Interview of Dr. William Harrison Cook by Donald Phillipson. Subjects discussed include: General A.G.L. McNaughton's second term as CGS was nearly up therefore he needed a new government posting; Dr. H.M. Tory complained McNaughton failed to tell him of candidacy in time to avert Tory's last letter to government; despite friendliness, Cook had no rapport with McNaughton; Dr. C.J. Mackenzie as engineer and during World War One service; granting policy in 1930s and 1940s; few assisted researches from 1932 to 1940, and made directly by Council; rapid increase especially after 1945 (outside Association Committees) thus involving directors of division in grants decisions; Salt Lake City smoke detector - Thomas - NRC's Morris Katz; PRL's creation - moisture meters (Cook 1935); probably not associated with NRC Association Committee on Electrical Measuring Instruments; Cook's assignment came from BGC; Brown-Duval moisture test was refined by Birchard at BGC in Winnipeg; Birchard opposed electronic moisture meters as inaccurate which were neede by elevator operators therefore NRC assessed whether accurate enough for use under Canadian Grain Act; Tag-Heppenstahl meter; two different electronic methods - conductivity and condenser circuit; calibration by - 130 degree oven, Brown-Duval and vaccuum oven; specifications for satisfactory meters (Dr. J.W. Hopkins); statistical analyses to allow for degrees of error; Brown-Duval test was accurate only if perfectly timed; Hopkins' statistical work at NRC: needed computer before personal research began; R. Newton selected Hopkins for top-level statistical training; at NRC, worked out experimental technology and analysis of results; agricultural methodology important to crop yield - quest for cycled; R.A. Fisher; probably weather cycles less relevant to prairie yield than application of wetland farming method - this was proven by Hopkins post 1955, under Cook's direction; R. Newton as talent-spotter by comparisobn, Cook followed own bent except for applied assignments, for example, exporting perishable food; at NRC, Newton gave little detailed supervision in advance - only later University of Minnesota cereals chemistry lab took many University of Alberta students; Ross Aiken Gortner and W.R. Brown; Bill Martin, Gordon Malloch, Ralph Larrimore, Bill Geddes and W.H. Perkin; J.A.Anderson worked on biochemistry of rust resistance phenobs at Leeds University; Cook to Stanford for colloid biochemistry; J.W. MacBain, Svedberg and C.L. Alsberg; cereals chemistry separate from nutrition science 1920-1940; cereals chemistry formarly directed to British market preferences with the invention of enriched flour; no recent discoveries, for example enriched flour equivalent to natural. brown or whole wheat bread less desired than white; wheat market to United Kingdom at one dollar per bushel; overheads fixed therefore only premium quality wheat was really profitable for Canadian farmers to be mixed with F.A.Q. low-grade wheat; wheat grading irrelevant to nutrition for example, nearly cosmetic; milling quality equals mill yield; baking quality; other markets for example China interested only in mill yield; Cook's career - contrast between chemistry and wheat engineering therefore his career was restricted; Cook took physical chemistry to develop its applications in biology and protein chemistry; Gerhard Herzberg; Cook's flair for machinery; jobs were hard to get during the Depression and he ultimately got interested in assigned projects, for example bacon curing; A.G.L. McNaughton's increased budget in 1936 and 1937 enabled them to hire new staff; Cook's interest in food preservation grew in parctice; Pre-war ceareals research chemistry summarized: grain research and preserving perishables of sufficiently high unit value; Ottawa agreements, for example chicken - cooler vis-à-vis frozen storage; C.F. Smithfield market system - price according to visible supply and prejudice against frozen food owing to traditio n of freezing food just about to deteriorate, for example New York dressed - undrawn poulty with freezer burn; cryovac bag invented in the United States; cryovac trials at NRC; bacon preservation - World War One embalmed bacon and 1935 too much salt owing to poor know-how in small firms; all Canadians priced uniformly therefore large firms asked NRC to upgrade small competitors; in World War Two Cook proposed emergency refrigeration rather than borax cure for bacon Rosser-Thistle account; J.S. MacLean; Stedman creative with regards to distillation; in World War One he did his PhD. on drying glycerine for which he designed his own still; anecdote - isotope separation by refrigeration, which led to further improvement of still design; U.S patent licensed to Smith and Stone; revenues then collected by NRC which disagreed on how much to return to inventors; all patents had to be assigned to NRC for one dollar; other government departments, for example CDA deplored the idea of civil servatns profiting by their own inventions; wartime need to separate butadieve isotopes to re-use as catalyst in synthetic rubber; higher payments to war-only inventors than to inventors of things useful in peace time; cryovac principle not patented and put to use by a U.S. firm; Stedman dealt with wartime aircraft frost problem that stimulated monomolecular film for windshield; Cook was involved as refrigeration expert; Mrs. Stedman ate oat sprouts grown in the NRC lab; syphilis cure; regenerating tooth cavities; experimental animals at NRC, chiefly during and after the war; animal rooms built on top floor of Sussex Drive lab - but not air-conditioned therefore never used; in practice, was cheaper to buy rather than breed; MRC abortive plan for primate lab; NRC debated aminal labs several times; Cook agrees that NRC should not act as a service lab if trade supply exists, for example, buy rather than breed; Salk vaccineused monkey kidney as growth medium; DNHW co-operated in providing ani m a ls to NRC from 1945 to 1965; policy and postwar conservatism about the NRC budget (C.D. Howe and C.J. Mackenzie), for example the Collip and Farquarson proposal; Cook recalls 1945 when unemployment was feared in war plants that were unable to convert, therefore the Technology Information Service was expanded and paid by the Department of Reconstruction; NRC grew ten-fold during the war - what size for peace tiem NRC; Cook sought to keep Bio Div at wartime size; NRC asked 8 to 10 million dollars and C.D. Howe allowed only 6 million dollars; Dr. E.W.R. Steacie later devised post-doctoral fellowships to assess potential staff; much was research stopped immediately for example micro-organisms damaging radar; nutrition was taken for granted in most wartime foods research, for example Arctic candy; Ray Farquarson died and Ettinger retired; nutrition is outside NRC's sphere; R. Newton advocated national action; Tory's attitude was action now while as McNaughton's was consult departments, therefore NDHW asked Bradley Pett to start nutrition research and develop Canada's Food Rules during wartime; Wartime Prices Board deliberately subsidized nutritive foods such as milk; NRC concerned only with Army rations; Arctic rations included vitamin C that was needed quickly to live in cold climate; Linus Pauling; After 1945, NRC stopped food preservation research, except for strictly Canadian needs, for example fish by railroad or by truck; ships needed widely available refrigerant such as carbon dioxide rather than freon; ship modifications were very touchy while as aircraft were much more open to change; railway refrigeration - old and had ice at each end of car; FRB wanted ice along the roof therefore NRC planned deep-freeze with ice and salt mixture; Cook invented the truck jacket for frozen transport with constant humidity; packaging for storage or for sale and as for humidity, 10 degrees dew point draws moisture out; jacket system suitable for coolers. <2h 15m >
