51�Թ�

The Reuben Lasker was about four miles off the coast of Manhattan Beach when ash began to rain upon the sea — first in delicate flurries, then in noxious clouds.

As this month’s fires raged on land, the Reuben Lasker continued that orderly lawnmower-style route through the sea.

In 2008, he received a Lasker Award, the most prestigious prize in medicine next to the Nobel, for his medical research.

"We want to understand what changes in your brain when you pay attention to something in the environment, because attention greatly affects your ability to discern stimuli," said John Maunsell, PhD, the Albert D. Lasker Distinguished Service Professor of Neurobiology and Director of the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Chicago, and co-author of the study.

Holst arranged for Boult to hear a version of the piece at the piano, played by two of his colleagues, Vally Lasker and Nora Day.