I was recently poking around in an antiques store when I came across a binder full of notes on space science. Hand written stuff, seemingly a bit above basic college level… a proposal for a communications satellite, what looks like a long essay or perhaps the beginnings of a manuscript on extraterrestrial intelligence, some math on interstellar travel. I found a *single* date on the handwritten pages, sometime in 1962. There were also a few early 1980’s issues of “the Planetary Report” stuck in the back. The store only wanted 2 bucks for it, so, what the heck. I bought t with the possibility that the writings might prove interesting even if only academically, sort of a look back to 55 years ago.
The magazines still had their original mailing labels, to a feller in Ogden, Utah. Gave first name, last name, middle initial. Obviously impossible to say if the writings from 20 years earlier belonged to the feller the magazines were mailed to, but it seemed a reasonable supposition. So, off to Google I went, looking the name up with “Ogden, Utah.” And it actually turned up a guy, born in 1925, which would have put him in his late 30’s when he (apparently) wrote the space stuff. Since the age is appropriate and the name is an exact match, chances are *real* good that I found the guy, and he’s still alive.
Small problem. I didn’t find him online as “noted space scientist X receives lifetime achievement award.” Nope. I found him on a database. Guess what kind of database. Go on, guess.
Gah.
