Interview of Henry H. Brecher by Raimund E. Goerler

Walter Wood, pp. 8 George Mick, pp. 9 Mark Gordon, pp. 10 Henry Morozumi, pp. 10 Campbell Craddock, pp. 16-17 Ed Thiel, pp. 16 Ed Robinson, pp. 16 Jenny Darlington, pp. 17 Finn Ronne, pp. 17 Harry Darlington, pp. 17 Antero Havola, pp. 19, 22-23, 26-27 Dr. Richard Goldthwait, pp. 20, 25, 31, 33, 37 Bert Crary, pp. 20 Walter Davis, pp. 26, 28 Warrant Officer Fowler, pp. 26 _______ Darling, pp. 28 Colin Bull, pp. 33 Urho Uotila, pp. 33 Dean Merchant, pp. 34 Professor Hans Jerie, pp. 34 Terry Hughes, pp. 34, 41 Lonnie Thompson, pp. 34, 36, 42 David Elliot, pp. 36 David Bromwich, pp. 36 Ken Jezek, pp. 36 Ian Whillans, pp. 37 Mr. Chapman, pp. 38 Dr. Brandenberger, pp. 39Henry Brecher’s interest in science led to a degree in mechanical engineering. After military service, he worked at Pratt and Whitney. His group studied different designs of burner nozzles for jet engines. A friend said that the Air Force Cambridge Research Labs were looking for people to go to Antarctica. They were searching for four people to observe aurora at the polar stations. Brecher was assigned to the Byrd Station. He operated a photometer to measure light intensity of the aurora and a sky camera for photographing the sky. In addition, he made visual observations every half hour. On special occasions, he made visual observations every fifteen minutes. Brecher observed from 4:00 pm to 8:00 am and volunteers observed from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. During the summer months, Brecher volunteered for other projects. In the second summer he assisted in the first American traverse to the South Pole. The problems encountered on the traverse are summarized. After working on this project, Dr. Goldthwait encouraged Brecher to come to Ohio State University. Faculty in the Department of Geology and the Department of Geodetic Science influenced the selection of courses for his graduate work in photogrammetry. Brecher did photogrammetry work on the Byrd Glacier in Antarctica and Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland. He went to Antarctica a total of 11-12 times and enjoyed the field work because of the variations in experiences and the opportunities to meet people in other countries. Brecher was asked to list and describe the outstanding projects by members of the Ohio State University Byrd Polar Research Center since 1962. He concluded that the work in Antarctica was multi-disciplinary rather than inter-disciplinary. The interview concludes with discussions of the social problems of living in a small, isolated station in Antarctica for a winter. Boredom was a source of many problems. Major Themes Brecher’s association with the Air Force The Arctic Institute of North America Aurora observation in Antarctica, including equipment and recording procedures First American traverse to the South Pole Major accomplishments of the Ohio State University Byrd Polar Research Center from 1962-1999 Challenges of wintering-over in AntarcticaFunded by a grant from the National Science Foundation