Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-28
MAJOR GAINS OF SCIENCE
In 1880 SEEN IN RADIO
Contrasts With 1923, When Experiments;
ton Led, and 1929, Which Showed :
Dearth of Real Achievement.

marine has been obtained and Is being
fitted for his purpose. 81
DR.. Rudolph Engelmann, a German,
Is planning an undersea boat capable
Of travelling on the oceans bottom
without coming to the surface for as
much as eight days. All these thinga
promise to give US information con.
corning the oceans bottom which will
be not only interesting. but perhaps
commercially profitable as well.
Andree Find Thrilling. ~
The discovery Of the Andree party,
which left In 1897 to fly over the pole
in q balloon, was perhaps the most
thrilling thing in the field Of discovefH
in the present generation. It is unfof-
tunate that the heroism of this party
did not result in greater gain in scien-
tiflc knowledge. It is one of those sad
adventures which profited no one much
II DR.. George w. Grille has succeeded
as seems to be the case, in producing
life artidcially, then this has been the
greatest year in the field of biology
and medicine that the world has ever
known. Perhaps no achievement has
ever been greater. In the meantime
great achievements have been made IN
the understanding Of life from other
DR.. Austin Clark has found that the
wings Of butterflies, dead more than
IS years, still give Off radiations
that will affect q Photographic plate.
Surely this should furnish some clue
as to the nature Of life. Drs. f. G.
Viewer and G. w. Bray of Princetonr
have carried on q telephone conversar
ton using q nerve fiber as a part Of
the line. This gives us some idea Of
where to look for an explanation OF
nerve transmisSion-an action so essen-
ttal to life: The production of fever
by means OF high frequency radio waves
Is another discovery which may prove
to be of first magnitude in the field
OF medicine. The establishment of a
National Institute Of Health through q
grant Of $750000 by the Government
should be noted as another great event.
in the field Of medicine. -
New Planet Found.
Astronomers got the thrill of q CEN
fury by the discovery of Planet x" hy
the young astronomer Clyde Tom
baugh. This has resulted In an irig
creased interest in astronomy every~
where.
The Adler Planetarium established
this year in Chicago has received &
steady stream of visitors. At this in
stitut1on one may see the stars pro-
Jected upon domed ceiling In such g.
manner as to give the exact sensation
OF standing upon q prominence ana
gazing up at clear sky. BY the
operation OF few dials the sky can be
portrayed as it appeared at any hour Of
any night, at any longitude and lati<
tuoe, In the history of the earth; or.
as it viii appear at any time in the
future. The establishment of this
planetartum at Chicago Is of great mo-
ment to the study of astronomy in thiB.
country. Perhaps it viii be the means
Of starting a crop of astronomers in
their way such as the world has never
before seen. -
Probably the most outstanding thing
IN the Held OF chemistry this year Is
the introduction in America of the n.y.
drogenation process of making gaso.s
line. While this is not new, and has,
In fact, been used in Germany COM
mercially for some time, 1t is now being
introduced here on large scale basis
such as to present wholly new probt-
lens. We may soon expect to be using,
gasoline produced in this way In our
cars.
| Equally spectacular is the growing use
Of solid carbon dioxide as a refrigerant,
This material offers possibilities wholly
new in the field Of refrigeration, espe~<
cially IN transportation, because Of ttss
| lightneSs and the small bulk required.
A tremendous undertaking was the
storing Of 5000, 900 pounds Of this higI-s
ly periShable material during the slack
Winter months and its use far into the
succeeding Fall.
This storage deserves its place among
the seven wonders Of the age. y.
We are next promised coal from the
air. Already carbonic acid has been
obtained from the air and this reduced
to methane, or coal gas. Coal from the.
air is possible and has been obtained in /,
the laboratory; perhaps that win be
our future source Of supply.
Structural Engineers Active.
The year has seen remarkable activity
In the construction Of high buildings,
the Chrysler Building, the Empiree
State Building and 500 Fifth Avenue,
being the most notable. Buildings are
high and much thought has been given.
to the possibility of using aluminium
for the upper stories in order to reduce
weight
The Florida fruit fly has been abol-c
ished. A crystal clock has been devised
that will keep correct time for 5000,
years to within q second. DR.. Kovarick
Of Yale has made new estimate Of the .
age of the earth through the study Of,
uranium-lead. Maxim has devised O.,
silencer to keep out noise, but to admit
air through open windows. A new
flash light lamp, inclosed, has been iHf<c
vented; 1t has no noise. no smoke, only.
the flash it left. Dirac has added some
new ideas to our theory of the atom.
Claude has developed power from the
oceans water. Einstein has preSentedc
and solved some more equations. q. Nv
Lewis has proposed q theory of two Il
way time. Prof. Goddard is continuing
his study of rockets with the sup.
port of the Guggenheim foundations =
and of the Smithsonian Institution
Max Waller, the German rocket expert,
was killed in one of his own expert.
ments. The noise abatement committee
of New York is making Roadway. And
lady bugs are sold in capsules at q half.
cent apiece to prey upon the mealy bug,
an orchard pest. Thus we advanced
Popular Science Interest. a..
But there is one more thing that
needs mention before we close the books
on 1930-the tremendous popular in
terest that has been manifested conSc
corning things scientific. ,S
This Is evident in the enormous sale
of books bysSuch authorities as Edding-
ton, Jeans, etc. The time has gone by
when the public is willing to take its
science from the hands of any but the
expert himself. Perhaps this is be-
cause such authorities as these have.
never before been induced to write for
the public; or, perhaps, their having
written. and written so we'll, Is the!c
cause Of the great interest that Is now;r
evident everywhere. The result Is that
today the layman Is likely to know,
more of the general field of science.
than the scientist who has specialized
narrowly as Is his custom. =,
This public interest viii doubtless
prove Of great value to science. Whan
science Is understood 1t viii be prop
erly supported and this in turn should.
bring results which even this a0e, now.