942 I. General OLRII983)30(12~

83:6885 Jones, Tony, 1983. Forum. When is a scientist most

productive? New Scient., 98(1362):p.802.

This report reviews a study by Helmut Abt, editor of the Astrophysical Journal, which challenges the conventional view that scientists are most productive while young. By defining most productive as 'most cited' and by studying citation frequencies in Science Citation Index, Abt concludes that 'an average "outstanding American astronomer" is in his early fifties before he is half-way through his productive career.' Astronomy Dept., Manchester, Univ., UK. (fcs)

83:6886 Raven-Hansen, Peter, 1983. Quid Pro Quo for public

dough. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 403:83-99.

To the delight of many scientists the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the social scientist Ronald Hutch- inson was not a 'public figure' (who bears special burdens of proof of defamation), and thus could sue Senator Proxmire for statements he made in giving Hutchinson a 'Golden Fleece Award.' That may have been a mistake. The Federation of American Scientists argues for a 'good faith' defense of the Senator, emphasizing that the 'legislature needs the fight to criticize all projects funded by public monies without fear of libel suits....' In any event, outside the context of defamation law, publicly funded scientists remain accountable for how they spend their funds (and their time), and for their results--which belong to the public or to the funding agency--and should accept rather than fight such responsibilities. George Washington Univ., Natl. Law Center, Washington, DC 20052, USA. (fcs)

83:6887 Sterrett, F.S. (ed.), 1983. Science and public policy.

III. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 403:120pp; 8 papers.

This third volume of policy papers compiled from the Academy's monthly meetings includes discus- sions of recycling of municipal solid wastes, risks associated with low-level radiation, ethical issues in public health policy, the role of science in envi- ronmental and safety regulations, human experi- mental subjects in social research, public rights in research which is publicly funded, and alternative voting schemes in the political arena. (fcs)

83:6888 Ullmann, J.E., 1983. Science and the 'regulation'

bogey. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 403:69-81.

Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1905) 'sheds a rather harsh light on the preregulatory "good old days":...the pale blue milk...was watered, and

doctored with formaldehyde...their tea and coffee, their sugar and flour was doctored...their canned peas had been colored with copper salts...their fruit jams with aniline dyes.' Patent medicines of the time contained heroin. The regulations of today only barely constrain such practices. Poisonous consumer goods, adulterated foodstuffs and deception (bread in the western U.S. is sold by the 15 oz "hungry pound,' for example) are still all with us. Simplistic, self-serving and shallow opposition to 'regulation' merely conceals a hidden agenda to repeal science (witness the legitimization of Laetrile, and the sanction of creationism as a 'theory'); to reverse safeguards for workers and consumers; to make false claims with impunity; and, in general, to tilt the scales even more toward 'consumer's risk' (thinking nothing is wrong when something is) and away from 'producer's risk' (thinking something is wrong when nothing is). Dept. of Quant. Methods, Sch. of Bus., Hofstra Univ., Hempstead, NY 11550, USA. (fcsl

F320. Literature of science

83:6889 Erk, F.C. and Rosemary Monahan, 1983. Commen-

tary. The cost of biological books in 1982. Q Rev. Biol., 58(2):215-218.

QRB's last analysis of the cost of biological books is updated through 1982. In 1982 the average price per page of a U.S. book, sold in the U.S., was $0~0812: that of a non-U.S, book sold in the U.S., $0.109. Readers could expect a hardcover book to cost more by a factor of 2 or 3 than a softcover (often superiorly bound). Books in the earth sciences and paleontology tended to cost twice as much as those in biology and medicine. Finally the increase in price between 1980-82, 20.2%, ran ahead of the CP1, which went up 17.4%. Erk is editor of QRB. (fcs)

83:6890 Hammond, L.S., 1983. Ranking the Australian

JournM of Mmine and Freshwater Research in the literature of marine science: an analysis of citations. Search, 14(1/2):20-22.

