Collection search - Gibbons, Norman E. - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Gibbons, Norman E. - Interview

Item number (ISN):

438436

Series title:

[National Research Council Oral History Project]

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1975-01-23

Item number (ISN):

438436

Type of material:

Sound recordings

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

Link to this record

Add to My Research

Link to this record

This link identifies the web page describing this particular record. Unlike the temporary link in your browser, this link will allow you to access, and reference, this page in the future. To link to this descriptive record, copy and paste the URL where ever needed (wiki, blog, document).

Sign in

Sign in to start saving records using My Research

Sign in
Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA / CONSEIL NATIONAL DE RECHERCHES DU CANADA

Accession:

1975-0011

Media:

Sound

Part:

1 of 1

Production date:

1975-01-23

Release date:

1975-01-23

Production company:

National Research Council

Production credit:

interviewer, Don Phillipson

Description:

Show detail Hide detail

Interview of Dr. Norman E. Gibbons by Don Phillipson. Subjects discussed include: radar security at Sussex Drive in wartime ignored visibility of rooftops antennae; Gibbons' first job in 1932 at Halifax fisheries research for $1800 per annum with no tenure; Grant Lochhead; first assignment as staff bacteriologist was Canadian Wiltshire bacon; Dr. F. Peto; International Joint Commission library; prewar bacon work for U.K. premium market led directly to war work on foods; Malloch's milling lab in basement; Anderson's barley malting for beer; Peto's Trilicum crosses; Ledingham's Trail smelter; Gibbons' bacon bacteriology; Winkler's physical chemistry and Hopkins' statistical consulting; NRC and departmental rivalry did not affect junior researchers who cooperated fully; W.A. Brown and Don Fletcher; Ira Puddington and Norman Phillips; Sussex Drive entirely rebuilt since 1937 with new roads and buildings; noise complaints about John Street engine lab, especially when French Embassy was planned; streetcar line - six cars were stuck for a week in an ice storm; in 1937, bacon project began and in 1938 and 1939, Gibbons and Cook toured bacon packers; at Swift's in Toronto they first met Dr. F. Rosser; from Queen's University, Gibbons had NRC bursaries and studentship during pre-depression era; NRC Science Association; Sir F. Banting, Dr. C. B. Stewart and Dr. J.J. Green; mythical story of insulin; Collip's function in purifying extract; Biological Board of Canada financed by Department of Fisheries but independent - no central labs for basic biology since focus was on marine ecology; main work at St. Andrews, New Brunswick and Nanaimo, British Columbia; no genetics at St. Andrews in 1930; Huntsman; Gibbons introduction to bacteriology work was fish sampling and light penetration in sea; Gibbons did Masters of Science on fish bacteriology, especially spoilage and continued at Yale to do a Ph.D; he worked at FRB Halifax when the industry wanted work on halophilic organisms causing reddening of salt fish - similar organisms found in bacon; in 1946, free research began; staff meetings to plan work and freedom with base coordinator; staff available to collaborate on practical problems but with much less demand during post-war; Dyson Rose; wartime concentrated milk storage (crystallization probe discovered jelly stage, analogous to bone formation; halophiles were bacteria rhodopsin top value in eye physiology, though not found by medicine; post-doctoral fellowships - most in biology are chosen since their research interests relate to those of supervisors at NRC; Lamontagne Committee erred in not re-interviewing top government agencies (United States was late in organizing I.B.P. work); F.E. Lathe; assignment of Halferdahl was to seek in periodical reports patentable items; by 1940, few Canadian scientists, so NRC staff knew every scientist in Canada; pre-war association committees: TB (BCG vaccine; Animal Diseases, and Agricultural Research); in wartime, emphasis changed: U.K. started stockpiling and introducing problem of rancidity; need for temperature control to retard spoilage of fat - basic discoveries made by 1945 when U.K. market disappeared for lack of dollars; same problem with eggs, after Canada had switched from seasonal to year-round production, during World War One; dried eggs vis-à-vis shell eggs for U.K.; for shell egg preservation, must keep CO2 content before oiling - 1975 Egg Marketing Board surplus; Dr. Charlie A. Mitchell - Health of Animals Board and retired to Ottawa University's bacteriology department; biological warfare liaison with U.S.; useful benefits of bio-war research - Fort Dietrick, NRC anaeroid bacteria and contagious diseases; Gibbons dropped out of bio-war early; health department; Royal Ottawa Bug Club of bacteriologists - members limited and monthly meetings with mostly Ontario and federal health laboratories; Bruce Landrigan, Elmer Plunkett, and George Williamson; Canadian Journals of Research - gradually became separate journals; G.A. Ledingham was editor in chief; David Berge; NRC library at Sussex Drive - built up collection in each speciality; in 1937, money was available to supply needs ; Miss Gill and Alan Gill; Biology Division vis-à-vis Chemistry Division in 1937 where special labs were set up on an ad hoc basis; leather: reddening of salted hides - RCMP buffalo coats deteriorated in storage - cuti rubrum; Rosser as Newton's administrative assistant; early on, Rosser had enough time for his own research for example working with egg shell bacteria; blood preservation - army blood donors, sheep and animals. <2h 6mn>

Language:

English

Notes:

Show detail Hide detail

1. Subject description taken from partial transcript in binder, National Research Council Oral History Project Index A-G.~2. Parts of Track 1 and 2 of PAC tape 517.

Detailed holdings information:

Show detail Hide detail

Vault ISN:

567757

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C00517

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Duration:

82:00

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

GENCAT identity number:

GAD 0FD645

Restrictions on consultation:

Open

Copyright status:

Under copyright

Reproduction access:

With written permission of copyright owner : No donor restrictions. Copyright belongs to the Crown. Credit Library and Archives Canada.

You can order materials in advance to be ready for you when you visit. You will need a user card to do this.

Cannot visit us on site? You can purchase a copy to be sent to you. Some restrictions may apply.