Evening star., 1948-09-12
Scientists 10 Discuss
Peace and War AmonQ
Living Organisms

An eHOTt 10 promote cO-OfdlNa<
ton of the social and related
sciences as a means toward lasting
peace will be continued here today
In a symposium on Incorporation
and Conflict Among Living Organ
isms."
Nine research organizations are
sponsoring the meeting, which be-
gan yesterday and is expected to end
tomorrow with formation of interim
commissions. These groups, pat
termed after elements of the Office
of Scientific Research and Devel-
opment, the Federal agency which
modified research for war. will try
TO- sbring social scientists together in
research for peace
Social science as the arbiter of
ideologies" may be one Of the goals,
in the words of EdwardF F. Haskell,
convening secretary of the SYM
postum.
To Plan for World Congress.
The commissions will plan partic-
1pation in a world congress of social
and allied sciences projected for
next year in Switzerland.
There is a need for this, the dele
gates were told yesterday in state
ment of origin and objectives. be-
cause. I'm the absence of scientific
understanding of cooperation and
conflict. various pseudo-scientific
ideologies on the subject have
emerged. spread far afleld, and have
become the guides which today di-
rect mems new scientif1cally-gener-
sted powers"
In seeking a firm basis for their
study, they considered the nature
of conflict and cooperation in the
lower forms of life
Paul B. Sears of Oberlin Ohio
College pointed to the competition
for light. food and water found in
the plant world.
The hybrid corn. for example, a
vigorous plant when cultivated.
would be one of the first eliminated
II left for itself, he said.
Bluegrass thrives under walnut
trees because its natural enemies
are made to keep their distance by
the trees sprawling roots. he noted
In another illustration.
Denying Schopenhauer'S philoso-
ply of blind, inchoate struggle"
he said hope could be gained from
evidence that natures processes
tend toward relative order"
Even the micro O-organismS exhibit
efforts to escape from competi-
ton" and certain parasitical types
appear to "conspire with their host
in eliminating other organisms,
Paul r. Burkholder of Yale Uni
versity told the group.
Resistance movements" which
develop under oppression in mans
society, might be likened to resist
ant strains in bacteria, Robertson
Parratt of the University of CAL
ifornia, expert, commented.
Subjects for Today.
He said his experiments with
penicillin revealed individual diff
ferences-an eight-fold range OF re-
sistance was found among the
members of a group of cells studied
just as humans vary.
James Bonner of the California
Institute of Technology discussed
chemical Plant Sociology He
explained this as an inter-action of
plants not based solely on compe-
tition-the elimination OF neigh
bors' through toxic effect of q
plants decaying leaves, for example.
The symposium will recOnvene at
am. today in the international
Student House, 1925 r street NV,
for a consideration of "Heterotypfc
Cooperation and Conflict"
Scientific Theories of Co-opera-
tion and Conflict" will be the sub
ject of 2 pm. session.
Sponsors Listed.
There will be talk OF Mental
Cooperation and Conflict" at y
am. tomorrow in the Friends Meet
ing House, Pill Florida avenue NV.
Concrete proposals for "Organiz-
ing Scientific Research for Peace"
will be taken up there at 1870 pm.
The symposium is sponsored by
the Botanical Society of America.
Inc, Geological Society of America,
Institute OF Ethnic Affairs, Insti-
tute of General Semantics, National
Indian Institute. Ohio State Uni
versity Personnel Research Board,
Association for the Advancement OF
Psychotherapy, Society for Applied
Anthropology and the Sociometric
Institute.