Written on 10/12/2024 by Roger F. Malina
George S. James 1928-2024
This is Roger F. Malina: I connected with George S. James after my father died in 1982. George made a big difference to my work. I think I would like to describe him as being a ‘productive edge ‘of the exploration of outer space – both scientifically, technically, and socially. People at the center are important, but more often people at the edge matter as much or more. Young people open doors more often and usefully than experienced people. George James and I stayed in touch over the decades, and he was also a stabilizer during the times when space programs became over-militarized and commercialized. Thanks, see you soon George S. James.
Differences in Male and Female Arts and Crafts Avocations in the Early Training and Patenting Activity of STEMM Professionals
Robert Root Bernstein and colleagues recently published: Differences in Male and Female Arts and Crafts Avocations in the Early Training and Patenting Activity of STEMM Professionals. STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine). The main point is that hands matter more than sub-categories of humans. Yes, the early rocketeers were mostly men. Through the International Astronautical Federation Technical Activities on the Cultural Utilization of Space, we are trying to open the doors, but we are mostly failing. George had an open door.
In 1943 (80 years ago), at the age of 14, James and five schoolmates founded the Southern California Rocket Society (SCRC). This small but highly dedicated group of young teenagers experimented, under professional safety guidance, with small solid-propellant rockets. At the time rocket science was fiction and stupid. The NASA Jet Propulsion Lab was named ‘jet propulsion’ because rocket propulsion was a myth and just fiction. George thought and acted otherwise. The group later became named the RRI, Rocket Research Institute. By creating a group of motivated ignorant teenagers, he helped change the history of the world. We can now look down on ourselves (thanks to the overview effect pinpointed by Frank White) and realize the damage we are causing unnecessarily. The head of the Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, famously stated that space exploration aims to help humans live in balance with colleague animals and plants on Earth. George S James, whom I knew, was a thinker, observer on the edge, and doer and a carer.
We live in an unusual time when living human memory is extending, as life expectancy increases. George was 96 when he died and had so many recollections and anecdotes that need to be considered today; perhaps longevity may lead to a philosophical overview effect, George S. James was a maestro. In 1983, Early educator-supervised student rocketry: The galcit rocket research project, 1936–1939, George Stated. However, Frank Malina has received little recognition from aerospace educators for his equally pioneering efforts on their behalf. This paper highlights Dr. Malina’s efforts not only as an early participant in educator-supported student rocketry but also in helping to establish some of the guiding principles of this field of science motivation. As Dr. Malina noted in 1968, upon becoming one of the founding members of the Supervision of Youth Research Experiments (SYRE) subcommittee of the 1AF’s Education Committee, the fundamental safety and educational ground rules of (A) qualified supervision, (B) proper safety facilities, and (C) professionally designed equipment, conceived almost fifty years ago.
George S. James Goes Onto
Author James recalls with appreciation the great influence of Drs. Malina and Yon Karman on the evolution of his personal aerospace career. During 1945-46, while still in high school, I was fortunate to obtain a part-time, after-school-hours, job at the GALC1T 10′ Wind Tunnel through the help of my Explorer Scoutmaster, Mr. Robert Wise, who worked there. One afternoon, I happened to bring to work a copy of the latest issue of our Glendale Rocket Society journal, Astro-Jet. On my way to the wind tunnel area, I met Dr. von Karman and, in a burst of youthful enthusiasm, asked him if he would like to see the publication of our group. He said that he would like to borrow it. When he returned it several days later, he complimented me on our youthful journal and suggested that I show it to Frank Malina. When I met Dr. Malina, we had a pleasant discussion about my plans. He suggested that JPL would be a good place for me to work during the coming summer of 1946. At the time I didn’t realize that he was the Director of JPL but 1 soon learned this during my wonderful summer as an assistant test pit mechanic under Bill Terbeck who oversaw the test area. In the test pit to which I was assigned, Dr. Herman Schneiderman was conducting some of the first thrust chamber tests of nitromethane, a monopropellant thought promising at the time. My resolve for a career in the aerospace industry came from that first job at JPL. Now that we are entering an era of student space-related experiments, Dr. Malina’s counsel to members of the SYRE subcommittee, educators, and students will be greatly missed.”
Whether I like it or not, my own life is entangled with the life of George S. James. George, among other things, you taught me to know on doors and this has led to the open-door culture of our ArtSciLab at UT Dallas. I look forward to meeting you above the earth, on the creative edge of human hope.
