all into shape. My
sponsor and I had some pretty good sessions about it, and some of the
screwy results I wrote you begin to make sense. I had the good luck to
talk to an outstanding man in the field of nucleic acid synthesis and he
was quite enthusiastic about the caliber of our work. He feels quite
strongly--but has no real evidence--that the synthesis of both types of
nucleic acid are independent of each other and has pointed out some
significant references that I did not know about. I'm anxious to buckle
down and really lick this nucleic acid problem ... in time for a June
degree.

Cordially,

Jonathan

P.S.

Please send me a reprint of your lecture on "Memory
Banks--Transistorized Neurones." The lecture was ingenious, but there
are some biological phenomena with which I don't agree. Remember, I'm
the biologist. Honestly, Doc, don't you think--_entre nous_--that your
idea that a living organism, can be compared with automata in picking up
informational items and processing them simultaneously in parallel,
rather than in series, is naif?

J.

* * * * *

October 28, 1958

Dr. R. Von Engen,
Journal of the National Academy of Sciences,
Washington, D. C.

Dear Dr. Von Engen:

I apologize for not answering your letter sooner. I assume you were
pulling my leg when you suggested that I make a science-fiction story
out of "the confused ideas of a beginning graduate student." You might
give _your_ idea of a "possible science-fiction story" to one of your
acolytes that has some small experience in the field of writing--not
science. I am afraid that your other suggestions are not germane to the
problem of nucleic acid synthesis and metabolism, a problem that has
been occupying _all_ my time. In fact, I've been doing with three to
four hours of sleep these days. With the kind of concentration that I
can offer the problem, there is no question that the data are falling
into line, and our research is going rather well. We will show, I hope,
fairly conclusively that there is little or no interconversion between
the two types of nucleic acid synthesis in the cell.

Despite your ingenious mathematical approaches for stimulation criteria,
in biological research--a very abstruse field--even your multiplex
machines with elaborate means of intercommunication are not
sophisticated enough--or ever will be--to cope with the complexities
inherent in the numerous interacting biosyntheses on the