Editing Fred Singer (section)

==Career==

===1950: United States Navy===
After his masters, Singer joined the armed forces, working for the [[United States Navy]] on [[Naval mine|mine warfare]] and countermeasures from 1944 until 1946. While with the [[Naval Ordnance Laboratory]] he developed an arithmetic element for an electronic [[digital calculator]] that he called an "electronic brain". He was discharged in 1946 and joined the Upper Atmosphere Rocket Program at the Johns Hopkins University [[Applied Physics Laboratory]] in Silver Spring, Maryland, working there until 1950. He focused on [[ozone]], [[cosmic ray]]s, and the [[ionosphere]], all measured using balloons and rockets launched from [[White Sands, New Mexico]], or from ships out at sea. [[Rachel White Scheuering]] writes that for one mission to launch a rocket, he sailed with a naval operation to the [[Arctic]], and also conducted rocket launching from ships at the equator.<ref name = "scheuering2004" />

From 1950 to 1953, he was attached to the [[Embassy of the United States, London|U.S. Embassy in London]] as a scientific [[liaison officer]] with the [[Office of Naval Research]], where he studied research programs in Europe into [[cosmic radiation]] and [[nuclear physics]].<ref>''Current biography yearbook'', Volume 10, H. W. Wilson Company, 1956; [http://www.sepp.org/about%20sepp/bios/singer/cvsfs.html S. Fred Singer, Ph.D.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928135220/http://www.sepp.org/about%20sepp/bios/singer/cvsfs.html |date=September 28, 2006 }}, Science & Environmental Policy Project, accessed May 15, 2010.</ref> While there, he was one of eight delegates with a background in [[guided weapons]] projects to address the Fourth [[International Astronautical Congress|International Congress of Astronautics]] in Zurich in August 1953, at a time when, as ''The New York Times'' reported, most scientists saw [[space flight]] as thinly disguised science fiction.<ref>Hillaby, John. [https://www.nytimes.com/1953/08/03/archives/astronauts-soar-in-eyes-of-science-100-delegates-of-17-societies.html?sq=%2522fred%2520singer%2522&scp=77&st=cse "Astronauts soar in eyes of science"], ''The New York Times'', August 3, 1953.</ref>

===1951: Design of early satellites===
[[File:MOUSE (Fred Singer).jpg|thumb|200px|Singer's MOUSE satellite, which he designed in the early 1950s<ref name=mouse/>]]

Singer was one of the first scientists to urge the launching of Earth satellites for scientific observation during the 1950s.<ref name=NYTJuly1962/> In 1951 or 1952 he proposed the MOUSE ("Minimal Orbital Unmanned Satellite, Earth"), a {{convert|100|lb}} satellite that would contain [[Geiger counter]]s for measuring [[cosmic rays]], photo cells for scanning the Earth, [[telemetry]] electronics for sending data back to Earth, a magnetic data storage device, and rudimentary [[solar cell|solar energy cell]]s. Although MOUSE never flew, the ''[[Baltimore News-Post]]'' reported in 1957 that had Singer's arguments about the need for satellites been heeded, the U.S. could have beaten Russia by launching the [[Sputnik 1|first Earth satellite]].<ref name=mouse>[http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19731670000 "Satellite, MOUSE, Concept Model"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409003926/http://nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19731670000 |date=April 9, 2010 }}, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, accessed May 15, 2010; for a diagram of the MOUSE and ''Baltimore News Post'' reference, see [https://web.archive.org/web/20150621055347/http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U1294093INP/diagram-of-mouse-satellite Diagram of MOUSE satellite], Corbis Images, accessed May 16, 2010.</ref> He also proposed (along with R. C. Wentworth) that satellite measurement of ultraviolet backscatter could be used as a method to measure atmospheric ozone profiles.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Singer|first1=S. F|last2=Wentworth|first2=R. C.|title=A method for the determination of the vertical ozone distribution from a satellite|journal=J. Geophys. Res.|date=June 1957|volume=62|issue=2|pages=299–308|doi=10.1029/JZ062i002p00299|issn=2156-2202|quote=A detector looking down towards the earth will receive solar ultraviolet scattered by the atmosphere which has been attenuated both by scattering out and by ozone absorption.|name-list-style=amp|bibcode=1957JGR....62..299S}}</ref>  This technique was later used on early [[weather satellite]]s.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Zerefos|editor1-first=Christos S.|editor2-last=Isaksen|editor2-first=Ivar S.A.|editor3-last=Ziomas|editor3-first=Ioannis|title=Chemistry and Radiation Changes in the Ozone Layer|journal=Nato Science Series General Sub-Series C, Mathematical and Physical Sciences|date=2000|volume=557|page=309|doi=10.1007/978-94-011-4353-0|url=https://www.springer.com/us/book/9780792365136|series=Nato Science Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences|publisher=Springer Netherlands|location=[[Dordrecht]]|issn=1389-2185|isbn=978-0-7923-6513-6|quote=Recent studies have demonstrated a link between ozone changes caused by human activities and changing UV levels at the Earth's surface, as well as a link to climate through changes in radiative forcing and links to changes in chemical composition.}}</ref>

