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- Date:
- 1964
- Main contributors:
- Indiana University, Bloomington. Audio-Visual Center
- Summary:
- Opens with an interview involving Nkosi, Soyinka, and featured guest, Achebe. Focuses on the craft and work of Achebe himself and questions whether he deliberately avoids passing moral judgment. Shows Achebe discussing the influences which have shaped his artistic life and recounting experiences from a U. S. visit. Closes with an examination of the traditional novel and a possible new African novel form.
- Date:
- 1964
- Main contributors:
- See Other Contributors
- Summary:
- Presents Mr. Nkosi interviewing poet and educator David Rubardiri of Nyasaland and Kenyan poet Joseph Kariuki. Discusses Rubardiri's personal struggle as a creative writer in an emerging nation and the general state of contemporary African literature. Describes native oral tradition involved in African writing, discusses possible future forms, and examines how African literature is taught in the schools.
- Date:
- 1964
- Main contributors:
- Indiana University, Bloomington. Audio-Visual Center
- Summary:
- Examines French African literature and the concept of "negritude," the idea of a unique African collective personality. Visits a classroom in Nyasaland, where the teacher-poet Rubadiri discusses Soyinka's poem "Telephone Conversation." Presents President Senghor of Senegal, also an admired poet, who speaks on the concept of "negritude." Closes with an interview of Dr. Fonlon in Cameroon, who discusses dangers facing African literature.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- Examines French African literature and the concept of "negritude," the idea of a unique African collective personality. Visits a classroom in Nyasaland, where the teacher-poet Rubadiri discusses Soyinka's poem "Telephone Conversation." Presents President Senghor of Senegal, also an admired poet, who speaks on the concept of "negritude." Closes with an interview of Dr. Fonlon in Cameroon, who discusses dangers facing African literature.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- In this program research scientists explore a mystery that has baffled man for ages – the life process itself. To gain knowledge that someday might answer questions such as, “How do plants make food?” and “What will control the spread of cancer?” Scientists at the United States Atomic Energy Commission’s Argonne National Laboratory are experimenting with the simplest forms of plant and animal life. One avenue of research is centered on the study of algae, one-celled green plants commonly found in pools of stagnant water. The algae were singled out because, like man, they are basically chemical factories – only infinitely more simple in structure. Scientists explain, in this program, how they have succeeded in growing algae in pure “heavy” water, a rare form of water that has hydrogen atoms that are twice as heavy as Normal hydrogen atoms.From a unique “algae farm” the scientists harvest these tiny plants. Their crop gives them chemicals that have heavy hydrogen in place of ordinary hydrogen atoms. Other larger plants are being grown successfully in mixtures of heavy water and ordinary water, and these also are valuable chemical factories.The scientists found that organisms growing in heavy water grow at a slower rate and have different nutritional requirements than organisms growing in ordinary water. From these findings, research scientists are exploring the possibility that heavy water might cause a slow-down in the aging process. Scientist has experimented also with mice to determine what effect heavy water has on animals. Already, they have succeeded in replacing about 30 percent of the normal water in mice with heavy water. Scientists have found that heavy water retards the growth of mice and that tissue which normally grows the fastest appeared to be the most retarded in growth. This latter finding may someday have a bearing on understanding cancer in humans and may lead to a breakthrough in its treatment.Other startling biological effects also have been demonstrated in organisms which have been given doses of “heavy” carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. In these experiments, scientists were able to alter the growth of the organisms. These alterations may hold further clues to the life process.
