OSC Alumnus Publishes Book on Meinel History
“WITH STARS IN THEIR EYES”
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIVES AND ENDURING GENIUS OF ADEN AND MARJORIE MEINEL
Each day, many people walk by the Meinel Building, home to the Wyant College of Optical Sciences (OSC), without giving much thought to who the Meinels were and why the University’s optical sciences building was named for them. Luckily for us, Dr. James (Jim) B. Breckinridge—an OSC alumnus and colleague to the Meinels, and Dr. Alec M. Pridgeon—a World War II military history and astronomy enthusiast, teamed up to write a book chronicling the fascinating life history of Aden and Marjorie Meinel, who helped to pioneer modern optics and solar energy in the United States.
Upon the recent release of “With Stars in Their Eyes,” published by Oxford University Press, I had the opportunity to chat with Jim about his research, writing partners and insights into the lives of Aden and Marjorie Meinel. Coincidentally, the book’s publication this year aligns nicely with the anniversary of both Aden and Marjorie’s 100th birthdays. Learn more about the book and how to preorder it here.
Oxford University Press just published your book on the lives of Aden and Marjorie Meinel. What prompted you to write the book?
In 2011, Helmut Abt (from KPNO) and I wrote an obituary for Aden and submitted it to Physics Today. We had a challenge getting them to publish it because they knew little about him. Then, about six years ago, I visited OSC to give a two-week class on space optical system engineering as part of a class on astronomical instruments, taught by professors Guyon and Hart. Riding in the elevator on the way to class, I overheard two students asking each other if they knew who Aden Meinel was and why the University would name a building after him. Before I could answer, the elevator arrived at their floor, and they disappeared.
After that, I briefly looked into writing a book on Aden and Marjorie but quickly realized the difficulty of writing a comprehensive biography by myself on such complex lives.
Your co-authors Alec Pridgeon and Don Osborn have very different backgrounds and interests from your own. How did Alex and Don become involved with this project and how did that help in telling Aden and Marjorie’s story?
Coincidentally, shortly after that visit to OSC, Alec called me “out of the blue” and asked me if I had ever thought of writing a book on Aden and Marjorie Meinel. By profession, Alec is a world-class frequently published botanist, but his hobbies are WW2 military history and astronomy. During his hobby activities he had discovered that Aden Meinel played a major role in both, but that there was no biography. So, we decided to team up and write this book.
In addition to their accomplishments in astronomy and the field of optics, the Meinels had also made a major impact on pioneering applications of solar energy to solve both global warming and the energy crisis. They wrote the first textbooks on the subject; developed IR optical thin films; and designed, built, and demonstrated solar power concentrator field hardware. Alec and I engaged Don Osborn, now president of a highly successful solar power company, to write the chapter on solar energy. He was Aden’s first University of Arizona solar energy engineering student.
The book is so full of rich details and interesting facts about Aden and Marjorie’s life. How did you decide what to include and what to leave out?
That was a very difficult task. Our research produced much more material than we used, and I plan to gift it all to OSC and/or the University archives when this is all over. But there is no doubt that Aden Meinel was one of the great polymaths of the 20th century, who roamed freely at the highest levels of government; was an approachable personality; and an excellent leader, educator, and researcher.
It is common knowledge that Marjorie was not only Aden’s partner in life, but also in research. In your opinion, what was the most important role she played in his success?
Marjorie was the strategist. Her strongest role was that of writing and communication—she had started out working at Caltech in 1942 as a technical editor for the rocket and government work done on the campus. As a result, both she and Aden had realized the importance of clear expository communication of complex technical subjects both to the public and to sponsors. Meinel's tenure as director of Steward Observatory led into his directorship of OSC—a ten-year tenure. With their teamwork and communication focus this meant OSC's first ten years had a strong technical editorial department. This made a significant difference in communicating and getting proposals funded.
What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book?
The biggest challenge was reconstructing material. By the year 2000, Marjorie had thrown out most of the contents of the three filing cabinets containing their life’s work. She had decided they were retired, and they did not need that material anymore! Fortunately, Marjorie had saved several pages of autobiographical notes written by the two of them, which Aden sent to me around 2005. Those notes were very helpful, and we used a lot of that material in the book.
There also was much to be found in the National Archives, the University of Chicago, the National Science Foundation (NSF), Lick Observatory Archives at U C Santa Cruz, the Department of Defense (DoD) records, and the correspondence of University President Richard Harvill archived at the University of Arizona.
Luckily, we were also able to interview several people who knew Aden and Marjorie well—Steve Jacobs, Pam Shack, Helmut Abt, and Bob Shannon were all a big help. Although we could find no one person from his work at the DoD, Alec found some materials at Presidential Libraries and the National Archives that had some of his military history. However, some of that was redacted even after close to 80 years!
Did you find any aspects of their lives that particularly surprised or interested you?
We discovered many amazing facts about Aden’s early life that were not well-known. In high school, Aden had trained seriously to become a classical pianist—his recital piece in his application to the Juilliard School was Rachmaninoff’s very difficult Piano Concerto No. 4. After not being admitted, Aden decided to concentrate on science and engineering for a career. Although he had been placed in the “trades” sequence of classes—and not the college preparatory courses—in high school, Aden was admitted to Caltech as a sophomore, testing out of his freshman year.
Aden had apprenticed at the Mt. Wilson optical shop under opticians who had worked for Michelson, Hale and Pease, all famous astronomical instrument makers. Even at age 17, Aden had the uncanny ability to inspire and motivate the people around him, and he was a respected engineer and scientist before he completed his undergraduate degree.
When he returned from his service in the Navy in 1946 and started college at U C Berkeley, he finished his BA in Astronomy in one year and took two more years to finish an experimental PhD, inventing and building his own telescope/spectrometer and using it at Lick Observatory to discover that Auroras are excited by protons from the Sun. (He had tested out of most of his required graduate student classwork so he would have time for his research.)
How did you choose the title, “With Stars in Their Eyes?”
The title of the book has a double meaning. One refers to their shared passion for astronomy and optics that dominated their public lives, and the other to their profound love and support for each other.
During the years I knew them, whenever they walked into a room, conversation stopped—there was a twinkle in their eyes, and they would sit together in the corner until the leader started the meeting. About 15 minutes into the description of the problem for discussion, Aden would raise his hand and provide the group with a different way of looking at the problem that usually provided a quick solution. He would then steer the conversation in a different direction, often with a more practical solution. It was impressive to watch.
Do you have any final thoughts you would like to share?
It was amazing to have the opportunity to work with Aden and Marjorie Meinel for almost 10 years, first at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences and then at Caltech/JPL.