===1953: University of Maryland===
Singer moved back to the United States in 1953, where he took up an associate professorship in physics at the [[University of Maryland]], and at the same time served as the director of the Center for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Scheuering writes that his work involved conducting experiments on rockets and satellites, [[remote sensing]], [[radiation belts]], the [[magnetosphere]], and [[meteorites]]. He developed a new method of launching rockets into space: firing them from a high-flying plane, both with and without a pilot. The Navy adopted the idea and Singer supervised the project. He received a White House Special Commendation from [[President Eisenhower]] in 1954 for his work.<ref name = "scheuering2004" />

He became one of 12 board members of the [[American Astronautical Society]], an organization formed in 1954 to represent the country's 300 leading scientists and engineers in the area of guided missiles—he was one of seven members of the board to resign in December 1956 after a series of disputes about the direction and control of the group.<ref>Schumach, Murray. [https://www.nytimes.com/1956/12/03/archives/planet-scientists-collide-break-up-7-of-12-astronautical-society.html?sq=%2522fred%2520singer%2522&scp=88&st=cse "Planet Scientists Collide, Break Up"], ''The New York Times'', December 3, 1956.</ref>

In November 1957 Singer and other scientists at the university successfully designed and fired three new "Oriole" rockets off the [[Virginia Capes]]. The rockets weighed less than {{convert|25|lb}} and could be built for around $2000. Fired from a converted Navy [[Landing Ship Medium|LSM]], they could reach an altitude of {{convert|50000|ft|m}} and had a complete telemetry system to send back information on cosmic, ultraviolet and X-rays. Singer said that the firings placed "the exploration of outer space with high altitude rockets on the same basis, cost-wise and effort-wise, as low atmosphere measurements with weather balloons. From now on, we can fire thousands of these rockets all over the world with very little cost."<ref>"Maryland U. Fires Three New Rockets," ''The Washington Post'', November 8, 1957.</ref>

In February 1958, when he was head of the cosmic ray group of the University of Maryland's physics department, he received a special commendation from [[President Eisenhower]] for "outstanding achievements in the development of satellites for scientific purposes."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=B1MVAAAAIAAJ&dq=fred+singer+award+from+President+eisenhower&pg=PP7 1970, National Science Policy hearings, US House of Representatives]</ref><ref>"President Lauds Physicist Singer," ''The Washington Post'', February 4, 1958.</ref> In April 1958, he was appointed as a consultant to the House [[Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration]], which was preparing to hold hearings on President Eisenhower's proposal for a [[NASA|new agency to handle space research]], and a month later received the Ohio State University's Distinguished Alumnus Award.<ref>"Singer Appointed Space Consultant," ''The Washington Post'', April 6, 1958.
* "Md. U. Physicist Receives Award," ''The Washington Post'', May 3, 1958: the reward was for his "widely recognized research contributions in the fields of cosmic rays, upper atmosphere and space flight, and for the recognition he has brought to university and government research organizations through his outstanding and prolific work."</ref> He became a full professor at Maryland in 1959, and was chosen that year by the [[United States Junior Chamber of Commerce]] as one of the country's [[Ten Outstanding Young Americans|ten outstanding young men]].<ref>[http://www.sepp.org/about%20sepp/bios/singer/cvsfs.html S. Fred Singer, Ph.D.]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928135220/http://www.sepp.org/about%20sepp/bios/singer/cvsfs.html |date=September 28, 2006 }}, Science & Environmental Policy Project, accessed May 13, 2010; Smithsonian Institution Research Information Service. [http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!228966!0&term= "S. Fred Singer Papers, 1953–1989 (bulk 1960–1980)"], accessed May 15, 2010.
* For his Junior Chamber of Commerce award, see ''The New York Times''. [https://www.nytimes.com/1960/01/05/archives/10-young-men-cited-by-junior-chamber.html?sq=%2522fred%2520singer%2522&scp=78&st=cse "10 Young Men Cited by Junior Chamber"], January 5, 1960; and [http://www.usjaycees.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=100051 "TOYA Part Honorees"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613071536/http://usjaycees.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=100051 |date=June 13, 2010 }}, United States Junior Chamber, accessed May 22, 2010.</ref>

