter, the P-51 Mustang. When the 262 first flashed across German skies in which our lumbering B-17 Flying Fortress bombers droned on toward their targets, our fighters, flying protective escort against German interceptors, found themselves at a decided disadvantage in these aerial encounters. Fortunately, it was not until early 1944 that Germany was finally able to get the 262 operationally airborne – at least a year too late to significantly influence the war’s outcome. The Me 262 was a formidable weapon despite early reliability issues that could be fully expected from a radical new airplane design that was necessarily rushed into service. When our P-51 Mustang pilots first glimpsed Me 262’s flashing past them at unbelievable speeds, they could scarcely believe their eyes.

With their tremendous speed advantage, bagging an Me 262 proved quite a challenge. Only one pilot managed to claim credit for two of them in a single mission, and that pilot was Lieutenant Urban Drew flying his brand-new P-51D named Detroit Miss in honor of his hometown. For that exploit, Drew was awarded the Air Force Flying Cross. Those two victories and five others gave him “Ace” status with seven total victories – two more than the honor requires.

375th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group. Bottisham, England – mid-July 1944.”Snitz” is in the middle, front row! Lt. Urban Drew at far right in back kneeling row.

Urban Leonard Drew passed from this life in Vista, California on April 3, 2013. His remains and his personal memories of growing up in Detroit and serving with the Mighty Eighth Air Force are interred together in Arlington National Cemetery.

Wanting to Know More

Urban Drew’s story prompted me to dig further….and I did. Along the way, I found a book on his life co-written with R.R. Powell and titled Ben Drew / The Katzenjammer Ace. The book opens with Olive Drew walking out of a Detroit movie theatre into a cold, hard, rain with her two sons, seventeen-and-a-half-year-old Urban and his slightly younger brother, Earl. They were headed home to their cozy little house at 14652 Hazelridge Street in a nice suburb of the city. More than the cold local rain, the newspaper headlines that day cast an even darker gloom on Detroiters – on all Americans, in fact. That day was December 7, 1941.

The book is an honest, straight-forward account of the sudden detour that shaped the life of Urban Leonard “Ben” Drew and countless other young Americans. The book’s cover is an artwork depiction by the aviation artist, Troy White, of a deadly confrontation between a German Me 109 pilot and Ben Drew flying a colleague’s “borrowed” P-51B Mustang named Suzy G. Down they went, locked in a deadly twisting, diving spiral toward the ground, each pilot jockeying for a fatal shooting bead on the other’s tail. The ground was coming up fast, and the German’s luck ran out first as he went into a field and oblivion. That victory was an earlier notch on Drew’s final list of seven credited kills-perhaps his toughest.

I was surprised and thrilled to find a signed book on Ben Drew’s life and flying career – even more so since the cover artwork is from aviation artist, Troy White. I have long had two framed canvas prints of his hanging in my room. These fittingly feature two P-51D Mustang renditions of the famed “Blue-Nosed Bastards from Bodney,” as they styled themselves.

 

The Model Detroit Miss

 The Real Detroit Miss

               Then, on the flightline in England

      Today, at Arlington

 Looking for Still More Information

 Wanting to learn still more about the history of a decorated World War II fighter pilot who compiled a combat record of distinction, I decided to trace his early Michigan roots! This led me to his hometown of Detroit, his boyhood home there, and a fascinating sequel to this post relating to “the way we were and the way we are!” See my blog post of June 10, 2023 for additional insight on that general topic.

Ever since our Michigan vacation, several years ago, my fascination with Detroit’s rise to greatness in the early part of the 20th century and its demise soon after World War II was tweaked. Abandoned and decaying Detroit infrastructure is colorfully displayed in a large format picture book I purchased there. The eerie depictions of total abandonment and decay which engulf formerly important auto plants and other aspects of the great city’s once booming industry stimulate a fascination – right down to my bones. Such pictures document final phases in the life cycles, not only of bustling places where we once worked, played, and lived, but of the human condition, itself.

In order to locate the boyhood home of Urban Drew prior to discovering his book, I started wirh the Detroit U.S. Census of 1940. By entering his name into an internet search for that census, bingo! – I found him listed along with his younger brother under his mother’s name, Olive Drew. His father died when Urban was only three years of age. I was able to use Google Maps to show pictures of the very home from which he left in order to sign-up for the United States Army Air Force on May 14, 1942. As a second lieutenant, he enrolled in the aviation cadet program at the age of eighteen. He had begun college at Wayne University at the time, but it was years later when he finished his degree at the University of Michigan.

Pulling up the street-view pictures of his boyhood home at 14652 Hazelridge Street in Wayne County provided a fascinating experience! As so often happens, a series of street views covering the period from 2008 to 2021 was available to view, and the pictures gleaned were mind-boggling.

This view of 14652 Hazelridge Street was taken in September, 2009. It reflects a still-populated, middle-class, working neighborhood which shows its age after eighty-plus years. Urban Drew’s modest boyhood home is third from the left.

By October, 2011, the neighborhood shows signs of definite neglect and decay.

In August, 2018, houses are beginning to disappear from the area reflecting a mass exodus. Most intact homes were abandoned: their ultimate fate obvious. The former Drew home is at the far right.

By January, 2022, only ghostly images remain on a wasteland. A vivid imagination  is required to visualize this neighborhood’s sunny, optimistic heydays – now long-gone.

