Otto Berg's copy of a lecture by renowned Harvard University astronomer Fred Lawrence Whipple, entitled "Particulate Contents of Space," 32 pages, 9 x 11.5, presented on October 24, 1960, at the Third Symposium on the Medical and Biological Aspects of the Energies of Space, at the U.S. School of Aviation Medicine, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas. The lecture includes an important discussion of the potential psychological effects of micrometeorites on astronauts: "The sounds of meteoroids impinging upon space vehicles will undoubtedly be heard by astronauts. The psychological effects should not be discounted; they will be comparable to the psychological effects of enemy gunfire on men who are under military siege. Astronauts will constantly be reminded of the fact that a hole may be punctured in the skin of the vehicle, with possible serious consequences…Space vehicles for human travel should certainly be designed to minimize the acoustical detectibility of meteoroids by the occupants. A 'meteor bumper' separated from the inner skin of the vehicle would reduce the noise of meteoric impacts in practically all cases in which the inner skin was not somewhat damaged." In fine condition, with a few annotations and highlighted passages.
From the collection of Dr. Otto Berg.
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