ABSTRACT
Barry Commoner’s scientific career is best characterized by his insistent commitment to holistic approaches to understanding how living things function and his alertness in bringing the most modern tools from physics and chemistry to bear on the properties of living systems. He pushed the limits of sensitivity for measuring small differences in the nitrogen (N) isotopic composition of drainage water to investigate the relative contributions of fertilizer N to the high nitrate levels found in an agricultural watershed. Commoner of the botany department fell to discussing the theory that free radicals play an important role in the processes of oxidation and reduction in living cells, and he remarked how difficult it was to detect free radicals in living systems. The annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is one of the largest gatherings of scientists. The AAAS gave a prize each year—called the Cleveland Prize—for the best paper presented at its annual meeting.
