F. Alton Everest (1909–2005) was an American acoustical engineer, a cofounder of the

American Scientific Affiliation The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) is a Christian religious organization of scientists and people in science-related disciplines. The stated purpose is "to investigate any area relating Christian faith and science." The organization publi ...

, and its first president.

Academic and acoustic research career

He held

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

degrees from

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

and

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where he conducted his early work with such prominent engineers as

Lee DeForest Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor and a fundamentally important early pioneer in electronics. He invented the first electronic device for controlling current flow; the three-element "Audion" triode va ...

(inventor of the

triode A triode is an electronic amplifying vacuum tube (or ''valve'' in British English) consisting of three electrodes inside an evacuated glass envelope: a heated filament or cathode, a grid, and a plate (anode). Developed from Lee De Forest's 19 ...

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. The type kn ...

) and

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

founders William Hewlett and

David Packard David Packard ( ; September 7, 1912 – March 26, 1996) was an American electrical engineer and co-founder, with Bill Hewlett, of Hewlett-Packard (1939), serving as president (1947–64), CEO (1964–68), and chairman of the board (1964–6 ...

,F. Alton Everest: 1909–2005
Wes Phillips. ''

Stereophile ''Stereophile'' is a monthly American audiophile magazine which reviews high-end audio equipment, such as loudspeakers and amplifiers, and audio-related news. History Founded in 1962 by J. Gordon Holt. ''Stereophile'' is the highest-circulation ...

'' Sept 19, 2005. then taught at

Oregon State College Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

at Corvallis from 1936, specialising in radio and television.Numbers(2006) pp181-182 During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he headed a

National Defense Research Committee The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the Un ...

underwater sound research team. His book ''Master Handbook of Acoustics'' was described by ''

'' magazine as "the best-selling book on the subject of acoustics for more than 20 years." After his work for the Moody Institute of Science, Everest worked as an acoustical consultant during the 1970s and 1980s.

Moody Institute of Science

After the war (from 1945 to 1971), he became the director of production for the Moody Institute of Science (MIS), a Christian evangelical ministry producing science films, described by ''American Cinematographer'' as "the biggest little studio in the world" in the 1960s. He published two books affiliated with the MIS: ''Dust or Destiny'' (

Moody Press Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college founded in the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, US by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have i ...

, 1949) and ''Hidden Treasures'' (

, 1951).

American Scientific Affiliation

Everest grew up a conservative

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

, reading the works of

Harry Rimmer Harry Rimmer (1890–1952) was an American evangelist and creationist. He is most prominent as a defender of creationism in the United States, a fundamentalist leader and writer of anti-evolution publications. He was the founder and President of t ...

and

George McCready Price George McCready Price (26 August 1870 – 24 January 1963) was a Canadian creationist. He produced several anti-evolution and creationist works, particularly on the subject of flood geology. His views did not become common among creationists u ...

(although favouring physician Arthur I. Brown as an influence on the

relationship between science and religion The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern ...

). In 1941 he attended a meeting of five evangelical scientists, convened by

Moody Bible Institute Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college founded in the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, US by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have i ...

president William H. Houghton, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, which led to the founding of the

, of which he became the organizational leader and president. Everest led the ASA through its first critical decision, that of how to relate to the pre-existing Deluge Geology Society (DGS). Everest was enthusiastic about the DGS's ability to draw "large crowds of non-scientific folk", its offer to allow the fledgling ASA to publish material in their ''Bulletin of Deluge Geology'' until it could start its own journal, and the "dignified but definite" tone of that journal, but questioned whether it was wise to become entangled with the DGS due to what he perceived as its "strong Seventh-Day Adventist flavor." After meeting with a group of people with close ties to the DGS, Everest wrote to the ASA executive council advising against "becoming affiliated with a deluge society right off" and that he thought " would never hope to gain even the Christian geologists if we espoused rice'scause." He wrote to the DGS, gently rebuffing affiliation, but expressing a desire for amicable cooperation. Everest had himself already joined the DGS, but thereafter specifically requested that he be listed as a "subscriber" rather than a "member". The influence of

flood geology Flood geology (also creation geology or diluvial geology) is a pseudoscientific attempt to interpret and reconcile geological features of the Earth in accordance with a literal belief in the global flood described in Genesis 6–8. In the ea ...

on the ASA was finally exorcised when, in 1948, Everest approached

J. Laurence Kulp John Laurence Kulp (February 11, 1921 – September 25, 2006) was a 20th-century geochemist. He led major studies on the effects of nuclear fallout and acid rain. He was a prominent advocate in American Scientific Affiliation circles in favor of ...

to explore the topic in the ASA's upcoming annual convention. Kulp presented a paper on the ''Antiquity of Hominoid Fossils'' at this convention and on ''Deluge Geology'' at the next convention, resulting in the discomfiture and isolation of Flood Geologists within the ASA. In 1996 he was nominated for the

Templeton Prize The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...

by a fellow member of the

.''

Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith ''Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith'', subtitled ''Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation'', is the academic publication of the American Scientific Affiliation. Background The ASA's original constitution provided two goals for t ...

''. Hearn, Walter R. Volume 57 No.4. pp.265-266. Dec. 2005.

Notes

References

External links

Alton's Worldcat identity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Everest, F. Alton 1909 births 2005 deaths Oregon State University alumni Oregon State University faculty