Scientific American Magazine

A sequel to "The Influenza Virus," published in the April, 1953, issue of this magazine. Since that time the behavior of the virus has been increasingly related to its physical and chemical nature

How much can an elephant learn? Do elephants really possess a good memory? If so, is it associated with the fact that they have large brains? The answers are sought by experiments at a zoo in Germany

The muscle of the human heart continuously does twice as much work as the muscles in the arms and legs of a man running at top speed. This prodigy is studied by inserting a tube into the heart itself

The "pendulums" which regulate them are the vibrating parts of atoms or molecules. So steady are these oscillations that atomic clocks keep better time than the spinning earth itself

The internal communication of the body is mediated by chemicals as well as by nerve impulses. Study of their interaction has developed important leads to the understanding and therapy of mental illness

Newton supposed that inertia was an independent property of matter. Some later physicists have argued that it is due to the interaction of all the matter in the universe

A century ago a young English chemistry student made a mauve-colored dye from coal tar, thus launching one of the central themes of the modern chemical industry

Man differs from the apes by his standing posture, but this is only one among some 1,000 body positions of which he is capable. Here an anthropologist discusses their distribution and rationale