- Date:
- 1964
- Main contributors:
- Indiana University, Bloomington. Audio-Visual Center
- Summary:
- Presents an interview with exiled South African essayist and short story writer, Mphahlele, who discusses the advantages and disadvantages of a writer in exile. Reveals that he feels he has absorbed both the European and African traditional ways of life but shows he remains gloomy about creative writing in a divided society. Discusses the author's autobiography and the impact of emerging African literature.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- What fingerprinting is to the F.B.I., spectroscopy is to the scientist. Through its use, astronomers have been able to learn more about the chemical composition of the sun than is known about the composition of the earth. Spectroscopy is used in food research to find impurities in canned food and cans of beer; it is used to trace the origin of paint found on a car in a hit-and-run accident; or to determine how jewelry was made centuries ago. Just how does this technique work? It is a simple story as explained by physicists at Argonne National Laboratory. Yet its applications are extremely precise. The basic instrument is the spectroscope, which can be as simple as a piece of glass used to split sunlight into a “rainbow” of color or as complicated as a piece of delicate apparatus that can single out sixty thousand different colors and requires a room as big as a small house. The use of spectroscopy was extremely important during the development of the atomic bomb. Large quantities of uranium and graphite were needed to produce the bomb, and scientists knew that the very success of the project depended on obtaining these elements in their purist forms. Using a spectroscope, scientists were able to measure the purity of the valuable elements. They knew that each element emits certain colors in the same manner that each man has different fingerprints. Thus, scientists could “look” at two pictures of different samples of uranium and determine which was the purer, since uranium containing impurities gave a different color or wavelength when photographed and compared with photographs of light from pure uranium. Scientists have spent literally years studying photographic plates from the spectrograph to determine the frequencies of light from specimens of chemical elements. The measurement and interpretation is an exacting and time-consuming task which is important if scientists are to understand the structure of atoms.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- The task of today’s mathematicians and computers is to keep abreast of the fast-moving world of nuclear research where yesterday’s successful experiments can be outdated tomorrow. To record the progress being made in this complex field, television camera crews went to the Atomic Energy Commission’s Argonne National Laboratory where in the Mathematics Division men and machines are working daily to process the avalanche of data, the results of thousands experiments that are performed each year at Argonne. In this program, “Machines that think” cameras focus on the latest computers which in a matter of minutes can analyze and solve problems that would take a team of mathematicians a life time to work out. The program reports on computers that have such names as Chloe, Phylis, Engine No.2, and Analog. Chloe is a computer capable of transforming picture patterns, such as chromosome alignments, into numbers, the meaningful language of computers. In the study of radiation effects on chromosomes, for example, Chloe can come up with faster and more accurate answers than human observers. Chloe’s information, in turn, can be fed to other computers which can interpret the findings and “tell” the experimented the results he’s getting while the experiment is still in progress. Still other computers are capable of making adjustments, again while the experiment is in progress, while others can make “decisions,” such as interrupting the function of a main computer to “ask” a question about the experiment. There are other new computers which can tell scientists whether or not their design in experimental models, such as rockets or reactors, will work –even before the machine is built. This is accomplished by feeding the computers mathematical models of the proposed rocket or reactor and asking the computer to test them. Their answers can save scientists years in experimenting by trial and error and millions of dollars necessary to build experimental models.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- Had it not been for the study into the nature of matter itself, the twentieth century probably would be without television, atomic power, and space satellites. This Program looks into a branch of science called particle physics, a study of sub nuclear particles. The experiments are being carried out at the Atomic Energy Commission’s Argonne National Laboratory. This is the story of experiments in a field where the lifespan of one of the subjects can be less than a billionth of a second and where the subject has no mass or shape –terms almost impossible for the layman to visualize yet alone comprehend. One of the particles which scientists know little about is the neutrino, a neutral particle carrying no electrical charge, but which some day may yield the key to the universe. Scientists say the neutrino does not have mass and the only way it can be observed is by collecting trillions of them and forcing them to collide with other particles, and then observing the damage of that collision. To accomplish this collision, a maze of machinery and nearly infinite timing and precision is required. This program reports on some of these experiments and the machinery employed. For these experiments, where the sub nuclear particles are in existence less than a few billionths of a second and are without mass, scientists have invented various detection devices. A sophisticated electron detector can observe and record these collisions in a manner similar to conventional radar which can follow aircraft. Another method which the program illustrates is high-speed photography which is capable of following the collision in the same way vapor trails from a high-altitude jet can be photographed without the camera capturing the plan itself. The ambition of the sub nuclear physicist is to unify all of nature’s phenomena into coherent sets of laws. His eventual goal is to find the answers that are at the core of the universe.
