Nanotechnology is viewed by those in favor of its development in two different ways, and the divide is not recent. This article describes the origins of the differing visions of nanotechnology and examines their broader impacts. The typical history of the field tells nothing about these differing visions, which perhaps misleads. At least two…

Relates the story of Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen and presents one view of the extent to which the discovery of the x-ray was an accident. Reconstructs the sequence of events that led to the discovery and includes photographs of the lab where he worked and replicas of apparatus used. (GS)

Author recalled simultaneously the scientific lives of Priestley, Franklin, Rumford, Davy, Faraday, and other investigators of "experimental philosophy" (what we now call chemistry), and the life of the Royal Institution, founded in 1797 to promote both research and its practical applications. (Editor/RK)

A portion of an issue of Daedalus concerning science and the anti-science movement is summarized. The issue was designed to diagnose what is troublesome about the scientific enterprise in its own eyes and in those of its critics. (Author/RH)

Discussed and described are analytical instruments available for chemical analysis in 1940-41. (RH)

The history of the concept of antimatter is traced. A hypothetical situation involving antimen who move and think backwards in time is considered. (DT)

This article describes a meeting in 1874, seen to be the origin of the American Chemical Society, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of Joseph Priestley's discovery of oxygen. The remainder of the article is concerned with Priestley's scientific contributions and their implications. (DT)

This article, based on a talk the author gave to the 'Innominates', an interdisciplinary faculty group at the University of Chicago, focuses on events of the years surrounding the British Expeditions to Brazil and West Africa in 1919 that led to the confirmation of Einstein's theory of relativity. (BT)