MY AMERICAN SCIENTIST

Keep me signed in

Would you like us to keep you signed in on this computer ?

SEARCH

HOME > PAST ISSUE

On the Cover

May-June 2005 Volume 93, Number 3

Baseball pitchers use spin, or lack thereof, to deceive batters about where a pitched ball will cross home plate. Because a batter must begin to swing when a fastball is only two-thirds of the way to the plate, clues about the ball's spin, and therefore trajectory, are crucial to getting a hit. ...

FEATURE ARTICLES

Predicting a Baseball's Path

A. Terry Bahill, David Baldwin, Jayendran Venkateswaran

A batter watches the pitcher's motion plus the spin on the ball to calculate when and where it will cross the plate

Science and Religious Fundamentalism in the 1920s *

Religious pamphlets by leading scientists of the Scopes era provide insight into public debates about science and religion

New Ideas About Old Sharks *

Susan Turner, Randall Miller

A rare fossil sheds light on the poorly understood relationship between early sharks and bony fishes

Polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background *

Astronomers search for clues about the dynamics of the early universe in the ancient afterglow of the Big Bang

The Lion's Mane *

Neither a token of royalty nor a shield for fighting, the mane is a signal of quality to mates and rivals, but one that comes with consequences

* access restricted to members and subscribers

SCIENTISTS’ BOOKSHELF

A Difficult Transition

Kenneth Deffeyes predicts that running out of gas as we drive ourselves down the far side of Hubbert's peak will not be pleasant

See all book reviews for this issue.

DEPARTMENTS

COMPUTING SCIENCE

Rumours and Errours

Failure can lead to greater self-knowledge, but usually it leads to frustration

MACROSCOPE

Ernst Mayr, Biologist Extraordinaire

A tribute to the eminent evolutionary biologist

SIGHTINGS

Capturing Quantum Corrals

Don Eigler and Dominique Brodbeck discuss how they took a snapshot of goings-on in the quantum realm

MARGINALIA

Dinosaurs as a Cultural Phenomenon

Keith Stewart Thomson

Why have dinosaurs gained such a hold on the public's imagination?

ENGINEERING

The Bay Bridge *

Oakland's Bay Bridge has a colorful history, but it faces an uncertain future

SCIENCE OBSERVER

Improve Your Image

Were planetary scientists scooped by a chat group of amateur enthusiasts?

David Schneider

A tempest erupts over the political neutrality of the best-known climate-change panel

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Soupçons for the Soul

Your Number's Up

Fueling the Debate

FROM THE PRESIDENT

IN THIS SECTION

American Scientist Classics

Purchase a Back Issue

BROWSE BY

Buy This Issue

Subscribe to American Scientist

<a href="http://americanscientist.advertserve.com/servlet/click/zone?zid=6&pid=0&lookup=true&position=1" target="_top"> <img src="http://americanscientist.advertserve.com/servlet/view/banner/image/zone?zid=6&pid=0&position=1" height="600" width="160" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" alt="Click Here!"> </a>

<A href="http://americanscientist.advertserve.com/servlet/click/zone?zid=5&pid=0&lookup=true&position=1" target="_top"> <IMG src="http://americanscientist.advertserve.com/servlet/view/banner/image/zone?zid=5&pid=0&position=1" height="60" width="468" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" alt="Click Here!"> </A>