In a January 1960 presentation to the [[American Physical Society]], Singer sketched out his vision of what the environment around the Earth might consist of, extending up to {{convert|40000|mi|km}} into space.<ref>Osmundsen, John A. [https://www.nytimes.com/1960/01/30/archives/scientist-looks-40000-miles-out-believes-the-earth-may-have-two.html?sq=%2522fred%2520singer%2522&scp=21&st=cse "Scientist 'looks' 40,000 miles out"], ''The New York Times'', January 30, 1960.</ref> He became known for his early predictions about the properties of the electrical particles trapped around the Earth, which were partly verified by later discoveries in satellite experiments. In December 1960, he suggested the existence of a shell of visible dust particles around the Earth some 600 to {{convert|1000|mi|km}} in space, beyond which there was a layer of smaller particles, a micrometre or less in diameter, extending 2,000 to {{convert|4000|mi|km}}.<ref>Plumb, Robert K. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0A12FB3D541A7A93CAAB1789D95F448685F9&scp=3&sq=%22S.%20Fred%20Singer%22&st=cse "Scientists' Calculations Indicate Shell of Dust Surrounding Earth"], ''The New York Times'', December 28, 1960.</ref> In March 1961 Singer and another University of Maryland physicist, [[Ernst Öpik|E. J. Opik]], were given a $97,000 grant by NASA to conduct a three-year study of interplanetary gas and dust.<ref>"M.U. Professors get NASA grants," Associated Press, March 22, 1961.</ref>

===1960: Artificial Phobos hypothesis===
In a 1960 ''Astronautics'' newsletter, Singer commented on [[Iosif Shklovsky]]'s hypothesis<ref>I. S. Shklovsky, ''The Universe, Life, and Mind'', Academy of Sciences USSR, Moscow, 1962.</ref><ref>Iosif S. Shklovski and Carl Sagan. ''Intelligent Life in the Universe'', San Francisco: Holden-Day, 1966.</ref> that the orbit of the [[Mars|Martian]] moon [[Phobos (moon)|Phobos]] suggests that it is hollow, which implies it is of artificial origin. Singer wrote: "My conclusion there is, and here I back Shklovsky, that if the satellite is indeed spiraling inward as deduced from astronomical observation, then there is little alternative to the hypothesis that it is hollow and therefore martian made. The big 'if' lies in the astronomical observations; they may well be in error. Since they are based on several independent sets of measurements taken decades apart by different observers with different instruments, systematic errors may have influenced them."<ref>S. F. Singer, "More on the Moons of Mars", ''Astronautics'', February 1960, American Astronautical Society, page 16.</ref> Later measurements confirmed Singer's ''big "if"'' caveat: Shklovsky overestimated Phobos' rate of altitude loss due to bad early data.<ref>E. J. Öpik,  "News and Comments: Phobos, Nature of Acceleration". Irish Astronomical Journal 6: 40, March 1963.</ref> Photographs by probes beginning in 1972 show a natural stony surface with craters.<ref>[http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/programmissions/missions/past/mariner89/ Mars Exploration Program: Mariner 8 & 9]</ref> [[Ufology|Ufologists]] continue to present Singer as an unconditional supporter of Shklovsky's artificial Phobos hypothesis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sema4.com.au/an/211-AN.pdf |title=Andrew Kelleher, "Phobos: the odd moon of Mars", in Alienation News #211 Nov 2002. |access-date=May 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040902064151/http://www.sema4.com.au/an/211-AN.pdf |archive-date=September 2, 2004 }}</ref>

''Time'' magazine wrote in 1969 that Singer had had a lifelong fascination with Phobos and Mars's second moon, [[Deimos (moon)|Deimos]]. He told ''Time'' it might be possible to pull Deimos into the Earth's orbit so it could be examined.<ref name=Time1969/><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=gL9scSG3K_gC&dat=19690127&printsec=frontpage&hl=en "Scientist Urges U.S. Seizure of a Martian Moon"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', January 27, 1969, p2</ref>  During an international space symposium in May 1966, attended by space scientists from the United States and Soviet Union, he first proposed that crewed [[Phobos (moon)#Proposed missions|landings on the Martian moons]] would be a logical step after a crewed landing on the Earth's Moon. He pointed out that the very small sizes of Phobos and Deimos—approximately {{convert|14|and|8|mi|km|spell=in}} in diameter and sub milli-[[g-force|g]] surface gravity—would make it easier for a spacecraft to land and take off again.<ref>Sullivan, Walter. [https://www.nytimes.com/1966/05/19/archives/worlds-space-scientists-take-look-at-the-future-russian-says-man.html?sq=%2522fred%2520singer%2522&scp=33&st=cse "World's Space Scientists Take Look at the Future"], ''The New York Times'', May 19, 1966.
* S. Fred Singer. [http://www.philsoc.org/2002Fall/2153abstract.html "A Manned Mission to the Mysterious Moons of Mars"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415130215/http://www.philsoc.org/2002Fall/2153abstract.html |date=April 15, 2007 }}, Philosophical Society of Washington, November 22, 2002, accessed May 13, 2010.</ref>