111. Talent (59:54)
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- Mr. Hoffer argues that the men working beside him as longshoremen on the San Francisco docks are “lumpy with talent.” Genius, he notes, is not rare, it is wasted; and the talent of the workingman is a kind of common sense practicality. Wherever this talent exists among working men, they do their jobs without “all that fuss” which he considers to be characteristic of the underdeveloped countries of the world. Then, Mr. Hoffer raises a question regarding the forces that bring about creative periods in our history – periods that began quite suddenly and ended just as suddenly. He cites, as examples, “the period of cave drawings,” “the Age of Pericles,” “the Florence of the Renaissance,” and “the flowering of New England,” Mr. Hoffer contends that it was not because there was more talent during these periods (“the artists of Florence,” he notes, “were the sons of shopkeepers, and tailors.”), but rather that others forces which exist in every period of history were at work and these forces freed the talent.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- Precision and perfection are the watchwords of today’s Space and Atomic Age. Nothing can be overlooked everything must be checked and rechecked before the “go” signal can be given. A crack in a missile’s fuel line, invisible to the human eye, can be disastrous. A defect in an atomic reactor, while not disastrous, can mean costly and time-consuming repairs. This program examines “non-destructive testing”, a new-comer, yet one of the most important engineering techniques. Non-destructive testing is simply a method of examining an object for defects without destroying it in the process. It is unlike other testing methods such as automobile test, for example, in which the vehicle is pushed to its maximum performance before it ends up on the junk pile. The television cameras are at the Metallurgy Division of the United States Atomic Energy Commission’s Argonne National Laboratory, where scientists are using such non-destructive testing techniques as X-rays, gamma rays, and neutron radiography. At Argonne, neutronradiography is an invaluable aid to pinpoint what happens to uranium or plutonium fuel that sustains a chain reaction in an atomic reactor. The knowledge gained through this technique is important in designing the atomic power plants of today and tomorrow. Also shown are the ultrasonic testing methods used to detect imperfections by “bouncing” sound waves through objects that are being tested. One of these methods converts sound waves into electronic signals to show television pictures of hidden defects. The value of these non-destructive testing methods becomes increasingly more important as the tolerances become smaller and smaller for the new atomic reactors, space vehicles, and aircraft engines that are being constructed.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- For centuries men have dreamed of turning common elements such as lead and zinc into more precious metals such as gold and silver. Today, nuclear scientists are looking beyond this and are inventing new elements which are more valuable than gold. This program, “The Alchemist’s Dream,” looks into these new elements –like curium and berkelium –which were unheard of a few years ago. Using an instrument called a cyclotron –an atom smasher –scientists at the United States Atomic Energy Commission’s Argonne National Laboratory are making new elements which do not exist in nature. In a manner of speaking, scientists at Argonne are working in an “atomic shooting gallery.” Houses in a special room behind seven –foot thick concrete doors, a cyclotron bombards target atoms of curium with a beam of a special variety of hydrogen nuclei, resulting in the making of a new elements, berkelium, one of eleven elements which have been “invented” by science. Behind heavy concrete walls, painstaking precautions are taken in the manufacture of these new elements because of harmful radiation, a byproduct of atom splitting. Though these experiments yield only small amounts of the new elements, they enable scientists to work out their chemical properties. This research provides new information on how atoms are put together. It also tells the scientists what to expect when larger quantities of the new elements are available. Already, some of these man-made elements are furnishing the power for satellites and remote weather stations. A small quantity of one of the new man-made elements, californium, scientists predict, could produce enough energy to do the job of a nuclear reactor weighing several tons.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- Electrical power to heat and light American homes and industries in the future will be furnished by plutonium. This program reports on plutonium, one of the eleven man-made elements, which as a future source of fuel will produce two million times more energy than coal. Plutonium did not exist on earth until less than a quarter-century ago when it was born in a nuclear reactor. Born in a wartime program to obtain material for the atomic bomb, plutonium is finding important peacetime uses because it is a potent nuclear fuel. In fact, 99 percent of all uranium that is mined must be converted into plutonium in a reactor in order for mankind to use its latent energy. It has been estimated that the reserve of uranium that can be converted into plutonium represents hundreds of times more energy than the nation’s combined reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas. Against this background of the importance of plutonium, the program shows some of the elaborate precautions that must be taken in handling it. Plutonium is highly toxic. It burns easily in air. Its metallurgical properties make it extremely difficult to work with. At the Plutonium Fabrication Building, the cameras capture the elaborate precautions employed, revealing how plutonium is combined with uranium and other elements and shaped into wire-thin rods of fuel. As the program points out, 25 years ago the word plutonium could not be found in the dictionary, but tomorrow – through scientific research – the word plutonium will be as common as the words coal and oil are today.