Black and Pink

Theatre & Science

Professor Richard Eakin taught zoology.  He lectured its complexities in a practical manner for 41 years. His teaching imparted wisdom made science entertaining and exhibited practicality.‍

The New York Times wrote about him impersonating famous scientists. Father Gregor Mendel crossbred us with generic inheritance. Army Surgeon William Beaumont nourished us about the stomach and digestion. Louis Pasteur pasteurized us with bacteriology and vaccine research. Charles Robert Darwin evolved to us the natural selection and evolution view from his HMS Beagle voyages. Theatre and science thrilled us.

Awake & Alert

He invited a leading anti-tobacco scientist to teach our afternoon class. We were wondering how the doctor would keep us alert for 90 minutes.

The guest professor entered and introduced himself. Promptly from a tray on the lecture table, we held up with his bare hands a pinkish spongey lung. It exclaimed this was the healthy lung of a non-smoker at the end of their life. He didn’t hold back on his real-life anatomy lesson. Some classmates gasped from his sharpness.

He grabbed another lung from the tray. He held it up potently. It was black. You stared at a glob of smoked human tissue. Everyone grossed out. He explained it was a smoker who smoked their whole lives. It hung down blackened with formaldehyde dripping down to the pan.

Scared Straight

He taught us the physiological aspects of smoking. He made the class attentive and scared. A long list of negatives were outlined. With COVID-19 today, a smoker could be more susceptible to the virus.

He mentioned some small benefits from smoking. However, it was crystal clear smoking shortens life. He wanted no one to smoke. I read later that tobacco companies always opposed and obstructed his talks and work on smoking impact.

Inspired to Stay Healthy

When Professor Eakin taught at the next class, he told us one student came up to him. She confided to him that she would stop smoking because of the lecture. He said that if the one lady stopped smoking, then his class on smoking was successful.

The class roared approval and clapped vigorously.

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