June 1995

Insert Where Science Museum Professionals Meet Statistics bear out a growing recognition of science museums as a major source of science education in the United States. According to estimates from the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), the number of people passing through the turnstiles of science museums annually has risen from about 50 million in 1987 to close to 80 million in 1994. And ASTC officials speculate that the number could be as high as 125 mi

As science increasingly becomes more complex, interdisciplinary research at many academic institutions is quickly becoming the rule rather than the exception, many scientists and ad- ministrators say. At the same time, observers warn, there are institutional roadblocks to such collaborations. Most universities remain bound by traditional departmental structures for administrative and curricular purposes, including peer review, tenure, and promotion. Funding agencies, too, have been structural

After the April announcement that the seven regional telephone companies would be selling Bellcore, their jointly funded research arm, the question many telecommunications experts are asking is whether the move was made in time to preserve its intellectual capital and, thereby, its future. Growing competition over the past several years among the so- called Baby Bells has diminished their willingness to use the shared research resource, contributing to the decision to sell the Livingston, N.J.

Association of Science and Technology CentersDepartment F1025 Vermont Ave., N.W., Suite 500Washington, D.C. 20005-3516 Fax: (202) 783-7207 E-mail: 74531.33@compuse rve.com James L. Peterson, president Bonnie VanDorn, executive director 467 total members, including 370 institutions--science and technology centers, nature centers, aquariums, zoos, planetariums, natural history museums, and children's museums-- science professional societies, and exhibit design firms For a complete listing of m

Role Of Research In Society Author: NEERAJA SANKARAN Many of the scientists addressing graduating students at universities across North America this year chose to focus in their speeches on science's role in uplifting, rescuing, and, in some cases, bringing harm to society. The speakers invited to deliver convocation addresses were among a distinguished group of science luminaries upon whom various academic institutions conferred honorary degrees for their contributions both within and outside

Following is a partial listing of scientists whom various universities and colleges in the United States and abroad chose to recognize for their achievements by awarding them honorary degrees. Phillip A. Sharp, Salvador E. Luria Professor of Biology and head of the department of biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; recipient of 1993 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic: Eugene Garfield, publisher and editor-in-chief,The Scientist Freeman D

While it can be argued that the fruits of a successful education can have a long ripening time, it is nevertheless important that our universities and colleges examine potential new operating structures that could improve effectiveness. Such structures should have as performance criteria: (1) to increase the impact of universities and colleges in education, research/scholarship, and outreach (for land-grant institutions); and (2) to raise satisfaction among faculty and staff over the extent to

Research Topic Editor's Note: In its continuing analysis of the citation record of ecology and environmental sciences, the newsletter Science Watch recently took a retrospective look at the rankings of papers in the field. Using a customized database--covering the years 1981 to 1993--of the most cited papers in the discipline, Peter D. Moore, a reader in ecology and chairman of human and environmental sciences in the Division of Life Sciences, King's College, London, looked for hot areas of ecol

Edited by: NEERAJA SANKARAN P.Y.S. Lam, P.K. Jadhav, C.J. Eyermann, C.N. Hodge, Y. Ru, L.T. Bacheler, J.L. Meek, M.J. Otto, M.M. Rayner, Y.N. Wong, C-H. Chang, P.C. Weber, D.A. Jackson, T.R. Sharpe, S. Erickson- Viitanen, "Rational design of potent, bioavailable, nonpeptide cyclic ureas as HIV protease inhibitors," Science, 262:380-4, 1994. (Cited in 46 publications through May 1995) Comments by Patrick Y.S. Lam, DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co., Wilmington, Del. Patrick Y.S. Lam, a principal

ACROSS 1 Experiment locale 6 Microbe 9 Organ of _____ (cochlea structure) 10 Nerve cell part 11 Galvanizing element 13 Rod companion 14 _____ fragments (what DNA ligase joins) 17 Corium coverer 19 Anatomical pump 21 Children normally have 20 23 Of a nerve cell's branched part 25 Excitement 27 Kind of carotene 30 Graph stuff 31 1,000,000,000,000: pref. 32 Mold and mildew, e.g. 33 Body tube 34 Bacterium, for instance 1 Famous Australopithecus afrarensis member 2 Epstein-_____ virus 3 Creeping pl