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- San Francisco longshoreman and author-philosopher Eric Hoffer began more than fifteen years ago to identify in his thought the nature of the “true believer,” the inspiration for his book on the subject. After writing the book, he turned his thoughts to the underdeveloped nations of the world, leading him to a consideration of the effects of change. Suddenly, Mr. Hoffer found himself thinking about juveniles; concluding that nations, as people, can be juvenile and that “true believers” are, in fact, perpetual juveniles – “true believers” such as General de Gaulle of France, Premier Khrushchev of Russia, and Premier Sukarno of Indonesia. His conclusion from all this is that each human being has one central preoccupation, - one train of thought- to which all of his thoughts are related.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- Examines the problem of the individual in a complex society. Analyzes how various aspects of American life satisfy man's need for self-identification. Assesses the impact of government planning on individual initiative and community identification and examines the problems of people living in urban renewal projects. Points out how the Polaroid Corporation deals with the suppression of individuality in industry and how a steel corporation treated an executive who expressed personal opinions.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- In this program, Mr. Hoffer explains why he believes it is the West and not the East that demonstrates mysterious and unnatural behavior in times of stress and change. His interest in the East and Middle East began in 1955 with the emergence of the new nations of Africa and the East. Their desire for self-rule, for modernization, was, and still is, being accompanied by terrorism, riots and violence. The west, on the other hand, finds that it does not have to resort to these tactics of violence because change has taken place in an orderly way. Mr. Hoffer’s conclusion is that this was the unnatural way… this was not normal human behavior. This orderliness and practical sense that keeps us going is due, he feels, to the rise of the autonomous individual who has the ability to make his own decisions and who must save his soul by his own efforts. This individual did not rise in the Eastern societies mainly because the secular and political powers were one in much the same manner as communism is today. In this way, a man’s religion and political faith were one, and therefore, there was never a conflict. In our society, these faiths are “fighting each other.” It is this struggle within Western man to reconcile these forces that has given rise to the autonomous individual capable of controlling his destiny in an orderly and practical manner. Mr. Hoffer then discusses this practical streak in the Westerner and the antagonism between the practical and the intellectual. Our society, unlike that of the Greeks, is dominated by the masses or the practical man, not by the intellectual as is the general belief. “Any society shaped and dominated by the intellectual,” Mr. Hoffer concludes, “Will not allow practical actions to be a gateway to man’s feeling of a sense of worth. Since our society is governed by practical considerations, it is dominated by the masses and not by the intellectuals.”
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- Mr. Hoffer begins his discussion of “The New Age” by pointing out that it is generally, though falsely, referred to in America as the “Age of the Masses” (i.e. mass communications, mass consumption, mass production). He explains that it is no longer the masses who control the political and economic life of the country. In politics, it is the intellectual who is the general, the diplomat, the ruler. Economically, with the rise of automation, it is the intellectual with the machine who is replacing the many laborers and their hands. Mr. Hoffer then compares the intellectual of the past and present in this country. In the past, the intellectual of America, in much the same manner as today’s European, Asian and African intellectual, was a colonial and ruled with the attitude of a colonial. He demanded absolute obedience and power, and his interests were not so much with the needs of the masses as with the construction and initiation of imposing works and great ideas. In contrast to the “Old Colonialism” of America’s intellectual of the past, the “New colonialist” intellectual of America today rose from the masses and his interests lie with the needs and demands of the masses. Mr. Hoffer describes the “New Colonialist” intellectual as “the man in the business suit who looks like everyone else.” Economically, he is interested in wages, clothing and feeding the people. Politically, he wants not blind obedience but the enthusiastic approval and support of the masses for his projects and ideas. He concludes by stating his believe that the “Old Colonialism” of today’s European, Asian and African intellectual leaders should learn from the “New Colonialism” of America.
