The program opens with a brief history of the evolution of metal and its uses in early tools, utensils, weapons, and ornaments. In 1900 only sixteen kinds of metal were used by American industry, but at the time of this program, there are 321 known metals and alloys. Lynn Poole shows a piece of a new metal, Fiberfrax, that doesn't get hot when heated. Dr. Maddin, associate professor of metallurgy at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the inside of metal and shows a model of atoms in a perfect metal and one with deviations or imperfections. Mr. Poole notes that only 460 metallurgists are being trained in 45 colleges each year but at least three times that number are needed each year for the next ten years. Dr. Hollomon, head of the metallurgy and ceramic research division of General Electric (GE), lists common metal products and discusses how metals, such as titanium alloys, must be made stronger to withstand the higher temperatures occurring at faster jet speeds and to solve the problem of fractured pipelines and ships. There are career opportunities for chemist metallurgists, involving ingots and arch melting; process metallurgists, researching the forces in metals; development metallurgists, testing stresses and corrosion of metals; and research metallurgists, looking inside metals. Dr. Hollomon recommends studying math, physics, and chemistry in high school to begin the path to becoming a metallurgist. Dr. Vannevar Bush, president of the Carnegie Institution, promotes the benefits of this forthcoming Johns Hopkins career series and comments on the applications of modern science to the improvement of life. The pamphlet, "A Career in Metallurgy," is offered to viewers for a postcard.

As an introduction to this program's career, Lynn Poole notes that it was announced this week that the Salk vaccine is effective in preventing polio. He also points out that in 1890 Dr. M. Cary Thomas was only allowed to attend classes at Johns Hopkins University if she sat behind a screen because she was a woman in a men's institution. But this program features Isabelle Schaub, assistant professor of microbiology at that university and author of the Diagnostic bacteriology textbook. She introduces a number of young women and describes their laboratory job functions in the fields of bacteriology, biochemistry, hematology, serology, and histology. Brief film clips, from the National Committee for Careers in Medical Technology, show the processes of preparing slides of body tissues and studying blood cells under a microscope. Ms. Schaub lists three ways to enter the field: as an entry level lab aid, as a recipient of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists certificate, or as a college graduate.

Raymond Loewy, the Father of Industrial Design, defines his profession as one that designs products for mass production. Simplicity and functionality are key in his designs of packaging, service centers, uniforms, household goods, modes of transportation, and other functions. Mr. Loewy, who came to the United States in 1919, displays some of his product designs such as the Lucky Strike cigarette package, an electric heater with better stability, a bathroom scale with improved legibility, a silent eggbeater, a safe pressure cooker, a bottle with anti-slip grip, inexpensive but tasteful flatware, and other items. He comments on designs typically found in rooms in 1900 and 1926 and shows how they've been improved. His 1951 book, Never leave well enough alone, recommends simplifying goods and improving them to lower their manufacturing costs. Designer of the Studebaker car, Loewy shows cartoons of overdone cars with "dagmars" and others influenced by airplane designs.

Lynn Poole introduces the program by pointing an arrow gun, or optical pointer that is used to point to objects on the dome of a planetarium. Man has wondered about the universe around him since prehistoric times, noticing the movement of the stars and planets. Early in the 20th century the Zeiss planetarium was developed and built in six cities in the United States. After World War II, Armand Spitz produced the Spitz planetarium which made it much more economical for smaller sites to have planetariums. There are now over one hundred in the United States. Mr. Spitz discusses how these planetariums work. He has also designed a toy planetarium that can project images of the stars and planets in the home.

This is an updated production of a program originally broadcast two years earlier, entitled "Science of toys." Lynn Poole points out that over 1,400 different toys are now manufactured for learning and sportsmanship. He visits a studio toy shop with local child Joey Vitale where "shopkeeper" John Lockwood explains the science of such toys as slinky pull trains, punching bags, gear toys, a helicopter launcher, an electric airplane and steam engine, wind-up toys, and cog-driven toys. The trio also looks at how flexible plastics are now used to make some toys safer and dolls softer. They consider polarization in magnets, static electricity in balloons, ball bearings in bike wheels, and how toys were invented. Kits on the shelf include a chemistry set, a super sleuth science kit, and a weatherman set.

