Dr. Cuthbert C. Hurd of IBM describes how the 701 computer can solve a complex physics problem as well as translate Russian to English in a fraction of the time a person could perform these tasks. On film from General Electric Labs in New York, Ted Baum explains the development, design features, operation, and uses of the mechanical arm.

In a dramatization, a mother and daughter in their kitchen react to an assortment of food and health-related superstitions they believe while the announcer explains the basis and origin of many of them, such as eggshell color as indicator of nutrient, ailments from aluminum, hiccups remedies, sneeze superstitions, and other food misconceptions. Lynn Poole adds to the list: the beneficial properties of coffee and tea, smoking to ward off disease, night-borne illnesses, the evil eye. Superstitions surrounding medical treatment, such as treating wounds with "sympathy powder," is also addressed.

Brown University professors Montagna and Chase explain how the skin is a human organ forming a dead covering over the body and compare it to the outer covers of a live pheasant and a mouse. Skin's measurement is about 2.5 square yards and its weight 15-20 pounds. Dr. Montagna demonstrates the thickness of skin in human palms and soles by pricking a callus with a needle. The professors show a microscopic view of human skin and discuss each of skin's layers in a labelled cross-section diagram: epidermis, dermis, and adipose or fat layer. They also give the facts about hair growth and dispel the myths about it. Hairless mice of varying ages reveal how elasticity of skin changes. Lastly, the professors address the sweat and sebaceous or oil glands of the skin and show a diagram of how acne develops.

This program deals with electroencephalography, recording impulses from the brain. Dr. Walker explains the parts of the brain and a diagram of nerve cells discharging impulses. Lights on a model of a human head indicate brain activity under differing conditions. Dr. Marshall demonstrates how eighteen electrodes are attached to the scalp to record brain waves during an EEG (electroencephalogram) and notes that this is simply a diagnostic tool. He explains the EEG machine and shows the graph produced by the output of its amplifiers. Dr. Marshall then explains what constitutes a normal brain wave based on comparing the voltage and rhythm of a large sampling of medically normal people. Dr. Walker compares several EEG records with differing patterns, and Dr. Marshall explains the significance of the differences, including one lengthy EEG from a patient having an epileptic seizure.

This program offers viewers an x-ray of a beating heart and its sounds from a stethoscope. Dr. Russell H. Morgan uses a model to describe the construction and function of the heart and its arteries, veins, and chambers. An animation shows the flow of blood through the heart. In a filmed sequence, a patient is injected with uricon so that a slow-motion x-ray view of his blood can be seen passing through his heart and lungs.

Dr. Boyer tells the viewers that concrete is composed of cement, water, sand, and aggregate or coarse gravel in proper proportions. He notes that "Portland" is not a trade name for cement but rather a standard cement powder formula named by an English bricklayer in 1824 for the isle of Portland. The Romans used concrete, made from Mt. Vesuvius's volcanic rock and sand, to construct many of their famous buildings. Mixing concrete is compared to following a recipe since measurement is critical. Furthermore, the chemistry of concrete is such that it requires moisture for 7-10 days to properly harden. Dr. Boyer enumerates the versatility of concrete and shows how pre-casting concrete of precise forms speeds up construction. He then discusses concrete use in bridge building. Because concrete is strong in compression but relatively weak in tensile strength, reinforced concrete with embedded steel was developed in 1850, and pre-stressed concrete, held in a permanent squeeze with steel wires and bars, is now used in bridges and many other applications.

Lynn Poole displays and discusses various symbols including: the skull and crossbones, horseshoe, swastika, barber pole, cigar store Indian, mortar and pestle, and chevron. Words can be symbols also. Latin, although not spoken today as a living language is still used in scientific communication. Latin began as the language of Rome and its vicinity, but through many conquests the Romans spread the use of Latin to the rest of Italy and what is now France, Spain, and North Africa. The Romans also conquered Greece, but since Green was also a highly developed literary language, the Greeks retained their own language. Latin also became the language of the Roman Catholic Church and medieval universities. Many scientific discoveries made during the Renaissance and the early modern period were given names in Latin. Even today Latin names such as Zea mays (corn) are used in scientific communication. Carl von Linné or Carolus Linneaus in Latin classified life forms in an orderly way using Latin terms. In his classification of kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species, a dog would be animal, chordata, mammalia, carnivora, canidae, canis familiarus. The Babylonians were fond of the number 60, which is retained today in 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in an hour, and even 360 degrees in a circle, which is 6 times 60. Weights and measures have been standardized so that they mean the same thing all over the world.

Lynn Poole explains the etymology of entomology, the study or science of insects and displays pamphlets produced by the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Mr. Hall, from the Agriculture Research Service, discusses the diversity of color, size, activity, and scope of insect species, which make up about three-quarters of the world's non-human species. He notes that beneficial insects offset the enemy insects; however, the latter can wreak havoc. Mr. Poole mentions Sir William Osler's malaria research linking the disease to mosquitoes and current prevention efforts for this and other mosquito-related problems. Mr. Hall explains how houseflies breed and how our health depends on controlling them, but he singles out grasshoppers as being particularly destructive. A film documents grasshoppers' reproduction and their natural enemies. Other destructive insects are clothes moths, silverfish, termites, and tree-killing insects. Means to control insect damage include insecticides, such as DDT, presumed safe and effective at that time.

Mr. Contini briefly explains both a film about photosynthesis and a pictorial history of solar energy, including Hero's solar devices in Egypt, Frank Schuman's 1910 solar pump for irrigation, C. G. Abbott's solar flash boilers, and Felix Trombe's solar ovens for industrial uses. Dr. Telkes shows photos of a solar-heated house in Massachusetts and explains a diagram of its operation and a graph of its chemical storage method. She refers to recent books on energy sources of the future by Palmer C. Putnam and Eugene Ayres. Dr. Telkes displays the experimental solar oven she has designed for primitive civilizations in the tropics, and a film shows the oven's success in baking rolls. Solar stills are useful for desalination of salt water, according to Dr. Telkes. She refers to a large one built by Charles Wilson in Chile and demonstrates a still's use with a simple model. She notes that the U.S. Dept. of Interior's saline water program's goal is to convert arid lands through solar still irrigation.

A U. S. Forest Service film shows a forest's natural enemies: fire and destructive insects such as the spruce bark beetle. Mr. Mann further elaborates on the natural enemies of wood by including fungi, insects such as termites, and marine borers such as gribbles, and displays examples of damage done by each. He says that for wood preservatives to be useful, they must be poisonous to destructive organisms but not to humans or animals, permanent, non-corrosive, and inexpensive. He then discusses the chemicals in the creosote, oil-borne, and water-borne preservatives. Mr. Warnes compares the strength and fire retardation of treated and untreated wood and explains why treated wood is non-combustible. He further demonstrates a cylinder that pressure treats wood with preservative and notes that the primary markets for such wood are railroad crossties, poles, and crossarms; fenceposts and other farm-related uses; and housing. An industry film shows the detailed process of pressure creosoting large quantities of wood.