- Date:
- 1963
- Summary:
- Reviews Eric Hoffer's views on man as a truly free being. Describes check of absolute power and struggle away from the animal in man as prerequisites to freedom. Reveals play as one of the best times for man to receive insight.
- Date:
- 1963
- Main contributors:
- See Other Contributors
- Summary:
- Presents several Southerners who advocate viewpoints and actions which are at variance with extremists on both sides of the civil rights issue. Interviews Governor Carl E. Sanders of Georgia; R. E. McIver, a businessman of Conway, South Carolina: The Reverend James L. Hooten, minister of the First Christian Church, Savannah, Alabama; Beverly Briley, Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee; and Eleanor Sheppard (Mrs. Thomas E.), Mayor of Richmond, Virginia. Indicates that the differences of attitudes and approaches to civil rights presented provided insight into a range of viewpoints which would add sanity and stability to the South in the present period of crisis.
- Date:
- 1963
- Summary:
- Reveals the intense feeling for the weak individual and the place in society which Eric Hoffer has achieved. Describes working as source of power for these people. Focuses on Hoffer's systematized mode of living with its inherent difficulties for the weak individual.
- Date:
- 1963
- Summary:
- Presents, in fable form, the philosophical question of free will versus determinism. The mannequins in a store window come to life and threaten the window dresser. Cartoon figures--symbolizing man--watch the action in the window and react in various but accepted ways.
- Date:
- 1963
- Summary:
- Explains how the development of the computer has made possible the automatic control of routine tasks in government, industry, and general business. Includes demonstrations of the use of computers by the Social Security Administration, by a medium-sized industrial plant, by a machine corporation, and at an oil refinery. Comments on the value of computers in administration and management.
- Date:
- 1963
- Summary:
- Focuses upon actress Ingrid Thulin and producer-director Ingmar Bergman. Shows Miss Thulin at home and at work as she comments upon the acting profession in Sweden. Presents background to the development of Bergman. Contains scenes from some of his work, including "Winter Light" in which Miss Thulin played the leading female part.
- Date:
- 1963
- Summary:
- Presents Eric Hoffer in an extended dialogue on man's weaknesses and how they relate to the total process of learning to become human. Describes human nature as highly unnatural in comparison with the simplicity of the physical sciences. Reviews man's struggle to survive by attempting the impossible and overcoming his weakness.
- Date:
- 1963
- Summary:
- Mr. Hoffer discusses with Mr. Day how change affects an individual’s self-esteem. He considers change in relation to the problems of African-Americans, the under-developed countries of Asia and Africa, and popular upheavals in communist countries. He says: “Times of drastic change are times of passion. We can never be fit and ready for that which is wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem. We undergo a test; we have to prove ourselves. A population subjected to drastic change is thus a population of misfits, and misfits live and breathe in an atmosphere of passion.”
