April 1992

Editor's Note: In her forthcoming book, Stealing into Print: Fraud, Plagiarism, and Misconduct in Scientific Publishing, Marcel C. LaFollette, an associate research professor of science and technology policy at George Washington University, cites several challenges facing researchers whose professional lives depend to a great extent on the dissemination of their findings. For the near future, she points out, one major challenge will lie in "anticipating how advanced communications and informati

Researchers have heard it from others, or they've said it to themselves: "It's shocking that people understand so little about science--we need a better educational system in this country, and fast." Three years ago, we took some comfort in the words of George Bush--our so-called Education President--who told us that our collective hand-wringing would give way to action, and we would reach the remarkable goal of total science literacy as a nation by the year 2000. But science literacy will re

Although Lawrence Cranberg's opinion piece on plagiarism in science ("The Plague Of Plagiarism Persists In Modern Science," The Scientist, Feb. 3, 1992, page 11) included several useful insights, I must take exception to Cranberg's characterization of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's handling of its 1967 survey of members on ethics in science. While the results of the survey were never published, the report by Anatol Rapoport is available from my office. On the larger

I am writing in regard to your recent article entitled "Gay And Lesbian Scientists Seek Workplace Equality" (The Scientist, March 2, 1992, page 1). Like Bruce Barrett, the University of Alabama professor opposed to the existence of committees within the American Statistical Association focusing on gay and lesbian concerns, I find it troubling that sexual preference is apparently regarded by some as a legitimate basis for a subgroup in a scientific association. I fear that when those with other,

Kathryn Phillips's piece on authorship of scientific papers (The Scientist, Feb. 17, 1992, page 1) confirms that the profession is not yet willing to do what it must: assign authorship only to those who actually conduct research and write papers. Those who merely assist should be acknowledged in the traditional manner. The present system of doling out "honorary" authorships has become so accepted that the profession fails to realize the serious ethical question it poses. For what difference i

PARENTHOOD AND SCIENCE CAREERS: THE MYTHS VS. THE REALITIES Author: LINDA MARSA Sociologists of science and scientists who are parents agree that there are many misconceptions about combining parenthood with careers in science. These myths, they say, stand in the way of making progress on work/family issues because they reinforce the mistaken notion that a satisfying family life is incompatible with a meaningful science career. The most prevailing myths--and the actual conditions

"I've been tired for six years," says Judith C. Gasson, a molecular biologist and an associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine. She's only half joking. Since the 40-year-old scientist became a mother six years ago, time has become her most precious commodity. Says Gasson, "I have to be extremely organized." Her days are a blur of activity, bracketed by breakfast and dinner with her husband, an attorney who shares parenting chores, and their two child

Arthur Cronquist, a senior scientist at the New York Botanical Garden who developed an evolutionary classification system for flowering plants that has become a standard in the field, died March 22. Cronquist died of a heart attack at the Brigham Young University Herbarium in Provo, Utah, while working on a compendium of flora of the intermountain United States. He was 73 years old. Cronquist's classification method, known as the "Cronquist system," incorporates information on plant chemistry,

Susan Solomon, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aeronomy Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., has received the 1992 Common Wealth Award for science and invention. The 13-year-old awards program, administered by the Bank of Delaware, was established by Ralph Hayes, a director of Coca-Cola International, through a bequest in his will. Solomon was selected to receive the honor by the scientific research society Sigma Xi. The awards were presented April 25 in W

James R. Gosz, a professor of biology at the University of New Mexico, has taken a leave to become the executive director of the Ecological Society of America's newly established Sustainable Biosphere Initiative (SBI) Project Office in Washington, D.C. The goal of the initiative is to integrate the expertise of scientists, educators, and decision-makers on environmental issues. Gosz, 51, says that one way to ensure that this objective is met is by "making significant attempts to bring in othe

Do It Yourself Bookshelf Alert From Tires To Tumors Sythetic Chemists, Take Heart Chinese Initiative To Russia With Petri Dishes Archi and Odysseus will be getting together in San Jose July 12-16, but they won't be cruising around in that beat-up old jalopy. They'll be attending the first AI Robotics Competition and Exhibition, organized by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and chaired by Tom Dean of the Brown University department of computer sciences. Archi is a t