A recent investigation of marine biology literature concluded that it is diffuse and less unified than that of other biological disciplines; nevertheless, an identifiable core of 'significant' journals includes the Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Re- search. Examination suggests that the AJMFR's status derives from a vigorous research and publi- cation effort of mainly parochial relevance; the journal probably does not afford an avenue for international recognition of Australian research

OLR (1983) 30 (12) F. General 943

results. Australian Inst. of Mar. Sci., Townsville, Qld., Australia.

83:6891 LeMone, M.A., 1983. The time between a field

experiment and its published results. Bull. Am. met. Soc., 64(6):614-615.

The GATE field experiments were conducted in 1974. The number of published papers concerning GATE (in AMS journals) climbed steadily in subsequent years but did not peak until 1980, six years later. The six-year lag was 'surprising and significant,' but aside from the observation that later papers employed more complex data sets, no reasons for the lag are offered. NCAR, Boulder, Colo. 80307, USA. (fcs)

F360. Science education

83:6892 Bailey, D.N. and Leon Markowicz, 1983. Chemistry

and English: a new bond. J. chem. Educ., 60(6):467-468.

Described here is a successful effort by an English professor and a chemistry professor to improve students' writing ability during a regularly sched- uled, required chemistry course. Dept. of Chem., Illinois Wesleyan Univ., Bloomington, Ill. 61701, USA. (msg)

83:6893 Hollister, C.D., 1983. In pursuit of oceanography and

a better life for all. Greatest career opportunities in oceanography exist in physical oceanography, geological/geophysical oceanography, and ocean engineering. Oceanus, 26(2): 10-16. WHOI, Woods Hole, Mass. 02543, USA.

F370. Multidisciplinary scientific studies (general interest)

83:6894 Bernstein, Harris, H.C. Byerly, F.A. Hopf, R.A.

Michod and G.K. Vemulapalli, 1983. The Dar- winian dynamic. Q. Rev. Biol., 58(2):185-207.

It is argued that the 'evolution of order in living systems and certain nonliving physical systems obeys a common fundamental principle...the Dar- winian dynamic.' An equation, containing the variables necessary for natural selection processes (heritability, variation of type, competition for

resources), demonstrates this principle for a simple non-biological system and short replicating RNA molecules. The authors show that the fitness of an RNA replicator is a function of intrinsic adaptive capacities and resource availability. The application of the Darwinian dynamic to phage T4 and to higher organisms is discussed. Dept. of Molecular and Med. Microbiol., Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. 85721, USA. (msg)

83:6895 Broda, E. and G.A. Peschek, 1983. Nitrogen fixation

as evidence for the reducing nature of the early biosphere. Bio Syst., 16(1):1-8. Inst. of Phys. Chem., Vienna Univ., Austria.

83:6896 Pfeffer, Robert (ed.), 1983. Fourth International

Conference on Physicocbemical Hydrodynamics. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 404:535pp; 123 papers.

Physicochemical hydrodynamics (PCH) encom- passes 'problems related to the influence of fluid flow on chemical or physical transformations and to the influence of physicochemical factors on fluid flows.' Thus, chemists, engineers, physicists and hydrodynamicists convened to consider interface mechanics and multiphase systems, electrochemistry, turbulence theory and its applications, transport phenomena and chemical reaction systems, the PCH of low Reynolds number flow, and the hydrody- namics of biological systems and polymers. (ihz)

83:6897 Yayanos, A.A., 1983. Thermal neutrons could be a

cause of biological extinctions 65 Myr ago. Nature, Lond., 303(5920):797-800.

Tabulations of the genera present before and after the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinctions have revealed certain patterns; organisms with calcium-containing skeletons were the most susceptible. Among the hypotheses proposed for the C-T extinctions is that they were caused by ionizing radiations. It is proposed here that the pattern of extinction in the fossil record emerged as a consequence of neutron activation of certain elements in organisms and in their environment. Scripps Inst. of Oceanogr., La Jolla, Calif. 92093, USA.

F380. Advances in science, reviews (gen- eral interest)

83:6898 Bell, P.M., 1983. Ice, oceans, and isotopes. (Report.)

Eos, 64(25):p.419.