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.

G.K. Green, a senior physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, N.Y., discusses the cosmotron, an atom smasher made possible by the Atomic Energy Commission and operated by nine universities, including Johns Hopkins. Mr. Green first explains that carbon atoms form charcoal and diamonds and that the nucleus of carbon consists of half neutrons and half protons. He then shows a model of a ring-shaped cyclotron, a slice of the magnet and vacuum chamber within, and a film of the actual machine in operation. A Van de Graaff generator, a particle accelerator, shoots protons into the vacuum chamber of the magnet, and they build up speed with each rotation up to 4 million revolutions per second. At 180,000 miles per second, the protons collide with a target resulting in mesons, medium weight particles. Mr. Green also shows a film of a cloud chamber in which atomic particles leave vapor trails. He says the purpose of the cosmotron is to probe the center of the atom.

After an introduction by Sir Roger Makins, British ambassador, British TV producer and moderator Andrew Miller Jones discusses the association between Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Guy's Hospital in London. A film describes each of these teaching hospitals and how they have been connected through exchange of information, ideas, and faculty since 1946. Two of Johns Hopkins Hospital's recent developments are demonstrated by faculty: Dr. Francis Schwentker's humidified oxygen tent, and Dr. Russell Morgan's televised x-rays. Detlev W. Bronk, president of the Johns Hopkins University delivered an address on Anglo-American cooperation in the many fields of scientific research. Part title from label.

Using a skeleton, Dr. Nachlas discusses the body's skeletal system and explains how bones' rigidity protects the body's vital organs and offers attachment for muscles. He shows how a broken bone must have approximate broken edges, proper alignment of broken pieces, and immobilization of the bones in order to heal properly. Since plaster casts cannot always accomplish this, Dr. Nachlas details how bones can be splinted and immobilized internally with such metals as vitalium, tantalum, and stainless steel, which do not corrode or cause infection. He shows an x-ray of fractured leg bones held in place by long, stainless steel rods running down the marrow cavities. He also describes the correction of a difficult forearm fracture using a rod and interviews the woman who had the operation to correct this problem to prove how the metal rod strengthened and straightened her arm. Dr. Nachlas gives another example of how a fragment of bone was replicated with vitalium.

Using a rocket model, Lynn Poole reviews how, as fuel is consumed, it lifts in stages and ultimately goes into free flight. He then shows a film of the rocket crew's view from space. Colonel Flickinger, Director of Human Factors of the Air Force Research and Development Command, explains selection and training of the crew for outer space. He then shows an artist's conception of a space flight simulator that will monitor the crew's vital signs under physiological stress. He discusses the importance of the crew's emotional durability and shows an artist's rendering of a sealed cabin simulator and a five-crew centrifuge. Commander Phoebus, of the Medical Corps of the U. S. Navy, explains explosive decompression and describes the differences between partial and full pressure suits, as worn by such fliers as Charles Yeager and modelled by servicemen in the studio. He also shows a navigation simulator particular to space flight and discusses how crew train to move outside the space vehicle.

This program consists of experiments to prove the facts of science and disprove the myths. For example, a copper penny is not a good substitute for an electrical fuse because the fuse is insurance against an overload, and a penny will overheat the wires and cause a fire. Dr. Richard Lazarus points out that not all psychiatrists diagnose and treat mental illness and abnormal behavior. He explains the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist and the various interests in the latter's field, such as market research, human engineering, learning styles, and stress reactions. Other misconceptions this program seeks to dispel are that small flies are "baby" flies (they're all in the adult stage); that spontaneous generation occurs, as believed by Hermann von Helmholtz in the 19th century; that people can be hypnotized against their will; that frozen body parts should be rubbed with snow; that ice always keeps things cold; that water can put out any fire; and other superstitions mentioned briefly.

In this first in a series of programs on space exploration, Dr. John Strong describes the layers of the earth's atmosphere. Heinz Haber discusses the problems that humans must overcome to travel in space. They will need to surmount oxygen deprivation, depressurization, ultraviolet and cosmic radiation, and zero gravity and weightlessness. Protecting man from these elements must be solved before manned space travel can occur.