Lynn Poole distinguishes between weighing and other forms of measurement and comments that the Latin word for balance is "bi-lancis," meaning two dishes, as in the two pan level beam instrument. He shows sketches of other early balances, including the Egyptian first class lever and the Roman steelyard, both still in use today. Other types of scales and the kilogram weight kept by the Bureau of National Standards are shown. Johns Hopkins University chemistry professor Alsoph H. Corwin exhibits the highly precise balance he developed to measure very small samples of rare substances for microchemical manipulations. His assistant, Joseph Walter, demonstrates how magnetism, heat, vibration, and static can interfere with accurate measurements, and Dr. Corwin explains how his balance avoids all of these interferences. Dr. Corwin describes the parts of the balance, including the boron carbide knife edge bearings, and explains its operation. The studio camera also shows what operators of Corwin's balance see to discover the equilibrium point.

Lynn Poole gives the statistics of U.S. graduates in science and predicts the numbers through 1961, noting that a growing supply of competent scientists is critical. He discusses "juvenile delinquents" and suggests that a constructive way to guide them is through the Science Talent Search. In order to qualify, student contestants must submit answers to an examination measuring their science aptitude, a record of their grades, personal data by their teachers, and a 1,000-word project report. In the thirteenth annual Talent Search for Westinghouse Science Scholarships, 32 boys and 8 girls throughout the United States received a trip to Washington, D.C. to compete for final scholarships. Photos show some finalists during their trip visiting such scientific sites as the Bureau of Standards, the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, the National Institutes of Health, and the Naval Ordnance Lab. In the studio, $400 scholarship winners Mary Jeanne Kreek, of Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., explains her project on allergies, and Victor A. Schmidt, of Milford Mill High School in Baltimore County, demonstrates his planetarium project. The program concludes with photos of a random selection of the other forty winners and their projects.

Photos and sketches show methods and devices for recording the passage of time. The narrator explains Greenwich time, the world's 24 time zones, distortion of time under hypnosis, and chemical reaction time (such as the iodine clock). Demonstrations reveal how photography freezes time, a microscope stops time and magnifies it, and a motion picture speeds or slows time. A film details the process involved in time-lapse photography of both plant movement and crystal growth. Another film shows how atom structures are better represented by soap bubbles, rather than table tennis balls, to show the "slip" within a metal when it's bent. This film segues into another comparing the actions of various detergents and how scientists study fabric fibers under a microscope and within a tiny, transparent washtub. The final film, of a flame, uses the schlieren system to capture a minute segment of the "birth of a flame."

Dr. Andrews compares the irregular molecules of water to the regular ones of ice and explains that ice floats because it is less dense than water. He then shows a diphenyl oxide molecule model and explains that it freezes at room temperature and sinks and is therefore used to remove impurities from a liquid. He demonstrates how skating on ice creates pressure causing ice to melt enough to allow gliding on water, which couldn't be done if the water froze at a lower temperature. Dr. Andrews points out that the molecules of iron in a drill and sodium chloride in salt are arranged in a regular pattern and are therefore "frozen." He then adds liquid nitrogen to water, alcohol, glycerin, and molasses to compare the differing results. Ways of measuring temperatures include household thermometers, Beckmann thermometers (accurate to 1000th degree), and electrical thermometers such as platinum resistance, thermocouple, and bolometer (measuring to the millionth of a degree).

Orthopedic surgeon Robinson describes three types of bones that break: ribs or skull, with which the underlying organs must be protected; facial bones, which require accurate, fine correction; and large, long bones, which must be held in place promptly and securely. Dr. Robinson shows x-rays of broken femurs and a diagram of how bone heals, explaining that the deformity must be corrected first and then held in place until a bridge of new bone is formed. A patient demonstrates the range of motion in his formerly fractured elbow that was held together with a metal plate and screws. Other x-rays display the intramedulary, a diamond-shaped stainless steel nail used to hold a femur fracture in place and allow weight bearing. A model of the hip joint and femur with surrounding muscles proves that without such a supportive rod, the muscles would override the bones and cause deformity or shorten the length of the leg. Dr. Southwick introduces former patient William Brown and explains how a metal rod was inserted.