The Satellite Project

Work has only started on specific designs for the artificial moons to be launched during the International Geophysical Year. Surveyed here are some of the possibilities and limitations to be considered...

The Coelacanth

There are now 11 specimens of this curious fish, which until 1938 was thought to have been extinct for 70 million years. They provide prime evidence on the evolution of land animals

The Strange Case of the Blind Babies

During the past 15 years there has been a little-known epidemic of a form of blindness called retrolental fibroplasia. How its cause was discovered is an intricate tale of medical detection...

Life at High Altitudes

As man extends the vertical dimension of his environment, he reflects on the role of oxygen in his physiology. Here the matter is discussed in terms of men who pass their lives in the thin air over 10,000 feet...

Isaac Newton

This inward, quarrelsome man, who often forgot to eat his meals, invented the calculus and laid the foundations of mechanics and optics—all in 18 "golden" months after graduating from college...

A Model of the Nucleus

As an aid to understanding the atomic nucleus, physicists visualize it in terms of simplified models. A surprisingly fruitful approach is to regard it as a cloudy crystal ball

Populations of House Mice

What controls the abundance of animals? Here the question is approached by way of a small pest which has the experimental advantages of an accessible habitat and rapid multiplication

The Solar Battery

This close relative of a junction transistor turns sunlight directly into electric current. In its first practical application it is powering eight telephones on a rural line in Georgia

Children's Books

Presenting a Christmas survey of books in the various sciences for youngsters

Annual Index