Winged Seed is a fascinating, intertwined tale of science and art-the fusion of Dr. John E. Christian's quest to conduct research with radioactive isotopes and to live in a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home.
Christian established Purdue University's Bionucleonics Department in 1959 and, later, the School of Health Sciences. All the while, he and his wife, Catherine, painstakingly stewarded the creation of their one-of-a-kind Usonian home in West Lafayette, Indiana, named Samara. The word samara means "winged seed," the papery pod that falls from a tree. Design elements resembling the shape of a winged seed are evident throughout the house, which is today a national historic landmark open for tours.
Christian, a registered pharmacist, helped usher in what he called the "Nucleonic Age." In 1946, the first shipment of radioactive isotopes for biochemical research released from the Manhattan Project's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and produced in a nuclear reactor, arrived at Purdue. Christian was the first civilian to obtain radioactive isotopes from the Oak Ridge facility, personally greeting the train in downtown Lafayette to collect the material for his research.
A samara flutters and spins in the wind, landing far from its originating tree. John E. Christian was a samara-a winged seed sending his research and his students into the world to take root, grow, and change lives for the better. Christian died in 2015, but his impact on both science and art lives on today.
Autorentext
Angie Lipp Klink has authored sixteen books, several about the history and people of Purdue University. An independent scholar, essayist, scriptwriter, and advertising copywriter, she has written for the American Writers Museum, Ms. magazine, Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History magazine, and documentaries narrated by actor Peter Coyote. Klink has received sixty-two American Advertising Federation ADDY Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement honor, and an honorable mention in the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition. She is a recipient of the Daughters of the American Revolution Excellence in Historic Preservation Medal, the organization's most prestigious award honoring historic preservation and the commitment to research and writing of books. Klink holds a BA in communication from Purdue University. Learn more at www.angieklink.com.