Philip H. Abelson

Mechanisms for evaluating scientific information and the role of peer review

The role of peer review and the mechanisms for evaluating scientific manuscripts are presented from the perspective of 23 years as editor of Science. Reproducibility is important in science and its feasibility varies greatly among the natural, medical, and behavioral sciences. The “publish or perish” syndrome has led to deleterious effects on scientific communication and it is recommended that a more realistic approach be taken to evaluate research productivity. Recent examples of fraud (Darsee and Slutsky) illustrate some weaknesses of the present system and have led to proposals for reform. It is maintained, however, that fraud, as distinguished from unintended error, is not common in science.

Waste management and control.

No wonder you activities are, reading will be always needed. It is not only to fulfil the duties that you need to finish in deadline time. Reading will encourage your mind and thoughts. Of course, reading will greatly develop your experiences about everything. Reading waste management and control is also a way as one of the collective books that gives many advantages. The advantages are not only for you, but for the other peoples with those meaningful benefits.

The Revolution in Computers and Electronics

Effects of the computer and electronics revolution are all around us. They are so commonplace that we often do not notice them. Many of the individual effects are small. But taken together with large-scale changes that are in store, the summation is impressive. We are in the early phases of shifts in the economy and in social patterns comparable in magnitude to those of the industrial revolution. Some of the changes have already gone far. For example, the development of computational power, if viewed logarithmically, is probably already beyond its midpoint, although in absolute terms it still has far to go. Other aspects of the revolution are only in their beginning phases. Examples are robotics and the office of the future. This issue of Science is designed to provide an overview of the progress of the revolution as well as indications of developments that can be foreseen. Readers of Science who examine this issue will bring to the task a diversity of backgrounds. Some will be experts, who will consider the material easy reading. Others who have some background in use of computers will find the articles informative. Those who have had little contact with computers will find part of the material difficult, but if they work diligently at comprehending the total content they will be rewarded. They will learn much about the revolutionary potential of computers. They will also obtain a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how American business and industry function. SCI ENCE

Exaggerated risks of chemicals.

The citizens of the United States have unreasonably great fears of chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has become one of the most powerful governmental divisions in Washington. It has been given legal authority to create and enforce thousands of regulations. The impact of these regulations on all of us is in process of being increased. Tougher federal environmental enforcement will adversely affect taxpayers, agriculture, the chemical industry and the profession of chemistry. Until recently, the effects of regulatory zeal were not visible, though hundreds of billions of dollars have already been spent without provable benefits to the nation’s health. Currently there exists considerable public and special interest pressure to force reduction in the use of pesticides. There is no solid evidence that the tiny amounts remaining on fruits and vegetables are harmful. For many years the EPA has maintained regulatory levels so that an individual eating food containing the EPA top level of a pesticide for a lifetime would have less than one chance in a million of incurring cancer as a result of eating that food. Levels of pesticides in foods are monitored by the Food and Drug Administration. FDA findings indicate that only tiny concentrations of agricultural pesticides are present in foods in supermarkets and that a large fraction has no detectable amounts of pesticides at all [l]. In summary, pesticides in foods are having no more than a trivial effect if any on human health. In contrast, consuming substantial amounts of fruits and vegetables have long been suspected to have beneficial effects. Many isolated studies of the matter have been published. Professor Gladys Block and associates of the University of California at Berkeley have performed a public service by assembling results of 172 studies conducted in places around the world [2]. Their analysis compared cancer rates for a quartile of people consuming an average of O-l fruits and vegetables a day with a quartile eating &5. The contrast in relative risk of cancer in various organs of the body was impressive. For example, the beneficial effect of consuming adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables was a factor of 2.2 for lung, 2.5 for stomach, 2.8 for pancreas and 1.9 for colorectal sites. Those great benefits to health are in danger of being curtailed. EPA Administrator Carol Browner has announced a goal of decreasing use of pesticides by 70% during the next three years. If this policy is implemented, production of many fruits and vegetables would be adversely affected. In other words, were EPA to ban pesticides and cause fruits and vegetables to become expensive or unavailable, it could be responsible for causing annually tens of thousands of cancer deaths. Having been an agent in causing widespread fear of cancer, EPA must now deal with consequences of its earlier actions. The public anxiety about pesticides and other chemicals led to demands for safety from them. Earlier, Congress passed many different complex laws. In numerous instances, the wording of these laws is conflicting. The EPA must also deal with the Delaney clause, which was enacted before the

