Remembering Walter C. Pitman III, by John LaBrecque (one of Walter’s graduate students)
My first realization that science and technology could offer new worlds to explore came during a third-grade reading assignment about a young boy from New England who used his amateur radio to speak with a mate in Rio de Janeiro. Casting my voice across the ether to be with a friend from the other side of the Earth was powerfully magical to me. It was then, in my third-grade class, that I dedicated my life to science.
Fast forward nearly a decade too the time when two revolutions were changing the face of America in the nineteen sixties - one was social and the other was scientific. Both of these forces would bring the gift of Walter Pitman III as my guide.
Spring of 1968 was politically turbulent for America and especially so at Columbia University. Classes were suspended and my focus was focused upon other seemingly more meaningful issues. I had no great enthusiasm for a future as an engineer, When the choice was offered, I decided to take the summer off and return the following semester to complete my degree requirements. Inspired by the great Hippie movement and armed with John Steinbeck’s vision of the west, my girlfriend and I drew an oval course around the lower 48. We followed that track for 2 weeks from coast to coast in our $100 white Ford sedan. As we passed from one geological province to another, each stood in contrast the subdued glaciated terranes of southwestern Maine that I knew as a child. The different geological provinces spoke to me of a restless planet driven by forces that I did not understand. I was challenged to understand them. By the end of that road trip I was committed to the study of geoscience. My life since been blessed with so many friends and colleagues who seek the same understanding of our Earth. A gem among them Is Walter C. Pitman III.
The sixties were a decade of scientific revolution in which the evolving theory of plate tectonics was transforming geology with the power of geophysical exploration. Under the leadership of Doc Ewing, Lamont became a center of activity during this period of discovery. Our ships were continuously cruising the world’s oceans gathering “a core a day” and measuring gravity and geomagnetic fields while underway. Lamont was a gathering place of the world’s brightest and most motivated Earth scientists who took full advantage of this center with rich scientific resources. In 1966, Walter Pitman discovered the symmetry in the Eltanin 19 that served as a key to unlock the evolutionary history of the world’s ocean basins. In 1968, the team of Pitman, Heirtzler, Herron, Dickson, and LePichon published a series of four papers in the Journal of Geophysics that lineated the magnetic reversal that charted the evolution of the world’s major ocean basins complete with a time scale dating back to the final years of the dinosaurs. This was a road map for the evolution of the Earth.
In 1969, I immersed myself in geological courses while also completing the courses from the previous semester. My favorite courses were Geophysics taught by Jack Nafe, followed by Geochemistry taught by Wally Broecker. I was so mesmerized by these courses, that I’m sure my obsession with earth science made me a difficult companion to my friends. At the end of the semester I asked Jack Nafe for his advice on continuing my studies in Geophysics. His response was that I should first spend some time on a Lamont ship to determine if I wanted to dedicate myself to geophysics. Jack Nafe suggested that I visit Dr. Walter Pitman at Lamont who might have an opening for a magnetometer technician aboard the USNS Eltanin. Adventure, science, and one step closer to my quest for the life of geoscientist!
A final question during my orals examination asked why I chose to study marine geophysics. I told the story of Jack Nafe’s advice to work aboard one of Lamont’s ships. The laughter and recognition from the orals committee indicated that many shared the benefits of Jack Nafe’s advice. Walter Pitman, my faculty adviser was among those who followed Jack Nafe’s advice. Jack Nafe gave us both great advice!
Meeting Walter was a major turning point in my life. Within three months I was on my way to the USNS Eltanin in Melbourne, Australia. During these cruises EL39, 40 and 41 the Eltanin explored the East Indian Ocean and the Southwestern Pacific north to the Tonga Islands with punctuated port calls to Adelaide, Auckland, and Christ Church. This was followed by R/V Conrad cruises in the Eastern South Atlantic with ports stops in Abidjan, Moçâmedes and Capetown. I was exploring and being challenged, I loved it. All the while, Walter was working with Jack Nafe to ensure that I would begin graduate school upon my return.
I never expected that Walter would not only be my mentor but that we would become dear and life-long friends. Lamont was a fantastic playground for scientific revelation. It seemed that each day brought an important new discovery based upon the endless stream of new data coming from our research ships. Most importantly, the Marine Magnetics department under the Walter’s leadership operated much like an extended family. Walter did not direct me to do anything but he would suggest directions that I might find useful and never did he look over my shoulder. In later years I described this as benign neglect, I should have described it as benevolent neglect. I followed Walter’s techniques for the identification and chronology of magnetic anomaly patterns within various ocean basins but soon with Walter’s support and encouragement I veered off in other directions of earth science. I was always grounded in the solid support and guidance that Walter provided to me.
Walter possessed a compass that pointed the way to significance in scientific research. Walter did not focus upon a single technique familiar to him such a geomagnetism, seismology, or even archeology. Walter was on quest to understand the Earth as a continuously changing and inter-related physical system of rock, water, air and its effect upon human evolution.
It took nearly thirty years for Walter find the path that fortified his love of people, earth science, and discovery. That road, according to Walter, was shown to him by Nobel Laureate Polycarp Kusch and the distinguished Jack Nafe, a physics department colleague of Kusch and professor of geophysics researching seismology and earth properties at Lamont. The very same Jack Nafe that guided me to Lamont and to Walter as mentor and friend. During the last years of his life, Walter loved to tell the story of his seeking the advice of Polycarp Kusch on how best to pursue a career in science. Polycarp Kusch told Walter that his quest for discovery did not lie in particle physics. Walter quoted Kusch in a thick German accent followed by Walter’s characteristic laugh saying “Walter you are not shmartt enough to do great things in particle physics. I suggest that you speak with Jack Nafe at Lamont”. Both Kusch and Nafe understood Walter’s true gifts and provided him with a path to achieve his goal. Walter told this story over and over again because he understood that this advice defined a pivotal moment in his life when he set of on a magical journey of discovery and adventure and a lauded role in science.
In 2000 I commissioned an advisory committee to help define a research program for NASA’s Earth Surface and Interior Focus Area. Sean Solomon and Walter were members of the committee, Sean was chairman. The committee had struggled with the identification of a theme that would unite the geodesy focused NASA program with that of the more heavily funded theme of global environmental change pursued by the other NASA Earth Science focus areas. I remember an important moment during the committee’s deliberations when Walter, quite apart from other topics chimed in with “How about Sea-level?” Recommending sea-level change as a major theme for the NASA geodesy-focused program was stroke of genius. Today it is obvious, but in 2001 it required vision. Sea-level was a unifying topic of great relevance to both global change and natural hazards research and data analysis. Both rely upon a stable terrestrial reference frame, geodetic precise positioning of orbiting, air and ground sensors, satellite measurement of dynamic topography and the transport of mass between the oceans, land and cryosphere.
At the end of his life he often expressed his love for Lamont and for spiritual growth that he experienced here. Walter missed those lunches in the Lamont cafeteria where he got to explore ideas with anyone who was willing to spend the time. Walter loved his collaboration with others to understand the evolution of the global ocean basins, the geomagnetic field history well back to the Jurassic, the study the evolution of the Alps, the occurrence of shallow seas in Cretaceous, and the geological basis for the flood legends. Walter was not much different than many of the scientists that roam the halls of Lamont except that his personal warmth raised science to the level of family discussions. We were family. I miss Walter. Walter guided me to achieve my dream of a career in science. He will always occupy a position of honor and love in my life.
John LaBrecque
New York
June, 2020