Tools of the trade

Lynn Poole pays tribute to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, founded in 1848, and dedicates this program to the men of science. Tools used by scientists in their labs are shown and explained: glassware, such as test tubes, beakers, mortar and pestle, graduated cylinders, condensers; microscope, to magnify specimens such as the ganglion shown; leak detector, such as the teslacoil, to determine sources of leaks; recording potentiometer, to accurately measure voltage; strobotac, whose flash appears to slow the action of a moving object so the eye can study it; arc lamp, to study optical instruments; dial indicator, to measure minute movements accurately; cathode ray oscillograph, to record electrical impulses of circuits; supersonic wind tunnel at Johns Hopkins University, to study the problems of air turbulence; Van de Graaff generator at Brookhaven National Lab, to study the acceleration of particles and explore the atom; cosmotron nearing completion at Brookhaven, to accelerate particles; Van Slyke gas analyzer, to measure body tissues and fluids for compounds; hand and foot counter, to detect and indicate radiation in humans; mass spectrometer, to analyze heavy elements in body tissues; remote control tongs, to place items safely near radiation; and stereoscopic microscope at Brookhaven, to protect observers from radiation and keep colonies sterile.