October 13, 1964
Dear Ed,
I have received your letter about the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the sponsorship program. Let me wish the laboratory a bright future.
There are some points in the memorandum on the sponsorship program that deserve comment. On page 3, in the paragraph referring to the future, there comes this sentence: "The spectacular advances in biology of the last 10 years--which have often been compared to the burgeoning of physics at the start of this century--have largely been in the field of microbial or unicellular organisms." I greatly admire the contributions of microbiology but, even so, this statement is, in my opinion, simply nonsense. It is, of course, frequently said, but it is nonsense nevertheless. The next sentence about "problems which soon should be attacked" raised a smile for a number of people who read it.
Well, best wishes all the same.
Ever yours,
A.E. Mirsky