Your March 20, 1995, article on the Gairdner Foundation Awards [N. Sankaran, page 3], in reference to the award to Arthur Kornberg, states, "he came to Stanford in 1959, where he organized the biochemistry department and chaired it for 10 years." The record needs to be set straight. The biochemistry department at Stanford was founded in 1955-56, with Nobel laureate Edward Tatum as its first chairman. The new faculty of the department consisted of Professors Tatum, J. Murray Luck (founder and e

Dallas also says, "Do I believe that my ancestors were paramecium [sic] or that God created man in His own image about 10,000 years ago? I choose the latter." Dallas's first option is not open. Paramecia have a different genetic code from humans, so they cannot be our ancestors (F. Caron, E. Meyer, Nature, 314:185-8, 1985). He is left with his "10,000 years ago" choice. Thomas H. Jukes Space Sciences Lab University of California Berkeley, Calif. 94720 (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.11, June

For 57 years, following the doctorate, I have been a faculty member in five different colleges or universities, spent two years on the Manhattan Project, and for 32 years was professor and chairman of biochemistry and molecular biology in a medical school. In all those years, I have seldom been as saddened as I was at the article on irreligious scientists. The overall view projected by Steven Benowitz's article [The Scientist, April 17, 1995, page 1] is one of intolerance and puffery on the pa

Honorary Degree As is our custom at commencement season, The Scientist has identified a sampling of scientists who have received honorary degrees (see story on page 1). The practice of conferring degrees honoris causa dates back more than 300 years in the United States, the first having been awarded in 1663 by the College of Rhode Island. However, not much about this tradition has been published by sociologists in recent times. A search of the Science Citation Index and the Social Sciences Citat

CHARLES D. SPIELBERGER, Distinguished University Research Professor and director, Center for Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology, University of South Florida; 1994 chairman, Council of Scientific Society Presidents, Washington, D.C. "Science is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary, and THE SCIENTIST provides me with the understanding of other disciplines that I need in my work." Charles Spielberger. Charles Spielberger, an expert on stress, anxiety, and anger, developed the State-Tra

Donald W. Genson Executive Director, B.S./MBA Program 428 Classroom Building Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pa. 16802 (814) 863-0284 E-mail: dwg9@psu.edu (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.15, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)

The Scientist 9[13]:14, Jun. 26, 1995 News 'Gold-Collar' Workers By Robert Finn Sidebar Mixing Business with Science

Prestigious NSF Awards Author: NEERAJA SANKARAN This year, the National Science Foundation bestowed its two highest awards on physicists: The Alan T. Waterman Award has been given to Matthew P.A. Fisher, a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and a research physicist at UCSB's Institute for Theoretical Physics; and the Vannevar Bush Award of the National Science Board (NSB) has been presented to Norman Ramsey, a Nobel laureate and Higgins Professor of Phys

V.N. Mallikarjuna Rao, 58, has been named a distinguished scientist by E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co., Wilmington, Del. In receiving the company's highest scientific title last month, Rao joins only two other DuPont researchers so honored: Howard W. Jacobson, an expert in fine particle synthesis and coating, and agricultural chemist Vincent G. Witterholt. The promotion recognizes an individual's scientific contributions to more than one business sector, according to company statements. Rao's m

What would you do if your research interests revolved around obtaining DNA from a bacterium preserved for millions of years in the gut of a bee stuck in amber, matching up a murderer to crime- scene blood half a century old, or cloning genes from a 1,000- year-old mummy? Most scientists would first consider PCR--the polymerase chain reaction--as a technique for approaching problems such as these. With PCR, minute quantities of nucleic acids can be amplified millions of times into sufficient qua

Owl Scientific Offers Ready-To-Pour Sequencing Gel The Burst-Pak ready-to-pour 6 percent acrylamide sequencing gel comes in a three-compartment plastic pouch. The package is designed to eliminate weighing or measuring of chemicals as well as the use of additional reagents. According to the company, because gel chemicals are contained in the pouch, exposure to hazardous materials is eliminated and laboratory chemical waste reduced. The Burst-Pak gels are designed to begin polymerization within 15

Seven new members joined the National Science Board (NSB) last month, the first appointees to the 24-member body by President Bill Clinton. The NSB oversees the National Science Foundation, headed by Neal Lane, who is also an ex officio member of the board. Members serve six-year terms, and eight members rotate off the board every two years--thus, the incoming group leaves one vacancy overall. Four of the new members are from universities, two from industry, and one from government. Three of th