===1962: National Weather Center and University of Miami===
In 1962, on leave from the university, Singer was named as the first director of meteorological satellite services for the National Weather Satellite Center, now part of the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]], and directed a program for using satellites to forecast the weather.<ref name=NYTJuly1962>''The New York Times''. [https://www.nytimes.com/1962/07/06/archives/physicist-to-help-us-speed-weather-satellite-system.html?sq=%2522fred%2520singer%2522&scp=29&st=cse "Physicist to Help U.S. Speed Weather Satellite System"], July 6, 1962.</ref> He stayed there until 1964. He told ''Time'' magazine in 1969 that he enjoyed moving around. "Each move gave me a completely new perspective," he said. "If I had sat still, I'd probably still be measuring [[cosmic rays]], the subject of my thesis at Princeton. That's what happens to most scientists."<ref name=Time1969>''Time'' magazine. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121105104255/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839006-2,00.html "Astrophysics: Capturing a Moon and Other Diversions"], February 21, 1969.</ref> When he stepped down as director he received a [[United States Department of Commerce|Department of Commerce Gold Medal]] award for Distinguished Federal Service.<ref>Lehr, Jay H. ''Rational Readings on Environmental Concerns''. John Wiley and Sons 1992, p. 393.
* Levy, Lillian. ''Space, Its Impact on Man and Society''. Ayer Publishing 1973, p. xiii.
* Singer, S. Fred. ''The Changing Global Environment''. Springer Publishers 1975, p. 401.</ref>

In 1964, he became the first dean of the School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences at the [[University of Miami]] in 1964, the first school of its kind in the country, dedicated to space-age research.<ref>Terte, Robert H. [https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/15/archives/a-dean-for-earth-and-space.html "A Dean for Earth and Space"], ''The New York Times'', March 15, 1964.</ref> In December 1965, ''The New York Times'' reported on a conference Singer hosted in Miami Beach during which five groups of scientists, working independently, presented research identifying what they believed was the remains of a primordial flash that occurred when the universe was born.<ref>Sullivan, Walter. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C1FFE3C5D167A93C2AB1789D95F418685F9&scp=71&sq=%22fred%20singer%22&st=cse "Scientists Trace Birth of Universe With Light Waves"], ''The New York Times'', December 20, 1965.</ref>

===1967–1994===
In 1967 he accepted the position of deputy assistant secretary with the [[U.S. Department of the Interior]], where he was in charge of water quality and research. When the [[U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]] was created on 1970, he became its deputy assistant administrator of policy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=S. Fred Singer (1924 - 2020) |url=https://heartland.org/about-us/who-we-are/s-fred-singer/ |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=The Heartland Institute |language=en-US}}</ref>

Singer accepted a professorship in Environmental Sciences at the [[University of Virginia]] in 1971, a position he held until 1994,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heartland.org/about-us/who-we-are/s-fred-singer|title=S. FRED SINGER (1924 - 2020)|publisher=Heartland Institute|language=en-US|access-date=October 31, 2019}}</ref> where he taught classes on environmental issues such as ozone depletion, acid rain, climate change, population growth, and public policy issues related to oil and energy.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} In 1987 he took up a two-year post as chief scientist at the [[U.S. Department of Transportation]], and in 1989 joined the [[Institute of Space Science and Technology]] in Gainesville, Florida where he contributed to a paper on the results from the [[Interplanetary dust cloud|Interplanetary Dust]] Experiment using data from the [[Long Duration Exposure Facility]] satellite.<ref name = "scheuering2004" /><ref>[http://spiedl.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=PSISDG002214000001000076000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes Long duration exposure facility (LDEF) interplanetary dust experiment (IDE) impact detector results]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> When he retired from Virginia in 1994, he became Distinguished Research Professor at the [[Institute for Humane Studies]] at [[George Mason University]] until 2000.<ref name=CV>[http://www.sepp.org/about%20sepp/bios/singer/cvsfs.html S. Fred Singer, Ph.D. Professional background] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928135220/http://www.sepp.org/about%20sepp/bios/singer/cvsfs.html |date=September 28, 2006 }}, Science & Environmental Policy Project, accessed May 13, 2010.</ref>

[[Naomi Oreskes]] and [[Erik Conway]] say that Singer was involved in the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]]'s efforts to prevent regulatory action to reduce acid rain.<ref>Oreskes, Naomi and Erik M. Conway, "Chapter 3: Sowing the Seeds of Doubt", in ''Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming'', New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010: p66-106.</ref>