Wednesday, November 12?Post # 54
Dearest Linda:
I owe you more letters than I do apologies for not writing to you oftener. The preceding sentence defies logic but it sounds logical. As the mid-Victorian magician said to his wife as he sawed her in two, “I could not half thee, dear, so well loved I not Honoré best. (Honoré was a popular ladies’ name in the nineties.)
Enclosed find one (1) explanation by John Burton of the theory and practise of 3-d for your Physics project. Since it is fairly brief, though reasonably clear, I thought I had best check with Mr. Pickwick [Hollywood bookstore] for further information. I found an excellent volume, though somewhat technical, which will be mailed today and should arrive not too much after this letter. As I say, a lot of it is technical and can be skipped, but the introduction and the last part, I believe titled “The Human Element” look very interesting and inside the back cover is a sleeve containing a pair of 3-d glasses and a series of charts. The chance of pulling this material into shape for an interesting article is very good I would think. One thing to always stress, I think, is that it is manifestly impossible to attain 3-d without insuring separate viewpoints for the two eyes. So far, spectacles seem the only possible answer. All the other processes only simulate stereo: Cinemascope, Cinerama, Vistavision all are concerned with greater size and different dimension, but they are no more 3-d than a mural is. They can force the eyes to move around by the very nature of their shape and size, but the truth is that a one-eyed person will see exactly what a two-eyed person will, and this is the significant difference. In three-d we get binocular vision, or depth perception or whatever you want to call it. Anyway, I hope this will serve your needs and that your paper will be a huge success. I love you.
The C-plus in Spanish is far from fatal and I am very, very pleased with the way your academic progress is going, but this is the big year and there is no question that you have the ability, the diligence and the desire to get top grades and to learn, too. Whether they will be sufficient to get you into Stanford we do not know, there are other factors. Doing top work does not always get top grades, we know that too; teachers are often very human, but I know that you are going to merit high grades this year because you will bend yourself to it and not as a drudge but because you can, because this is the time to do so and because, as Roger Bannister shows, the final drive is the supreme satisfaction and the supreme achievement. This is the big year in your high school career and I am not asking what your report card will be, but I am asking truly and simply that you give your best. And that is asking a great deal.
I can’t wait to see you behind the wheel of this beautiful Oldsmobile with your horse-tail flying and your pretty, proud head thrown back. Wow!
So much for now..I know you want this material so I had best get it in the mail.
Shall I write to [your boyfriend] re grades? Would it help?
I love you…
