Scientific American Magazine Vol 244 Issue 3

Scientific American Magazine

Volume 244, Issue 3

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Features

The Service Sector of the U.S. Economy

It is now the dominant sector, replacing the goods-producing sectors. Other changes are the growth of the nonproht sector, the increase in human capital and the further internationalization of the economy

Eli Ginzberg, George J. Vojta

The Ground Substance of the Living Cell

The high resolution that has been achieved with the high-voltage electron microscope reveals the microtrabecular lattice: a system of gossamer filaments that support and move the cell organelles

Jonathan B. Tucker, Keith R. Porter

The Eruptions of Mount St. Helens

The volcano's current cycle of activity is part of a pattern extending over 4,500 years. Indeed, its violent eruptions of last year were predicted by volcanologists on the scene

Barbara Decker, Robert Decker

The Milky Way Galaxy

A few years ago the fundamental facts about it seemed to be fairly well established. Now even its mass and its radius have come into question

Bart J. Bok

Submarine Pollination

The sea grasses, flowering below the ocean surface, must shed and capture pollen in an underwater habitat. What are the differences between their system of reproduction and that of land-based plants?

John Pettitt, Sophie Ducker, Bruce Knox

Anorthoscopic Perception

A figure revealed one section at a time through a narrow slit may be perceived in its entirety. Is this effect based on the painting of the image over the retina or on deeper psychological events?

Irvin Rock

The Biochemistry of Resistance to Malaria

Genes for two lethal diseases, sickle-cell anemia and thalassenlia, are favored by evolution because they protect against malaria. Now the mechanisms of that protection can be studied in the laboratory

Milton J. Friedman, William Trager

Newton's Discovery of Gravity

How did he come to develop the concept that marked the beginning of modern science? In essence he did so by repetitively comparing the real world with a simplified mathematical representation of it

I. Bernard Cohen

Departments

Letters to the Editors, March 1981

50 and 100 Years Ago, March 1981

The Authors, March 1981

Metamagical Themas, March 1981

Books, March 1981

Science and the Citizen, March 1981

The Amateur Scientist, March 1981

Bibliography, March 1981