Thanks for all the comments and for an open discussion about evidence for and against an iron-rich Sun.

I received two e-mails last night asking why I had not responded.

The answer - I did not even know the site existed! Now a lot of material has accumulated and I need to start responding in a manner that will convey information clearly and concisely, despite other commitments on my time.

Physics On-Line also has a discussion about evidence for and against an iron-rich Sun and posted a lot of background information there. Am I allowed to post that link here? :blink:

http://www.physlink.com/Community/Forums/v...m=18&topic=2421

In case it is edited out, I will go ahead today and give readers biographical information on the events (1936-1959) leading to my interest in nuclear energy and the Sun.

When you reach my ripe old age, I suspect you too will look back on life and realize you had little or no control over your life, your career choices, successes, or failures.

I "decided" to be born in 1936 when, on the other side of this globe, Francis William Aston went to Japan to observe a solar eclipse. He also presented a lecture at the University of Tokyo, which sparked the interest of an unusually talented 19 year old student named Kazuo Kuroda in nuclear energy and the Sun.

World War II followed. As a young child I was taught to hate "Japs" and "Nazis" on this side of the globe. Kazuo Kuroda completed his education on the other side and became the youngest scientist appointed to the University of Tokyo faculty. The atomic bomb ended the War. Dr. Kuroda was sent by the Japanese government to investigate the bomb site and report back the nature of this new weapon.

The US government realized that knowledge is the key to national security - - - something that has since been forgotten! We stole ("relocated") the best scientific minds in Germany and Japan and brought them to this country. One was given the Christian name "Paul" on the boat ride to this country; the rest of his name looked strange to Americans - - - Kazuo Kuroda.

Kuroda landed in San Francisco and met Glen Seaborg of Berkeley National Labs (BNL). Seaborg wanted to hire this talented young scientist, but was prevented from doing. Kuroda was Japanese, and the US government wanted a monopoly on nuclear secrets. [Only in 2002 did they learn that Kuroda carried secret Japanese plans to build an atomic bomb there!] Americans of Japanese decent had been locked up during the War. No Japanese citizen could work at BNL.

So Kuroda ended up teaching at the University of Arkansas.

Meanwhile, life had been hectic for me. I grew up like an alley cat or a weed, and did not finish high school. By accident I was admitted to Pittsburg State College in 1956. My best teacher, Jim Pauley, taught General and Physical Chemistry. He was also a graduate of the University of Arkansas and directed me there when I graduated in 1959.

That is how "I selected" one world-class scientist, Paul Kazuo Kuroda, as my mentor and another, Francis William Aston, as my academic grandfather. They, of course, directed my attention to Nuclear Energy and the Sun.

With kind regards,

Oliver
http://www.umr.edu/~om

PS - Responses to questions raised in earlier postings will depend whether or not I need to reproduce here background information given on PhysLink.