On supporting science journalism
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SEPTEMBER 1957
DNA— “It is difficult to resist the conclusion that DNA is genetic material. If that is the case, our problem is to learn how DNA reproduces itself. The double-helical structure of DNA suggests a possible answer, which I have discussed in a previous article. The basic idea is that the two chains of the DNA, which fit together as a hand fits into a glove, are separated in some way and the hand then acts as a mold for formation of a new glove while the glove acts as a mold for a new hand. Thus we finish up with two gloved hands where we had only one before. In chemical terms we imagine that monomers supplied by the cell align themselves along the mold chain with complementary bases pairing up. —F.H.C. Crick”
SEPTEMBER 1907
GLORIOUS FOOD— “The dietetic vice of a century ago—the time of the three-bottle men—was alcoholic; now, we Americans, at least, eat too much, especially too much meat. It is the concomitant of our prosperity. And to this effect Prof. Chittenden submits a most valuable and scientific work in which are detailed exhaustive experiments done through six years by him and his colleagues at Yale. He concludes that the dietary standards are much too high; and that better health, increased efficiency, and greater chances of longevity would certainly follow upon our reducing our proteids at least fifty per cent.”
SEPTEMBER 1857
COUNTING WATER— “Liberal supplies of water in cities are a blessing which cannot be too highly appreciated. To prevent waste, however, there is a necessity of some method of recording the quantity used in each household or establishment. The meter represented in the accompanying engravings is so arranged as to require no packed parts, to work practically independent of friction, and to afford a means of measuring with great accuracy whether the flow be rapid or extremely slow.”