- Date:
- 1963
- Summary:
- Mr. Hoffer discusses with Mr. Day the question of what happens when intellectuals gain control of a country. He explains why he believes that Asian and African intellectuals fear America, suggests that a society controlled by intellectuals is not conducive to creative activity, and explains his view that a scribe – a man of words – is a dangerous man when he becomes a man of action. Mr. Hoffer maintains that an intellectual is not at home in a free society.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Traces the history of computer development from the first mechanical calculators to ENIAC, the first electronic computer. Explains in lay terms how a modern digital computer stores both data and instructions in number form.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Demonstrates the role of perception in handling the processing information from the environment and the way in which our personalities affect our perception. Reviews the research of Dr. Herman Witkin of the State University of New York Medical Center, Dr. Eleanor Gibson of Cornell University, and Dr. Richard D. Walk of George Washington University.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Describes the operation, principles, and scientific use of reactors. Shows types of research reactors make possible. Describes the Gamma Ray Spectrometer, the Neutron Chopper, and the new Janus reactor which is designed specifically for high and low level radiation experiments in biology.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Huyghens (HY-gunz) discovery that Saturn is surrounded by rings which look different on earth at different times led to considerable speculation as to the nature of the rings. Some scientists believed they were solid, others maintained they were made up of particles of matter, as is actually the case. Among Huyghens’ other discoveries was the triangular expanse on Mars (“Syrtis Major”), which may be an expanse of vegetation. He also invented a very fine eyepiece, still used by physicists, which overcomes color spread. And “Huyghens Principle” regarding light spread is also constantly in use. Despite early illness and his resulting weak constitution, Huyghens was able to make discoveries that have been inestimable use to scientists who came after him.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Indicates that the problem of getting to Mars of Venus, heretofore a concern only to science fiction writers and afficionados, has now become an international obsession. Shows that the strides being made in the space race would not be possible were it not for the work of Copernicus and other scientists of his stature. States that it was Copernicus who realized that the earth is not the center of the universe but merely one of many heavenly bodies, all moving according to a definite system.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- The first program deals largely with Steichen’s life and his development as a photographer. He comments on the first camera he use (a Kodak), the years before he came to New York City, his “romantic” period in the 1890’s, his work with photography for advertising, his stay in France when he was for a while very active as a painter, his reactions to modern art, and his feelings about the influence of painting on his photography. Steichen’s photographs are used throughout the program to complement his description of life and work, and he often gives detailed analysis of these photographs.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- The first part of the program is devoted to Steichen’s memorable and world-famous exhibit, “The Family of Man.” Steichen explains his preoccupation with the forms and development of human life; the exhibit, and many of the photographs shown during the course of the program, emphasize the preoccupation. Steichen and Rene d’Harnoncourt also discuss his association with the fashion magazine Vanity Fair, his ideas on journalistic photography, and his work in Hollywood and in advertising, his photographic experiments, his experiences during World War I, his exhibitions and the ideas governing them, his work now in progress, and his plans for future exhibitions.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- The third program consists of a detailed analysis of photographs. Steichen and a young photographer move from picture to picture while Steichen explains the mechanical and technical problems they presented and the ideas or interests that prompted his focusing on one or another subject. They also examine pictures taken by such noted photographers as Lewis Hines and Edward Weston. Of particular interest are Steichen’s comments on symbolist photography and his reasons for abandoning experiments he began in this area. At the program’s end, Steichen speaks generally about the future of photography, and of the things we have to learn about and from our fellow man.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Considers the question, "Will machines ever run man?" Concludes that although the computer is the machine most like man himself, it is not the machine but man who determines what is to be done.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Discusses the future in terms of the areas that now interest scientists at the Argonne National Laboratories. Indicates problems that are still to be solved concerning the effects of radiation, the peaceful use of radiation, and the dangers of radiation.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Much of today’s exploration of space would be impossible without the early astronomical discoveries of Hipparchus (hih-PAR-kus). According to Dr. Posin, the greatest of these discoveries was that“the tip of the axis of the earth, through the centuries, make a circle in the heavens.” With the help of work done by scientists before him, such as Archimedes, Hipparchus was able to find ways of determining longitudes on earth and in the sky, thereby laying important groundwork for astronomical discoveries through the ages.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Introduces the series and establishes some basic knowledge about radiation which is necessary for a clear understanding of the following programs. Discusses the meaning of radiation, its natural sources, and the various forms it takes. Using a variety of devices points out the difference between alpha and beta particles and between gamma and X-rays.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Discusses the work of Newton, who was born the day Galileo died, and was a contemporary and friend of Huyghens. Describes Newton's Principia Mathematica, one of the greatest scientific books ever written which was published through his friendship with Halley, another outstanding scientist of the time. Briefly discusses Newton's most important contributions to science which were his theories of light and prisms, and of motion and bodies in space.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- As a boy, Maxwell was subject to the brutal teasing of his classmates. As an adult he met and solved several scientific problems that had been perplexing his contemporaries. He won a prize for demonstrating mathematically the nature of the rings around Saturn. But his most important achievement, which was at once the result of Faraday’s experiments and the beginning of much important new work by later scientists in physics and electricity, was his contribution to the study of electromagnetics and his predictions of the existence of electromagnetic waves. The processes and apparatuses he used are sketched in detail by Dr. Posin. The topic is a complicated one, but worth the attention of anyone who intends to pursue modern physics on his own.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- States that only a lack of engineers and adequate materials kept the helicopter from being an actuality during da Vinci's lifetime. Pictures this great inventor creating workable plans for the helicopter, the submarine, and hundreds of other "modern" inventions--all backed by scientific data. According to Dr. Posin, Leonardo "was always lured by the subtle, the fleeting, the unknown--this was the artist in him. Yet he searched for exact reasons and causes and logic--this was the scientist."