What explains the rapid collapse of numerous Detroit neighborhoods like this one – in less than thirteen years?                                                         

I was frankly startled by what I found when merely attempting to locate the boyhood roots of a decorated fighter pilot from WWII. Not only did I pinpoint his 1940 boyhood neighborhood and home which was still standing after more than seventy years, but I uncovered a sequential photographic account of the neighborhood’s rapid demise over the last fourteen years – from functioning neighborhood to complete desertion and devastation!

To begin with, eighty-plus years of existence takes its toll on any neighborhood – anywhere. The rapid demise of Hazelridge Street and countless others in the Detroit suburbs was exacerbated by the 2008/2009 housing and mortgage-lending “crunch,” it appears. The residents of these already-old and time-worn neighborhoods, found themselves enveloped in a net of falling property values and tight equity-lending. As a result, numerous property taxes went unpaid, requiring Wayne County and the city of Detroit to foreclose many properties – literally a death sentence. It appears that these neighborhoods had literally “run out of time.”

In the midst of my education re: Detroit’s problems, I came across this quote from someone who, obviously, was/is very prescient regarding Detroit’s place in the history of this country:

“In the evolutionary urban order, Detroit today has always been your town tomorrow.”

In a related vein, I am reminded of the little garden signs one often sees staked in the dirt of small gardens to which I add a bit of paraphrase:

There is a season for everything (including things, ideas, places, and people).

How true!

A sidebar on curiosity

What else sticks to my ribs now that this post is written? What began as a straight-forward effort to get to know the decorated fighter pilot ace, Urban Leonard Drew, led me to another interesting story line concerning his boyhood neighborhood – a place that, like her celebrated son, had its time to shine. I was curious about that part of his story, so I checked it out and I learned more than I bargained for!

These sorts of serendipitous connections happen often once I set out to tackle a proposed subject for a new post. Why? Because of a natural curiosity that runs through my veins and spurs me on to learn just a little more. Albert Einstein, himself, attributed most of his success in physics to a rampant natural curiosity that drove him to peel back yet another layer of nature’s secrets at times when he could have, instead, coasted comfortably on his many existing laurels.

Over the years, I have come to deeply appreciate that a restless curiosity is a great God-given gift – for any of us – and not everyone has it. The central theme of any book on improving childhood learning and success in school should emphasize the importance of curiosity. A pound of it will take one a long way on their quest for success and happiness. A ton of it may produce another Einstein!

The Way We Were

Barbara Streisand made the haunting melody and lyrics memorably famous in the movie of the same name, The Way We Were, which premiered in 1974. The passage of time has yet to fade the many images that reside in the corners of my own mind. As good as gold itself, they, too, seem immune to the ravages of environment and time.

But, knowing that few things in life are not soon forgotten, I made the decision over ten years ago to shine a new light on those images/memories I carry and to document the life experiences and viewpoints at the root of those impressions. Rather than a diary, the chosen vehicle for this account of my life is the blog you are now reading.

My first post on reasonandreflection.wordpress.com is dated February 21, 2013. It is titled The Lure of Science in keeping with the “reason” part of this blog’s name, Reason and Reflection. Followers of this blog are well aware, however, that I dote even more heavily on “reflection” within my posts which now number 224 and are, essentially, mini-essays on a wide variety of topics ranging from A to Z.

These 224 posts are my autobiography, then. They reflect my core interests and my observations on life and the human condition. They characterize me. My wish has always been to share my thoughts and observations with others and to document, for the close family I will eventually leave behind, just who I am and how I got here. This present post explains why I do what I do with my blog and its entries.

In a slightly different vein, this post also reflects my firm belief that “the way we were” had many advantages over “the way we are.” I will not elaborate further but will state that our misuse of technology has much to do with that contention. On the positive side, this public blog would not be possible without the awesome advances in communication technology over recent decades. The misuse and distractions of social media serve to counterbalance such positives, however.

Predictably, technology has changed everything for human society during my eighty-two plus years, and it will continue to do so at an accelerated pace. One over-riding lesson I have gleaned from my life-experience is this:

Technology is a dual-edged sword which marches relentlessly forward and inevitably cuts two ways: use it wisely and it will continue to enrich humanity; use it foolishly and unchecked, and it will shred the fabric of society. I have witnessed both edges of the blade in action during my lifetime – the positives and the negatives. The Rx for society’s survival: utilize technology wisely and productively. Know what is right, do what is right, and speak and heed nothing but the truth. The Golden Rule would make a fabulous postscript!

Despite and, too often, because of our many “advances,” we have lost the “kinder, gentler” nature of times only recently past. Society can and must learn to use technology wisely while heeding the lessons of history, or we will be doomed to repeat history’s mistakes – with far greater consequences!

I fondly recall the kinder, gentler times. Why look back? There were also problems then – like brutal wars, polio, discrimination, etc., but societal norms of honesty and decency were in place back then that are absent, now. Truth, honesty, and a man’s word counted for something. It was “the way we were” to a greater extent.

Enter Barbara Streisand, and let the melody begin!

 

Postscript: finding any post

 As a service to the readers of this blog (and a book-keeping aid to myself), the remainder of this post will consist of a chronological listing (backward in time) of all past 223 posts to date showing the post title, date of posting, and a thumbnail picture. Every one of these posts is available from this blog’s website, reasonandreflection.wordpress.com. On the website, click on the “Home” page and locate the small (and faint) “Search” box at the extreme upper right-hand corner. Type any keyword(s) from the title of the desired post, as listed, and click “Search.” The search will take you to a page displaying a title/link to the post of interest (and perhaps one or two others). Clicking on the desired title/link will take you to the original post, as published. You will discover something for everyone: happy viewing!