M\ 100 YEARS EXPLORING LIFE, 1888-1988 



working in the lab. Some people drive in from their cottages, often trans- 

 porting those whose age has made them feel no longer comfortable walking 

 the familiar distance at night. Bicycles roll up carrying young researchers, 

 students, and maybe even a few teenagers. Assorted people sail or row in 

 after a day on the water. Maybe a couple will even be returning by ferry from 

 a day on one of the islands. 



These people are all gathering, as the MBL community has gathered for 

 one hundred years, to hear the week's Friday evening lecture. Some nights 

 the subject may be so technical that a few tired listeners doze olT after their 

 long day in the lab. At other times a brilliant lecturer udll enchant everyone 

 with carefully chosen examples, beautiful slides, and a persuasive explana- 

 tion of why this work matters. This latter type of lecture is what the Friday 

 evening lectures have always been about. 



From the very first years, director Charles Otis Whitman felt that even a 

 specialized modern laboratory such as the MBL should have a time when the 

 entire community would come together to consider the major scientific 

 problems of the day. Individuals should learn from each other, he urged. 

 People should cooperate even as they pursue their separate research. 

 Regular lectures to address the key problems, as well as to discuss the most 

 effective methods of approach and the best available explanations, should 

 also be able to illustrate to the public what marine biological research is 

 about. 



With time those lectures have become somewhat more specialized and 

 more technical, but always with emphasis on presenting the latest concerns 

 of the day. Recent years have spawned additional series of general lectures, 

 by journalists on one day and by historians and philosophers on another. 

 Discussing science forms an essential part of MBL life, so the visitor should 

 not be surprised to find all those people moving willingly inside to sit in a 

 lecture hall and listen, even on a perfectly gorgeous and inviting summery 

 afternoon or Friday evening. 



In fact, the tradition of lecturing to the public as well as the scientific 

 community about biological topics has been a major part of American 

 culture and science for a long time. Boston in the nineteenth century had its 

 naturalist Louis Agassiz, who may well have initially helped to inspire the 

 MBL's Friday evening series. 



Loids Agassiz 



Agassiz came to this country ft-om Switzerland in 1846 to give a lecture tour. 

 He loved to travel and to explore the world and had somehow heard about 

 the delights of lecturing in America. No one worried that his English was not 

 perfect. Science was gaining populaiity, and tlie word that he was a fine 

 speaker was enough for an agent to book a tour for him. In Boston Agassiz 



