Lynn Poole explains that "microscope" is from the two Greek words "mikros," small, and "skopos," a watcher. He notes that Dutch Antony Van Leeuwenhoek and English Robert Hooke were both instrumental in the development of the instrument and that Charles A. Spencer was America's first microscope maker. Dr. Schwartz, using the RCA Vidicon (a microscope connected to a television monitor), shows slides of water specimens from ponds in New York and New Jersey. The organisms he identifies include one-celled blepharisma and stentor, which he compares to the multi-celled rotifer, the plant spirogyra, diatoms, and the beating heart of a daphnia or water flea. Dr. Schwartz also shows a replica of Van Leeuwenhoek's microscope and his drawings of bacteria, and he demonstrates how to make a slide for viewing.

Dr. Proctor discusses examples of and reasons for hypodermic injection rather than oral administration of drugs, examines injection methods, and shows various styles and construction of syringes. He also gives a historical account of development of the hollow needle and intravenous injection by such scientists as Serturner, Pravaz, Wood, Osler, LaFarge, and Wren. Dr. Walter Dandy, professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins, shows the endemic method of applying a drug to the skin by blistering the skin. He also offers examples of and reasons for the need to administer drugs hypodermically rather than orally. Using an orange, a nurse demonstrates the method for teaching laymen how to administer an insulin injection.

Mr. Miller-Jones introduces this program on the dangers of radioactive fallout, the third in a series of exchanges between Baltimore, Maryland's station WAAM and Great Britain's BBC. Dr. Kruse explains that current incineration of radioactive waste could be detrimental to people's health if safe gas and ash levels are exceeded. Dr. Geyer and Mr. Talboys discuss the effectiveness of laundering of radium-tainted clothing. To improve removal of radioactive materials from clothing, combinations of several variables must be considered: isotopes, fabrics (fiber, weave, treatment), detergents, concentrations, water temperatures, agitation degree, and time. Dr. Renn then examines the problems of releasing radioactive waste into sewage treatment plants. Some waste, such as radiophosphorous, is easily absorbed by bacteria in the system; others could be captured by experimental trickling filters or the aerated sludge process, but the sludge must then be disposed.

Before the program begins, Jerome Spingarn, on the Board of the National Association for Better Radio and Television, presents to Lynn Poole the television award for Outstanding Educational Program for the second consecutive year. As an introduction to the show, Mr. Poole reads from Sir Charles Blagden's 1774 "Experiments and Observations in a Heated Room," about the dangers of overheating. Dr. Lee then describes the operation of Johns Hopkins University's Mobile Climatic Laboratory, built for the Quartermaster Corps. The lab consists of an engine room with generators, an anteroom with controls, and a climatic chamber with treadmill and other equipment. Test subjects are wired to provide data to a recorder as they exercise on a treadmill under different temperature and humidity levels. Oxygen analysis and perspiration evaporation measurements are also explained. Dr. Lee shows a film and photos of graduate students doing preliminary testing of the lab's equipment before its use in the Yuma, Arizona desert.

A film produced by the U. S. Navy lists some recent defense research with benefits to civilians: raising research animals in sterile conditions; discovering unknown properties of metals by super heating and super cooling; researching man's reactions to motion; studying nuclear collisions and cosmic rays as alternative sources of power; creating heat with aluminum solar reflectors; studying solar chromosphere and solar activity; and developing computers, the cyclotron, fluid dynamics, surgical techniques, etc. A film by the U. S. Air Force then shows the by-products of their research: rayon and nylon tires, fiber A weather resistant fabric, stereoscopic strip camera for mapping large areas quickly, electric blankets and space heaters, and ground control approach (GCA) used at airports. The final message is that defense research and engineering funds pay dividends by providing improvements in daily living.

This film by the British Information Service explains how British scientists of the Hydrographic Dept. of the Admiralty chart the seas. Since sands and shoals shift, charts must be updated for accuracy. The echo sounder on shipboard takes depths continuously by sending out sound waves, which are reflected from the sea bottom back to the ship. This is used in conjunction with the sextant's measured angles of landmarks on shore to fix the exact position of the sounding. The triangulation procedure is explained and demonstrated on land, including the use of an astrolabe, chronometer, and chronograph true bearing of the triangulation framework. For triangulation at sea, floating beacons establish baselines, soundings are made, and chart datum of tides' heights for a lunar month is collected. Cartographers then draw charts from the collected information.

This film provided by the British Information Service details the developmental history of marine radar. The creation of a plan position indicator (PPI), or radar output display, made shipborne radar possible. In 1946, the minimum requirements for radar equipment were established at an international meeting in London. A year later, the international standard for marine radar, built to withstand sea-going conditions, was set. This navigational aid saves time, money, and often lives. A ship entering the harbor of St. John, New Brunswick, Canada is shown using radar to navigate in the fog. Title from label on videocassette.

Lynn Poole describes a diffraction grating as having ridged scales, like a butterfly's wings, that create iridescence. The 75,000 precise ridges must be so accurately spaced that it requires a special machine to make a diffraction grating. Dr. Henry H. Rowland developed the first one in 1860, but Dr. John Strong refined this machine, the ruling engine, in 1950. Using a model of the machine, Dr. Strong explains the operation of a ruling engine, focusing on the perfect twin screws that are its vital parts. The maker of these screws, David Broadhead, of Wellsville, NY, demonstrates how one cuts one of these screws on a machine lathe. In a film, Wilbur Perry, one of the most accomplished mechanical and optical technicians in making diffraction gratings, constructs parts of the ruling engine, including the diamond used to cut the 75,000 grooves on the aluminum-coated glass. Diffraction grating is the basis of spectroscopy, separating light into various colors for analysis.

This program originates from the ballroom of the Lord Baltimore Hotel where alumni are celebrating the 77th anniversary of the Johns Hopkins University. Lynn Poole opens the program by paying special tribute to Elmer V. McCollum, who discovered vitamins A and B, and John Lee Pratt, who donated money to establish the McCollum Pratt Institute of the University. Using a periodic table, Dr. McElroy points out the macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, and sodium) and the micronutrients or trace elements (copper, manganese, iron, and zinc). In addition to these, animals need cobalt and iodine to thrive and plants need boron and molybdenum. Both a diagram and an animation show how a nutrient deficiency in the soil may not affect plant health but won't be passed on to humans or animals and therefore could adversely affect them (e.g., lack of iodine in the soil may result in goiter in a human).

This 200th show reviews the five years this series has been on television. Dr. Franco Rasetti recreates one experiment from the first show, which was filmed in a Johns Hopkins classroom: the spontaneous break-up of a radioactive element as evidenced by a Geiger counter's response. Dr. Ralph Witt, of the plastics lab, shows how plastics are made and molded by replicating the same plastic resin he made on the program five years ago. He explains how glass fibers can now be woven into fabric and covered with plastic resin to make a strong laminate. Lynn Poole then pages through album photos to recall other programs: John Lehman, the university glassblower; Dr. Donald H. Andrews freezing the atom; medical artists; warnings on sunburn; "Fear," the first program (10/3/50) for the Dumont Network; Dr. Russell Morgan unveiling the x-ray fluoroscope; human engineering; Dr. Arthur Parpart demonstrating the new microscope combined with a television screen; films of the earth taken by a camera 70,000 feet above the earth. P. Stewart McCauley pays tribute to the Johns Hopkins Science Review and its staff, guests, and viewers, especially Lynn Poole. Ken Carter, general manager of television station WAAM in Baltimore presents a gift of a lamp decorated with pictures from the show to Mr. Poole, who read many congratulatory telegrams on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Johns Hopkins Science Review.