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WASHINGTON—Next week's annual meeting in Chicago will permit the American Association for the Advancement of Science to carry out its fundamental mission of promoting the public understanding of science. But something of even greater importance to the 139-year-old organization will take place after the meeting, when a successor to Executive Director William Carey will be announced. Carey, 70, is retiring March 31 after serving for a dozen years as head of the oldest, largest and most prest

The recent political shakeup in China, including the expulsion of several prominent scientists from their university or academy poets, is sending shock waves through the larger scientific community there, according to some Western observers. "What has happened is a serious damper on the scientific and intellectual community in general," said Otto Schnepp, a chemist at the University of Southern California who was science counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing from 1980 to 1982. "How this will

LONDON—An organic chemist with a taste for politics—a talent that promises to be much in demand in the months ahead—has been named the new French minister for science and universities. Jacques Valade, 57, was appointed January 22 to succeed physicist Main Devaquet, who resigned after his proposals to restrict student entry to French universities triggered large-scale and violent protests last fall. The protests appeared also to reflect a deeper unhappiness with the policies of

As a freshman congressman in 1963, Rep. George E. Brown Jr. (D-Calif.) was an early opponent of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. Last year, he helped lead a successful congressional drive for a moratorium on testing of experimental anti-satellite weapons and supported a pledge by university physics students and professors to refuse funding from the Strategic Defense Initiative program. Throughout his career on Capitol Hill, in fact, Brown, while representing a district heavily dependent on

LONDON—Britain may be moving out of step with its European partners over plans to take part in NASA's $12 billion space station. British space officials reported January 22 at an international conference sponsored by the Royal Society that Britain will urge a more cautious approach than that being advocated by the European Space Agency. The 13-member agency this year expects to draw up final plans for Columbus, its contribution to the U.S.-financed space station scheduled to be assembled i

LONDON—The European Economic Community has begun to address the traditional isolation within mathematics with a project to help scientists from 20 countries retrieve information and hold conferences electronically. The project, called Euromath, has received an $830,000 grant from the European Commission for its first phase. The money will be divided among researchers at centers ranging from the National Institute of Higher Education in Dublin to the Fashinformationszentrum in Karlsruhe, We

WASHINGTON—Undaunted by a lack of advertising and the general decline of science magazines, more U.S. newspapers are adding a weekly science section to their pages. But despite the 350 percent increase in the number of such sections in the last two years—from 19 to 66 according to a recent survey from the Scientists' Institute for Public Information—it's not known if the growth has improved the type or quality of coverage. SIPI, a New York-based nonprofit group that works to im

LONDON—Agricultural research in Africa is being blocked by political interference, mismanagement and cultural disputes among the Western community of scientists working in the region. The mid-December meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research featured harsh criticism of two of the 13 member centers, according to delegates at the meeting in Washington. In closed-door sessions, the delegates also debated the group's overall research program. The West African Ri

WASHINGTON—The bull market that helped boost the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its record highs last month has been fueled in part by technology stocks, and some analysts are predicting steady—if spotty—growth for that sector for the rest of the year. "From an economic standpoint, the second quarter [of 1986] was the bottom in terms of GNP, interest rates, computer manufacturing orders and shipments," said John C. Maxwell, senior analyst at Dillon Read & Co. Inc. in New York.

WASHINGTON—The Japanese buy infrared, optical lasers from the American firm of Spectra-Physics for the cutting, welding and heat treating of various manufactured products. But each time any of its lasers need servicing or spare parts, Spectra-Physics has to navigate the slow and complex U.S. export licensing procedure that was created for another purpose, namely, to ensure that certain types of advanced technology do not pass to the Soviet Union and its allies. Although the San Jose-based

GENEVA—A cash crisis has forced CERN (the European Center for Nuclear Research) to ask member countries for an advance on this year's subscription. Although this year's operating budget has not been set (the latest estimate is ($1.2 billion), CERN has suffered from the escalating costs of building a new electron/positron collider (LEP). The facility, scheduled to open in 1989, will study the recently discovered W and Z particles. Germany and France, which together contribute nearly one-hal

ROME—Nuclear power is becoming a major political issue here as the country awaits the formation in April of a new coalition government. Last month a newspaper poll indicated that 72 percent of the public would vote to abandon nuclear power entirely, and a referendum will be needed if the Christian Democrats and their partners in the current government cannot agree on a policy. Shortly after the results were published, the government postponed until later this month a widely publicized nati