Lynn Poole
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Lynn Poole (August 11, 1910 – April 14, 1969) was the creator and host of an early U.S. science television program, ''
The Johns Hopkins Science Review ''The Johns Hopkins Science Review'' is a US television series about science that was produced at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland from 1948-1955. Starting in 1950, the series aired on the DuMont Television Network until the network' ...
'' (1948–1955), and the author of more than 20
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books. In 2002, Patrick Lucanio and Gary Coville wrote that "In retrospect, Lynn Poole created one of those unique series that allowed television to fulfill its idealized mission as both an educational and an entertainment medium." The "pioneering program" made Poole a "surprise star". Marcel LaFollette argues that contemporary science television such as '' NOVA'' and the
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
are derived from the innovations of Poole and others. Poole was born in Eagle Grove, Iowa. He received his bachelor's degree from
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in 1936, and a master's degree in 1937. In 1938 he joined the staff of the
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in Baltimore, where he directed the education department. In 1941 he married Gray Johnson, then working as a journalist at '' The Evening Sun''. Following service 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 ...
as a public relations officer for the
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, in 1946 he joined
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
as its first director of public relations.


''The Johns Hopkins Science Review''

Poole began producing the weekly,
live television Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television over the Internet when content or programming is played continuously (not on demand) ...
program ''The Johns Hopkins Science Review'' in 1948. Poole was not educated as a scientist, but he nonetheless wrote most of the programs, and acted as its on-air host and interviewer. As LaFollete describes it, he was a "new
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" and "created the persona of the scientist's facile promoter and authoritative interpreter." Each week's half-hour show typically introduced one or more guests, often from the Johns Hopkins faculty and staff. The guest might show how a scientific apparatus such an electron microscope or an oscilloscope worked, or would briefly explain scientific ideas to the viewers. In the December 5, 1950 episode, the live broadcast of a
fluoroscope Fluoroscopy () is an imaging technique that uses X-rays to obtain real-time moving images of the interior of an object. In its primary application of medical imaging Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a ...
screen was used by doctors in New York and Chicago to diagnose the injuries to a machinist in the hospital in Baltimore. This show demonstrated the medical possibilities both of the fluoroscope and of television itself. In the April 21, 1952 episode, a scientist drank a solution containing the radioactive isotope of iodine, and then followed its progress in his own body with a Geiger counter. Poole then visited England to film a three-part series "An American Looks at Science in England". He occasionally did demonstrations himself, such as climbing a TV transmitter mast or eating a grasshopper on live television. The guests included national figures like rocket scientist
Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...
(October 20, 1952). Some shows served as conduits for public information, as in the show of April 3, 1951 on biological warfare, which featured Norman Kiefer of the Federal Civil Defense Administration. Lucanio and Coville have written, "What is unique about the series is that in a time of political and social conservatism, ''Science Review'' tackled controversial issues with a seeming lack of concern for any possible repercussions. While other shows sidestepped the use of the word "pregnant", for example, ''Science Review'' was amazingly forthright in showing the first live birth on television. In a related episode, ''Science Review'' presented a straightforward program demonstrating to women viewers how to examine themselves for breast cancer, and then went on to talk frankly about mastectomies." From 1950 to 1955, the program was syndicated nationally by the
DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
, and won Peabody Awards in 1950 (honorable mention) and 1952. Poole produced three successor series through 1960, when Johns Hopkins ended production.
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films survived for many episodes of these series, which is unusual for early live television. Copies have been archived at the Johns Hopkins library. Poole documented the techniques he developed for television programming devoted to science in a 1950 book, ''Science via Television''. LaFollette notes that, "Production approaches that are now standard practice on '' NOVA'' and the
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
derive, in fact, from experimentation by television pioneers like Lynn Poole and
Don Herbert Donald Jeffry Herbert (July 10, 1917 – June 12, 2007), better known as Mr. Wizard, was the creator and host of ''Watch Mr. Wizard'' (1951–65, 1971–72) and ''Mr. Wizard's World'' (1983–90), which were educational television programs for c ...
and such programs as ''
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'', ''
Zoo Parade ''Zoo Parade'' is an American television program broadcast from 1950 to 1957 that featured animals from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Presented by Marlin Perkins, the show was broadcast on Sunday afternoons on NBC. History The show was first ...
'', '' Science in Action'', and the Bell Telephone System's science specials. These early efforts were also influenced by television's love of the dramatic, refined during its first decade and continuing to shape news and public affairs programming, as well as fiction and fantasy, today."


Writing career

Poole was also a prolific author, mostly of popular and young adult books about science. An early title related to several episodes of the ''Science Review'' program was ''Your Trip into Space'' (1953). A second volume that was noted in ''The New York Times'' was ''Science: The Super Sleuth'' (1954), which was about forensic science. Many of his books were published after his television work ceased in 1960. Poole and his wife Gray Johnson Poole wrote at least 16 nonfiction books together, beginning in 1960 with ''Scientists Who Changed the World'', published by
Dodd, Mead Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. History Origins In 1839, Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. Ta ...
in its Makers of Our Modern World series. The Pooles also published at least one novel, ''The Magnificent Traitor; a Novel of Alcibiades and the Golden Age of Pericles'' (1968). ''One Passion, Two Loves; the story of Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann, discoverers of Troy'' (Crowell, 1966) is their work most widely held in
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libraries. Poole retired from Johns Hopkins in 1965, but continued his writing career. Poole died of a heart attack in 1969, at the age of 58. He'd had the first of several heart attacks in 1957, and of course had published a book, ''I am a Chronic Cardiac'' (1964), about his experiences. Gray Poole wrote at least four more books that were published during the 1970s. The
de Grummond Children's Literature Collection The McCain Library and Archives is the chief reserve library for The University of Southern Mississippi. It houses the items in Southern Mississippi's possession that are not available for checkout. Besides being the archives, the building also h ...
at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg holds an unprocessed collection of the papers of Lynn and Gray Johnson Poole. No biographical sketch.


References


Further reading

* – a book about ''The Johns Hopkins Science Review'' by a co-producer


External links

*
Gray Johnson Poole
at LC Authorities, with 23 records, an
at WorldCat
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, Lynn American television personalities American science writers Case Western Reserve University alumni 1910 births 1969 deaths People from Eagle Grove, Iowa 20th-century American non-fiction writers