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This spring the University of Missouri-Columbia joins the rest of the nation in celebrating the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark's epic journey west. Like our fellow citizens, we observe the occasion not just because the expedition marked a seminal moment in our country's history, but because the Corps of Discovery's journey serves as an apt metaphor for what we believe best about ourselves as Americans: our determination and drive, our curiosity, our willingness to risk all in pursuit of higher ends. It also neatly demonstrates the sense of wonder that such ends can produce. When William Clark unfurled the maps of the little-known regions he'd traversed, for example, historians say Thomas Jefferson's exhilaration was palpable. A similar excitement in discovery lies at the heart of the academic experience. And as we salute our forebears' great achievement, it is worth noting that the advancement of today's scientific understanding is, in its way, every bit as stirring as that long-ago passage through the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. Our Spring 2004 edition contains a vivid sampling of new worlds revealed by MU scientists and scholars. In these pages you'll accompany Armando Favazza, an MU professor of psychiatry, as he seeks to explain the powerful, sometimes disturbing, psychological influence of the Holy Bible. You will travel to woods and wetlands with biologist Ray Semlitsch and his students as they strive to determine why so many amphibians face extinction. You will share the long, creative journey of Frank Stack, an MU artist. You'll also encounter an MU historian who discovered that, even in their own day, Lewis and Clark hadn't cornered the market in "courage undaunted." There is no denying that, unlike these great explorers of old, much of Illumination's chronicle of daring and discovery is set in the laboratory, library and classroom. But I hope you'll agree that the sense of wonder it instills is no less inspiring.
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To request an issue or subscribe to Illumination, contact us at Illumination, Office of Research, 205 Jesse Hall, Columbia MO 65211. |
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Daring and Discovery
