I would like to add a comment on the essay by Harriet Zuckerman on scientific prizes [Opinion, The Scientist, Nov. 11, 1996, page 10]. She mentions the moneys, some very substantial, that accompany the prizes. To me these monetary awards are a disgrace. They skew the meanings of the accomplishments, have nothing to do with the science, distort the public view of the science, and send a wrong impression to younger scientists. I would suggest to the Nobel Prize committee that in the future they d

I would like to respond to your article in the April 15 issue on scientists and physicians in Congress [T.W. Durso, page 1]. I do not disagree with the contention that we do need more scientists in Congress who can explain the workings of scientific research and the need for it to other members of Congress and educate them. However, these individuals, as other members, vote on a whole variety of issues that arise during the course of their tenure. Thus, it is not enough to list their credentia

The Scientist, Nov. 15, 1993, page 1), a good one indeed, omitted what I think is an important aspect of science history. If one examines many biology or biochemistry textbooks, one finds a woeful omission of the historical aspects of any particular subject. The student comes away feeling that, all of a sudden, insight sprung from Zeus's head, knowledge without a precedent. There is nothing to indicate that many past discoveries, som

I am astonished that in this day and age, an eminent scientist such as Alan C. Nixon should resort to barbarism. For it is barbarism when he writes that it is alright to use data obtained from experiments on human subjects, obtained without their knowledge or consent. Whether it is prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates in Nazi Germany, blacks in the southern U.S.A. (a syphilis study), an unsuspecting public in New York City and San Francisco (bacterial vector studies by U.S. Army), an

I take exception to the article by Jack Ruina (The Scientist, February 23, 1987, p. 12), which contends that there should be no organized pressure within universities against accepting SDI research funding. He discusses the political nature of this pressure but neglects to add that there is political pressure from the other side bearing on funding allotments and the funding process. Funds for research do not come out of a vacuum, but are the result of political processes within an administration