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On the Cover

July-August 2006 Volume 94, Number 4

To a mathematician, the iconic soccer ball is a sphere made of polygon...

FEATURE ARTICLES

Protecting Ourselves from Shellfish Poisoning *

Molecular probes deployed by California scientists are just the latest weapons in our species' long battle with harmful algae

Constructing Animal Locomotion from New Thermodynamics Theory *

Adrian Bejan, James Marden

Although running, flying and swimming appear to be distinctly different types of movement, they may have underlying physics in common

Sleep to Remember *

The brain needs sleep before and after learning new things, regardless of the type of memory. Naps can help, but caffeine isn't an effective substitute

The Topology and Combinatorics of Soccer Balls *

Dieter Kotschick

When mathematicians think about soccer balls, the number of possible designs quickly multiplies

The Source of Europe's Mild Climate

The notion that the Gulf Stream is responsible for keeping Europe anomalously warm turns out to be a myth

* access restricted to members and subscribers

SCIENTISTS’ BOOKSHELF

A Temperamental Journey

A review of An Argument for Mind, by Jerome Kagan. Kagan, a well-known developmental psychologist, uses his life story to trace the history of the field over the past half-century

See all book reviews for this issue.

DEPARTMENTS

COMPUTING SCIENCE

The Semicolon Wars

Every programmer knows there is one true programming language. A new one every week

MACROSCOPE

Science and the Theft of Humanity

Geoffrey Harpham

In science's renewed interest in the human condition, a humanist sees the promise of a dialogue and a new golden age

SIGHTINGS

Talking Pictures

Harvard astronomer Alyssa Goodman on the visual representations in her work

MARGINALIA

Six Months in Ascension

J. Donald Fernie

Thanks in part to his intrepid wife, David Gill made the observations that metered the 19th-century solar system

ENGINEERING

A Great Profession *

Mining engineer and president Herbert Clark Hoover captured the nature of engineering with an economy of words

SCIENCE OBSERVER

Smart as We Can Get?

David Schneider

Gains on certain tests of intelligence are ending in some places

Enforcing the Generation Gap

Juvenile chameleons have a well-justified fear of their elders

Going Against the Flow

Fenella Saunders

Sometimes particles prefer to propel themselves uphill

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Political Science

Regarding Einstein

Guessing About Gauss

From the President

SIGMA XI TODAY (PDF)

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American Scientist Classics

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