Articles by Tamar Smith-norowitz

Peace of Mind Gained I read with great interest Karen Schindler's article.1 As one of millions of people who experienced the biggest blackout in North American history, I too tried to use my creativity in order to make the best out of a dark situation. Many of us realized that our normal modes of communication with the outside world, such as digital phone systems, cell phones, beepers, and computers, were no longer functioning. The hums of air conditioners, refrigerators, and other equipment

Galileo's Pancakes I read with great interest Walter Brown's article1 regarding mankind's uneasiness with change. Dr. Brown compared the skepticism upon arrival of certain modern technologies (e.g. vaccinations, cell phones, E-mail, genetically modified foods) with the advent of the new blueberry pancake in Helen Baxter's kitchen in 1897. Even though I understand the point that Dr. Brown is trying to convey in his essay, it is a poor comparison. It would have been of interest to mention past

Queen Bee ... Pro ... and Con Bravo to T.V. Rajan for pointing out several notions that many female scientists have realized for years1: the fact that it is not necessary to work in the lab 24/7 to excel in science and the fact that it is primordial "to supplant one's mentor and cast out the previous generation on ice floats to make oneself the leader of the realm." Unfortunately the title of the article "The Queen Bee Syndrome" is oversimplifying the situation. Perhaps a better title would

Bravo to T.V. Rajan's well written commentary on "The Good Old Days."1 The article flooded my memory with quite vivid (and recent) memories of the good old days in graduate school where one encountered either the mean-spirited or the easy-going professor, who shaped our present careers. As we look back, the human mind seems to remember the tough professor, who forced us to study just a bit harder or give a more detailed presentation than we would have given. However, the presence of the more com