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38 GU I D E to Y E L L OW S P R I NG S | 2O22 – 2O23 When Yellow Springs resi- dent Leland Clark was around 12 years old, something hap - pened that was to profoundly influence the course of this life: Puberty wrapped him in its hor - monal embrace, changing him from a well-behaved student to one who was in constant trouble with his teachers. Possessed of an analytical mind, young Lee soon learned that this astonishing change in his behavior was induced partly by testosterone, the male hormone that deepens male voices and puts men’s hair on boys’ chests. “The dominant thought,” Clark said, “was, ‘How can a hormone do all that?’ It got me interested in science.” Once in high school his interest intensified when he found out that science was a formal discipline, complete with course work and laboratory sessions. “When I discovered you could get a grade in science,” he said, “it was like discover - ing you could get a grade for eating chocolate ice cream.” At the age of 72, Clark still viewed science with the same degree of enthusiasm. Far from the stereotype of the aseptic sci - entist, speaking with the News, Clark was animated and warm, full of vitality and irreverent humor. When he spoke of his lifelong profession, it was with an infectious energy that could hold a listener spellbound for hours. “Science,” he said, “is the touchstone of my soul. I think of it as the search for truth.” That search began in earnest after Clark graduated from high school in Attica, N.Y., in 1936. One of the few students to score 100 on the New York State Regents science exam, Clark received a scholarship, which he applied toward tuition at Antioch College, where he majored in chemistry. Though he was pleased with and challenged by his course- work at Antioch, it gradually dawned on him, he said, that classroom education was “not the primary thing in college by any matter of means.” What appealed to Clark most about Antioch was the “whole world of anti-authoritarianism.” It was a perfect fit for Clark, who admitted to a “lifelong conflict” with authority. That conflict was the impe - tus behind much of his work as a scientist. “Part of the inventive process,” he said, “is a distrust of authority,” a questioning and challenging of established thought. “Science teaches you to separate the fact from the diction, the truth from the lies. It provides a way to think, to analyze, to figure out for your - self what’s correct and what’s Inventor Leland Clark— LIVING THE ETHICAL SCIENTIFIC LIFE By AMY HARPER From December 1991 ▲ Often called the “father of biosensors,” Leland Clark posed with one of his most famed inventions: the oxygenator of the first heart- lung machine. The device allowed the cardiology team at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to perform the first open-heart surgery in 1952. P H O T O : Y S N E W S A R C H I V E S Al Kahina Middle Eastern (Belly) Dance Studio Traditional Arabic Women’s Dance Classes & Performances Kathleen Hennessy 937-767-1301 KathleenHennessy0801@gmail.com Arbor-Care of Yellow Springs • Tree Removal • Stump Removal • Bucket Truck • Lot & Land Clearing • Experienced Climbers • Fully Insured CALL TODAY! 937-478-3727 FREE ESTIMATES • COMPETITIVE PRICING TUES. & FRI. 12-7, SAT. 10-5 Closed Sun.–Mon. By appointment Wed. & Thurs. 937-484-3456 1-800-762-9802 www.bauerstovesandfireplaces.com We are now on Facebook. 3548 SR 54 • Urbana, OH 43078 Bauer Stoves and Fireplaces AmericA’s best! Be IndEpEndEnT, Go GREEn buy a Wood stoVe Your stove & insert Headquarters “America’s best place to buy stoves and fireplaces.”