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Scientists discover things either by making plans for experiments and then following them doggedly, or by pursuing the implications of unexpected events or findings. It was in the latter way that Michael Faraday made one of his most important discoveries in the field of electricity. Dr. Posin discusses the men preceding Faraday, who had worked with electricity -- Volta, Benjamin Franklin, the Danish scientist HC Oersted (1777-1851) -- and the discoveries each made. He then turns to the work, and some pictures and models of the apparatus, for which Faraday is best known. In particular, he demonstrates the experiment by which Faraday proved that magnetism can produce electricity. He also performs an experiment with electrically charged fish like the electric eel or the Gymnotus.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Discusses whether the artist is free to express himself regardless of public understanding, public acceptance, or public rejection. Dramatizes the incidents surrounding a citizen's donation of a statue for a town square. The artist commissioned to do the work has fashioned a piece of iron sculpture which depicts what he feels is the horse's spirit instead of its outward form. At the dedication of the statue in the town square, the crowd voices mixed reactions to the sculpture. More and stronger objections are climaxed in attempt to destroy the iron horse. The donor finally removes the iron horse to his own estate where, on top of a rise, it dominates the landscape in splendid exile.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Points out that genetic damage is one of the most serious effects of radiation and shows how the Atomic Energy Commission's genetics research program is geared to learn how radiation damages cells and what the long term effects of such damage might be. Presents Douglas Grahn, a geneticist in the Division of the Biology Medicine, explaining how radiation causes mutations and how these mutations are passed on to succeeding generations. Describes the work of Herman Slatis, also a geneticist in the Division of Biology Medicine, with fruit flies and induced mutations. Discusses fallout and its implications.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Describes research related to atomic structure through which the scientist is attempting to discover the structure of the universe. Shows how particle accelerators produce intense beams of radiation which enable study of the structure of the atom, the nucleus, and the basic components of the nucleus. Explains how accelerators operate and shows one of the world's largest particle accelerators, the Zero Gradient Synchrotron, a $50,000,000 machine still under construction. Describes the sub-nuclear particles in which the high energy physicist is interested and briefly discusses the concept of matter and anti-matter.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Shows bone to be active, living substance, constantly remodeling and reforming itself. Emphasizes the importance of bone to the entire body as a supplier of calcium and illustrates the systems by which this calcium gets from bone to blood and vice versa. Effects of radiation are illustrated in photographs of bone cross-sections.
- Date:
- 1962
- Main contributors:
- Indiana University, Bloomington. Audio-Visual Center
- Summary:
- Brings together four prominent Negro leaders who discuss American Negroes' movement for racial and social equality, and their own motivations, doctrines, methods and goals. Features Negro leaders James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Dr. Kenneth Clark as host.
- Date:
- 1962
- Main contributors:
- Indiana University, Bloomington. Audio-Visual Center
- Summary:
- Investigates some of the ways in which man is influenced and changed by society. Demonstrates the effect of group pressure to conform and shows the consequences of publicly stating ideas contrary to one's private beliefs.
- Date:
- 1962
- Summary:
- Explores the natural process of aging and the methods used in its study. Indicates that aging might be considered one of the deleterious side effects of radiation. Shows that since radiation injury resembles natural aging in so many ways, radiation has proved one of the best ways of studying the aging process. Points out how research on aging is conducted in the Argonne National Laboratory's animal quarters and in low level gamma irradiation room.