Scientific American Magazine Vol 229 Issue 6

Scientific American Magazine

Volume 229, Issue 6

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Features

Flywheels

Advances in materials and mechanical design make it possible to use giant flywheels for the storage of energy in electric-power systems and smaller ones for the propulsion of automobiles, trucks and buses

Richard F. Post, Stephen F. Post

Genetic Dissection of Behavior

By working with fruit flies that are mosaics of normal and mutant parts it is possible to identify the genetic components of behavior, retrace their development and locate the sites where they operate

Seymour Benzer

Violent Tides between Galaxies

The peculiar forms of certain galaxies could be a result of tidal distortions. This theory, out of favor for a decade, seems to be confirmed by experiments with computer models of galaxies

Alar, Juri Toomre

The Tropical Rain Forest

One of the oldest ecosystems and a reservoir of genetic diversity, the wet evergreen tropical forest is threatened by the activities of man and may virtually disappear by tbe end of the 20th century

Paul W. Richards

Laser Spectroscopy

The introduction of the laser as a spectroscopic tool has made it possible to produce extremely narrow "resonances" in the optical emission and absorption spectra of gases

V. S. Letokhov, M. S. Feld

Copernicus and Tycho

In which the author, exploring who read Copernicus' book at the time of its appearance, discovers Tycho's personal copy of it. Tycho's notes show how he evolved his non-Copernican model of the solar system

Owen Gingerich

The Soaring Flight of Vultures

The six common vultures of East Africa can make a round trip of as much as 200 kilometers by skillfully riding updrafts. How they do so is examined with the aid of a powered glider

C. J. Pennycuick

Slips of the Tongue

They are a good deal more than amusing (or embarrassing) errors of speech. The collection and analysis of such errors provides important clues to how speech is organized in the nervous system

Victoria A. Fromkin

Departments

Letters to the Editors, December 1973

50 and 100 Years Ago, December 1973

The Authors, December 1973

Science and the Citizen, December 1973

Mathematical Games, December 1973

The Amateur Scientist, December 1973

Books, December 1973

Annual Index 1973

Bibliography, December 1973