September 13, 2005 Source: University of Toronto:
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/050913-1624.asp Computer pioneer to discuss first steps to space Renowned computer science researcher Herbert Grosch will explore the dawn of space exploration
Sep 13/05
by Karen Kelly Renowned computer science researcher Herbert Grosch, whose work helped shape the early realm of computers in the 1950s, will give a free public lecture Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 4:30 p.m. in Ramsay Wright Hall, room 432, 25 Harbord Street. The lecture, part of the Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecture Series, is titled First Steps to Space and will explore the dawn of space exploration. Grosch, a professor at U of T's Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, was an early president of the American Rocket Society. He saw the Guggenheim lab at Cal Tech turn into the Jet Propulsion Lab, built the first JATO bottles - a system that provides additional thrust for overloaded planes - and spawned Aerojet, a major rocket engine manufacturer. He was also the first head of IBM's space program. This is the inaugural lecture of the University of Toronto Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecture Series, which will feature some of the brightest minds from science and engineering departments across the University of Toronto. The Sigma Xi society was founded in 1886 to honor excellence in scientific investigation and encourage a sense of companionship and co-operation among researchers in all fields of science and engineering. Today, there are approximately 65,000 Sigma Xi members in more than 100 countries around the world and chapters can be found at colleges and universities, industrial research centres and government laboratories.
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