Scientific American Magazine Vol 249 Issue 2

Scientific American Magazine

Volume 249, Issue 2

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Features

Trauma

Accidental and intentional injuries account for more years of life lost in the Us. than cancer and heart disease. Among the prescribed remedies are improved preventive efforts, speedier surgery and further research

Donald D. Trunkey

The Purification and Manufacture of Human Interferons

Their promise is still not fulfilled, but now their genes have been isolated and cloned in E. coli. The bacteria are making interferon in quantity and the bacterial product is undergoing clinical trials

Sidney Pestka

Magnetic Fields in the Cosmos

The dynamo mechanism for the generation of magnetic fields explains why Venus has no field, why the sun has an oscillating field and why the dominant galactic field is parallel to the plane of the galactic disk

E. N. Parker

Interstellar Matter in Meteorites

Carbonaceous chondrites, the most primitive meteorites, incorporate material originating outside the solar system, including matter expelled by supernovas and other stars

Roy S. Lewis, Edward Anders

The Chemical Defenses of Termites

Soft-bodied and blind, termites are subject to predation. In defense termite soldiers attack intruders with an array of sophisticated irritants, toxins, anticoagulants and glues

Glenn D. Prestwich

Rational Collective Choice

Axiomatic analysis of voting systems has probed the compatibility of several desirable properties of an ideal method. Compromises among rationality, decisiveness and equality seem unavoidable

Douglas H. Blair, Robert A. Pollak

The Stave Churches of Norway

In the 10th century Norwegian builders blended pagan and Christian elements in wood churches. Some are stIll standing, demonstrating that with sound design and maintenance wood buildings can be permanent

Petter Aune, Ronald L. Sack, Arne Selberg

Digital Typography

Most type is now produced not by casting metal or by photography but by computer. The digital typesetter can create new letterforms with the flexibility of a scribe at up to 15,000 characters per second

Charles Bigelow, Donald Day

Departments

Letters to the Editors, August 1983

50 and 100 Years Ago: August 1983

The Authors, August 1983

Mathematical Games, August 1983

Books, August 1983

Science and the Citizen, August 1983

The Amateur Scientist

Bibliography, August 1983