3. Impulse Sound Sources
147
right trajectory can be gleaned from the insights of Professor Kenneth S.
Norris, do not underestimate the sophistication of form and function in
organisms, and always remember to maintain a hook in nature (Cranford
and Newberry 1999).
Acknowledgments. Listing the people and contributions that coalesce
in any particular project is usually little more than a simple recitation.
In a review chapter such as this, the task is shorter and more direct than
when a complicated or multifaceted project is the subject of such acknowledgments. I will provide a short list of contributors. However, before I
thank them, I need to express gratitude to my primary collaborator, who I
dearly miss. I concede that I am little more than a historian for the
scientific drama that unfolds in this chapter and continues to play itself out
today.
The real producer, and in some ways the playwright, of this period in
cetacean research history was my dear friend and major professor, Kenneth
S. Norris. He was a giant in my life and in this work. It was easy to stand
upon his shoulders and see, not only into the future, but also into the past
by his firsthand accounts. This chapter recounts that most of the heavy
lifting and foundation building was completed by Ken in the early years
of cetology, decades before I met him. He not only wrote most of the
previous reviews of this subject, he along with his colleagues and his students had a hand in most of the seminal work in the field. In addition, he
predicted the site of sonar signal generation in the odontocete forehead,
and he mapped out how we should go about finding it. It is gratifying to be
able to show, through some of my own work, that his predictions were
correct.
Ken's impact on this field is unmatched, although he might quip, "it is
easy to be a big fish in a small backwater of science." I gratefully acknowledge his persistent contribution to my work, to my growth and development as a scientist and skeptic, and to my family. The road ahead will
undoubtedly not be as well lit or as much fun without his companionship.
My only hope is that I have learned well enough from him to ignite my own
torch, and that my memory is long and keen enough to recollect some of
his marvelous tales.
I am grateful to my wife, Kathy, who prepared the figures for this chapter.
I also appreciate the efforts of a few courageous colleagues who agreed to
critique earlier versions of this chapter or parts of it: Annalisa Berta, Don
Carder, Wesley Elsberry, Alejandro Purgue, Bill Evans, Sam Ridgway, and
John Sigurdson, although I take complete responsibility for any errors,
omissions, or inaccuracies. I would also like to thank the Biosciences
Division at the Naval Research and Development Laboratory (San Diego)
and the Office of Naval Research, especially Dr. Robert Gisiner, for their
continued support.
147
right trajectory can be gleaned from the insights of Professor Kenneth S.
Norris, do not underestimate the sophistication of form and function in
organisms, and always remember to maintain a hook in nature (Cranford
and Newberry 1999).
Acknowledgments. Listing the people and contributions that coalesce
in any particular project is usually little more than a simple recitation.
In a review chapter such as this, the task is shorter and more direct than
when a complicated or multifaceted project is the subject of such acknowledgments. I will provide a short list of contributors. However, before I
thank them, I need to express gratitude to my primary collaborator, who I
dearly miss. I concede that I am little more than a historian for the
scientific drama that unfolds in this chapter and continues to play itself out
today.
The real producer, and in some ways the playwright, of this period in
cetacean research history was my dear friend and major professor, Kenneth
S. Norris. He was a giant in my life and in this work. It was easy to stand
upon his shoulders and see, not only into the future, but also into the past
by his firsthand accounts. This chapter recounts that most of the heavy
lifting and foundation building was completed by Ken in the early years
of cetology, decades before I met him. He not only wrote most of the
previous reviews of this subject, he along with his colleagues and his students had a hand in most of the seminal work in the field. In addition, he
predicted the site of sonar signal generation in the odontocete forehead,
and he mapped out how we should go about finding it. It is gratifying to be
able to show, through some of my own work, that his predictions were
correct.
Ken's impact on this field is unmatched, although he might quip, "it is
easy to be a big fish in a small backwater of science." I gratefully acknowledge his persistent contribution to my work, to my growth and development as a scientist and skeptic, and to my family. The road ahead will
undoubtedly not be as well lit or as much fun without his companionship.
My only hope is that I have learned well enough from him to ignite my own
torch, and that my memory is long and keen enough to recollect some of
his marvelous tales.
I am grateful to my wife, Kathy, who prepared the figures for this chapter.
I also appreciate the efforts of a few courageous colleagues who agreed to
critique earlier versions of this chapter or parts of it: Annalisa Berta, Don
Carder, Wesley Elsberry, Alejandro Purgue, Bill Evans, Sam Ridgway, and
John Sigurdson, although I take complete responsibility for any errors,
omissions, or inaccuracies. I would also like to thank the Biosciences
Division at the Naval Research and Development Laboratory (San Diego)
and the Office of Naval Research, especially Dr. Robert Gisiner, for their
continued support.