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Trivelpiece Takes Top AAAS Post

March 9, 1987

CHICAGO—Alvin W. Trivelpiece will take office April 1 as executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the AAAS announced February 15 at its annual meeting here. He succeeds Wffliam D. Carey, who is retiring after 12 years at the head of the nation's oldest and largest genera! science membership organization. The appointment was reported first in the February 9 issue of THE SCIENTIST. Triveipiece, 56, a nuclear physicist with experience in industry, academia a

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U.K. Budget Allocation Draws Fire

By Jon Turney | March 9, 1987

LONDON—British science policy advisers sent their government a message of gloom and dismay along with their recommendations for the country's 1987-88 science budget. And they were backed by opposition politicians in the House of Lords who said the country's industrial future was threatened by its weak support for research. The Advisory Board for the Research Councils (ABRC) decided to award 20 million of the 24 million pounds ($34 million) that were added to Britain's 300-million-pound aca

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Understand the Difference Between Science, Religion

By Ronald Jensh | March 9, 1987

Craig K. Svensson completely misses the point concerning the teaching of creation science in the schools (The Scientist, January 26, 1987). I will defend the right of any individual to practice his own faith as long as such practice does not infringe upon or harm other members of society. Creation science is a religious belief and not a branch of scientific thought. Therefore, it is not appropriate to teach this subject in the context of science. I will not discuss the arguments concerning the l

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UNESCO Race Still Wide Open

By Andy Crump | March 9, 1987

LONDON—The contest to elect a new director-general of UNESCO is about to enter a period of international wheeling and dealing. The election could test the organization's ability to emerge from two years of disarray and indecision. No front-runner for the top post has appeared, although member states may nominate candidates through the end of this month. The 50-member Executive Board then must select a single candidate to propose to the General Conference in November. Director-General Amado

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'God as the Edge of the Universe'

By e Weber | February 23, 1987

"In the Beginning … But exactly what in the beginning? The physicist Stephen Hawking, Lucasian Professor at Cambridge University, has devoted much of his career to answering that question. His obsession is the one second between the Big Bang (the postulated birth of the universe) and the beginning of its expansion. A victim of amyotropic lateral sclerosis, an incurable progressive motor neuron disease, Hawking is almost totally immobile and is confined to a wheelchair. He can communicate o

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'I Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier'

By Perutz | February 23, 1987

Fifty years ago, the great un solved problem of biology seemed to be the structure of proteins. Bill Astbury, a physicist and X-ray crystallographer working for the Wool Research Association in Leeds (United Kingdom), discovered that the fibrous protein keratin, found in wool, horn, nails and muscle, gave a common X-ray diffraction pattern consisting of just two reflections, a meridionalone at 5.1 Å and an equatorial one at 9.8 Å. Astbury called this the a-keratin pattern. When these f

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A Tour of the Human Mind

By Lynn Nadel | February 23, 1987

Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of the Mind-Brain. Patricia Smith Churchland. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1986. 800 pp. $27.50. Can there be an object of scientific study as compelling, yet baffling, as the human mind? In Neurophilosophy Patricia Churchland argues that a new paradigm in the study of the human mind is emerging, one that promises rich and often unexpected understanding of the underlying nature of mentality. In this claim she is not alone: great excitement has been gene

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Balanced Views or Self-Censorship?

By Ann Kah | February 23, 1987

It is most disturbing to read the letter by Brian Nordstrom (The Scientist, January 12, 1987, p. 10). He feels his intelligence has been insulted by your treatment of the evolution versus creationism question, and considers your arguments to be one-sided. He apparently thinks he can balance his education by canceling his subscription. That's a bit like the recent case in which parents demanded that their children not read certain books in school, insisting all the while that they only sought to

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Becoming an Expert Witness

By James Gillett | February 23, 1987

The legal system relies heavily on expert testimony on a wide range of subjects. Indeed, the likelihood that a scientist may be called upon to be an expert witness is sufficiently great that all scientists should understand the process. This is especially true in cases of environmental and health and safety suits, where court actions may be critical to the well-being of individuals, the community and society at large. The role of expert witness provides opportunities for public service and profe

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Britain's Buoyant Blast Into Space

By Garry Hunt | February 23, 1987

History of British Space Science. Harrie Massey and MO. Robins. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1986. 420 pp. $89.50. Britain has always had a wealth of scientific talent. The research activities of these able minds have kept the United Kingdom at the forefront of many of the major scientific and technological advances of recent decades. This is particularly true in space science. Historically, World War II played a catalytic role in these research activities. One man, Professor Sir Harri

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