Sir William Hamilton (1730–1803): His work and influence in geology

In the formative period of London's scientific instrument industry membership of a guild was a necessary step towards owning a business in the City. Through the guilds' formal system of apprenticeship, boys received first-class training in a skilled trade, and learned essential marketing and managerial techniques. By analysing the guilds' records of apprenticeship and subsequent guild life it is possible to determine chains of masters and apprentices by which the knowledge passed from generation to generation. At the same time, dates can be established for the training and subsequent working life of many known makers. The chains of knowledge reveal new and often important masters who were previously unknown because, by chance, their instruments or advertisements have not survived to the present day. Two guilds have been used to illustrate the chains: Broderers' Company and Joiners' Company.     

The adoption of self-induction by telephony, 1886–1889

Through 1886 to 1889 understanding of the mechanism of telephone transmission was transformed from an electrostatic and traditional view to an electrodynamic one conforming with Maxwell's scheme. Observed at the level of commercial application this painful adjustment occurred via a sequence of controversies connected with self-induction—on techniques of telephony, on electrical measurement, on lightning conductors and on matters of professional ethics—in which the parts played by evidence, by theory, and by authority were strangely mixed. The well-known confrontation of O. Heaviside and W. H. Preece was at the centre of the debate. An open division between traditionalists and progressives amongst electrical engineers was provoked, and the effectiveness of mathematical theory as against pure pragmatism at the practical level had in the end to be conceded.     

尼古拉斯·柯蒂(1908～1998)--一位低温物理学家和"烹调物理学家"

使尼古拉斯·柯蒂（NcholasKurti）感到高兴的一项荣誉是，他作为全世界低温记录的第一位创始者获得的01K（绝对温度）左右的低温记录被载入了精尼斯世界记录大全》一书。科学技巧和某些幽默的结合正是他本人缩影的一种体现。在低温物理学方面的工作是他在牛津的克拉伦登实验室中进行的，后来他又在西蒙领导下工作，并同西蒙保持了长时期的联系。在50年代早期，利用对原子自旋排列的绝热去磁技术，他获得了当时最低的可能温度。他最初的18年生涯是在本国的布达佩斯度过的，而且历经四个完全不同的政治制度。正是反法西斯主义使得他和许多…     

Metabolic studies of Hg-203 on Chlamydomonas reinhardi

Sterile cultures of Chlamydomonas reinhardi, WT+, were treated with Hg-203 at 25 degrees C to identify probably formed volatile mercury compounds. Experiments were performed with living and dead cells under aerobic or anaerobic conditions, respectively, and the mercury concentration was measured in the system algae/nutrient medium. We found a timerelated decrease of mercury concentration in the cell suspension and the cell-free nutrient medium due to a reduction of Hg++ to Hg0, probably caused by extracellular enzymes; monomethyl or dimethyl mercury could not be detected.     

Evolutionary divergence in closely related populations of Mimulus guttatus (Scrophulariaceae)

The evolutionary divergence of five closely related populations of the yellow monkey flower. Mimulus guttatus was compared with the length of time the populations could have occupied the site and with the ability of the populations to intercross. Populations from the younger sites were found to be morphologically intermediate to populations from the older sites. Ability to intercross was not correlated with morphological divergence at this stage of evolution.       

Clark's Nutcrackers harvest sugar pine seeds from cones

This is the first report of Clark’s Nutcrackers ( Nucifraga columbiana ) harvesting seeds from the cones of sugar pine ( Pinus lambertiana ), based on observations over several years in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. The harvesting period in late September corresponded to peak cone-opening dates. Nutcrackers placed harvested seeds in their throat pouches, a behavior associated with seed caching.