1988 Waldo E. Smith Medal to Philip Hauge Abelson

The award of the Waldo E. Smith Medal to Philip H. Abelson honors two men who have devoted their lives to science and particularly to geophysics. Phil Abelsons contributions to science, including his personal research, his remarkable career as editor of Science, and his past presidency of the American Geophysical Union, are well known to all. Perhaps not as well recognized was his role in establishing the Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR) as the flagship journal of the American Geophysical Union and as the worlds premier geophysical chronicle. Having grown accustomed to the some 15,000 page per year volumes of JGR now bending our shelves, if not endangering our buildings, we tend to forget that 30 years ago the situation was far different. During the mid-1950s, as the International Geophysical Year approached, members of AGU could publish either in one of the several specialized journals of organizations, such as the Seismological Society, the American Meteorological Society, and the Society of Exploration Geophysics, or in the Transactions of the American Geophysical Union. Transactions attempted to serve many functions, including those now provided by Eos. The Journal of Geophysical Research had been maintained as a publication committed largely, but not exclusively, to geomagnetism by the devoted efforts of Merle Tuve.

Perspectives on science from across the atlantic.

Science serves its readers as a forum for the presentation and discussion of important issues related to the advancement of science, including the presentation of minority or conflicting points of view, rather than by publishing only material on which a consensus has been reached. Accordingly, all articles published in Science-including editorials, news and comment, and book reviews-are signed and reflect the individual views of the authors and not official points of view adopted by the AAAS or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.

Support for Materials Science and Engineering

American Association for the Advancement of Science Science serves its readers as a forum for the presentation and discussion of important issues related to the advancement of science, including the presentation of minority or conflicting points of view, rather than by publishing only material on which a consensus has been reached. Accordingly, all articles published in Science-including editorials, news and comment, and book reviews-are signed and reflect the individual views of the authors and not official points of view adopted by the AAAS or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.

Global Economic Competition

Amorican Association for the Advancement of Scionce Science serves its readers as a forum for the presentation and discussion of important issues related to the advancement of science, including the presentation of minority or conflicting points of view, rather than by publishing only material on which a consensus has been reached. Accordingly, all articles published in Science-including editorials, news and comment, and book reviews are signed and reflect the individual views of the authors and not official points of view adopted by the AAAS or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.

Methane: a motor fuel.

Of all the alternatives to gasoline from petroleum, methane is the one source that could displace much of it relatively rapidly. For example, shale oil in quantity is decades away, as are liquid fuels from coal. But methane is available and conversion of cars to use it is not difficult. At the moment, proved reserves of natural gas are limited, but the National Petroleum Council and the American Gas Association are confident that much more will be found and tapped. They point to methane in the Devonian shales of the Appalachian Basin, to methane associated with coal, and to natural gas in western tight gas sands. In addition, many other horizons have not been explored. Once successful wells are drilled, processing equipment can be quickly installed and the production channeled into the pipeline network. Thus, the nation has an answer to a prolonged attenuation of oil imports. The earths crust contains large amounts of methane. The gas can also be obtained from biomass and from synthesis gas derived from coal. In the United States, a million-mile pipeline network exists for distribution of the gas. Methane is already being used in about 400,000 vehicles around the world, including 250,000 in Italy and 20,000 to 30,000 in the United States. Users have found that engine wear is reduced: lubricating oil is not diluted as it is when gasoline is used. Exhaust gases are relatively nonpolluting. Start-up of motors is not affected by cold weather. An engine designed especially for methane has an energy efficiency greater than that of ordinary automobiles. Conventional cars and trucks can be modified at a cost of

East is East and west is west.

1500 to burn either methane or liquid fuels. When they burn methane, such engines are about 10 percent less efficient and, for the same piston displacement, generates 25 percent less power than with gasoline.